Old Covenant Christian or New Covenant Christian

I'm thankful that I've had the opportunity of speaking in Abundant Life for 20 years, beginning every year, a number of times in some years. And since a number of you may not know me, I thought I would begin with a brief testimony. I was converted, born again, 59 years ago, when I was 20 years old, when I was an officer in the Indian Navy. And seven years later, God took me out of that, and I've been serving the Lord in India for 52 years. And my main ministry is Bible teaching and planting churches in the villages and cities of India. And it's been a great honor that God's continued to bless that ministry. And I'm married, and I've got four sons. Three weeks ago, we completed 50 years of our married life together. And my wife is here, and I want her to stand up so that you can see her. She's more than a wife. She's been my prayer partner and travels with me all the time. I'm very thankful for that. My subject today is Old Covenant Christian or New Covenant Christian. There are two different things. In my observation, the vast majority of believers, born again believers, whom I have met, are Old Covenant Christians. And I will explain to you, hopefully, in the next few minutes, what that means. And I hope you will be challenged, and you will have faith that you will rise to possess what Jesus purchased for us on the cross. It's a tremendous inheritance that our Heavenly Father gave to us in Christ and through the Holy Spirit. And it's possible that we don't possess it fully. You know, if your dad was a billionaire and left you a huge inheritance of property and money in different banks, and he died, boy, you'd be really careful to make sure that you don't lose any of it. Because when it comes to money, we are all very sharp and very careful. We won't allow any crooked lawyer to cheat us of our inheritance. But is it possible that the devil has cheated you of your inheritance in Christ? Maybe you got a portion of it. It's like if you got a thousand dollars inheritance from your billionaire father, you'd be, well, you'd say you'd get something. But there's a lot more that he laid out for you. And some crooked lawyer has cheated you of it. I really believe the devil's cheated a lot of Christians of their full inheritance. I don't think most of them have even got 10%. How do I know? Because for 16 years after I was born again, from the age of 19 to the age of 35, even after I was in full-time Christian work, I never understood what it is to possess this new covenant inheritance. That's how I know. From personal experience, from defeat and failure, from pretending to be spiritual, and preaching more to impress people than to help them. I remember the day the Lord asked me, do you want to impress people or do you want to help them? I said, Lord, I want to help them. Then the Lord said, stop trying to impress them as a preacher. Forget it. Don't seek a reputation. Seek to help them. And if you want to help people, there's a verse in Scripture that tells us, in Philippians 2, verse 3, it's a command to all Christians. But there are very few who obey it. Philippians 2, verse 3, the last part says, with humility of mind, and in my translation, regard one another, NASV says this, as more important than yourself. With humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourself. Jesus regarded people as more important than himself. That's why at the Last Supper, when the basin of water was there, but the slave that normally washes people's feet was not there, and everybody had looked around to see who would wash the dirty feet, Jesus said, well, I'm the one. He did not regard others as more spiritual than himself, because that's not possible. That would be a lie to pretend that others are more spiritual. And God doesn't ask us to tell lies, that others are more spiritual. But the command is to regard others as more important than ourselves. That is the mark of a humble man. And Jesus was that. And when you enter into the full experience of the New Covenant, I tell you, it'll be easy for you to regard others as more important than yourself. And if you're not doing that right now, just say to yourself, I'm not like Jesus Christ. That is the first step to enter into the New Covenant. It's not what we, you know, there's an appearance of outward humility that we all like to have to gain a reputation for humility. That's a lot of garbage. Throw it in the trash. Real humility of mind, it's in the mind. How do I look at other people who are less intelligent, poorer, and less spiritual? Can I consider them as more important? Can I be their servant? That is New Covenant life and ministry. Well, it took me many years to discover it. And I'm so thankful that God opened my eyes to see it, because it changed my life completely. I'll tell you some of the other blessings that came into my life. I used to be a very discouraged Christian, frequently discouraged over things and defeated. I was in this endless circle of sinning, repenting, confessing, sinning again, repenting, confessing, sinning again, this endless circle for a number of years. I'm not talking about gross external sins. I think my external testimony was good. I wasn't fooling around with women or cheating on money or my taxes or any such thing. But inwardly, it was an endless cycle of defeat, defeated by anger, defeated by dirty thoughts, defeated by bitterness, murmuring, complaining, wrong attitudes to people, jealousy, etc. And I knew this is not New Covenant Christianity. There was more to it. God didn't want Christians to go around discouraged. I read verses in the Bible like, Rejoice in the Lord always. Always means 24-7. Was that a suggestion or was it a command? As long as I took it as a suggestion, I could say, well, we'll do it whenever possible. But when I saw it as a command from God, You shall not worship idols. Rejoice always. Both are commands by God. And I said, Lord, I haven't got there. You know, the first step to come into New Covenant Christianity is to acknowledge that you're not there and be honest with yourself. And I said, Lord, I want to be honest. I'm so often discouraged. I can't honestly say I'm rejoicing always. It's not true. I read verses in Scripture like, Be anxious for nothing. Philippians 4-6. And I said, Lord, it's not true. Have you just written that there to taunt us? With something which I can never attain to? Do you tease us? You know how sometimes evil grown-up people tease little children by offering them something and when the child comes home, pull it back, pull it back, pull it back. Is God like that? Do you get it? Be anxious for nothing, be anxious for nothing, and I never get it? No, God's a loving Father. The failure must be with me. And that's what I said. And I said, Lord, I'll never be satisfied. You know, one thing about knowing God. There's a beautiful verse in Jeremiah 29 and verse 13. The principle is true in the Old Testament and in the New. In Jeremiah 29 and verse 13 it says, You will seek me and find me only when you search for me with all your heart. And that's the reason many people don't find Him as a God who can lead us to the fulfillment of all His promises. We're not searching for Him with all our heart. Perhaps we are pursuing after our profession, our money, our fame, or a hundred and one other things that the devil offers us. And we miss out on God's best. And I want to say to every one of you sitting here, God loves you. There's no doubt about it. He's got a plan for your life which is far above what you're experiencing right now. And that plan was made before you were born in your mother's womb. Each one of you must see that. In your mother's womb, God planned a life for you. And He knew that one day you would respond and give your life to Christ. He also knew that today you would be here in abundant life sitting listening to this message. And I want to say to you, He wants to lead you higher. God's Word doesn't come to condemn us, never. Condemnation is an Old Testament type of preaching. In the New Testament, the Word of God is always, Come up higher, my son. Come up higher, my daughter. Don't live at that low level. And that's the spirit in which I want to preach. Not with condemnation. I don't want to look down on any one of you. I want to really, from my heart, consider you as more important than myself. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to speak the truth to you. But the Bible also says Galatians 1 verse 10 That if I seek to please men Galatians 1 verse 10, the last part. If I try to please men, I cannot be a servant of Christ. So I want to determine that I will not seek to please you in my sermon. I will seek to please Jesus, who is here in our midst right now. I always seek to be conscious of the fact that the Lord Jesus, my Savior, is right there, right in front of me, sitting in the front seat, listening to me as I speak. And I want to please him more than anyone else. And I believe it will bless you if I do it that way. In Hebrews, in chapter 8, we read this, about this new covenant. In verse 6, in the last part of that it says, Jesus is the mediator. Hebrews 8 verse 6 This is a new covenant that has been enacted on better promises. He compares the new covenant with the old covenant and says, is this better? It's on better promises. How much higher is the new covenant from the old covenant? As much higher as Jesus is than Moses. Moses was the mediator of the old covenant and Jesus is the mediator of the new. One of the big differences between old covenant and new covenant is in the old covenant, it was only the word which was the light. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It says in Psalm 119 verse 105. The word was the light. That's all they had. All of that Old Testament. All the laws that God gave to Israel. But in the New Testament, it says in John 1 verse 4, in Jesus was life and the life was the light of men. So there was a big difference in the new covenant. In the old covenant, it was the word. You had to understand the word. In the new covenant, it was the life. In the old covenant, the prophets would say, come and hear the message of the Lord, the word. In the new covenant, the word is come and see how the Lord has changed our lives. In the old covenant, lives were not changed. You would just proclaim the word. Moses' children were not a good testimony. But Moses was the greatest prophet. Samuel's children took bribes. But Samuel was a great prophet. The way they brought up their children didn't matter. In the new covenant, it says a man cannot be an elder in 1 Timothy 3 if he has not brought up his children properly. That's the standard of the new covenant. According to the new covenant standard, Samuel, the great prophet, could not be an elder in the new covenant church. Did you know that? You read in 1 Samuel chapter 8, his children, his two sons, were taking bribes and he made them judges in Israel. That's an example of how the new covenant is different. The standards are much higher. As much higher as Jesus is than Moses. And we see, when we look around at Christendom today, they have not risen up to that standard. And that's why the name of the Lord is dishonored. The first thing that the Lord told us to do was not preach the gospel. The first prayer is not, Lord, save the lost. Our first prayer is, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Let your name be respected. Let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Let your kingdom come. So when we look around and see how the name of Jesus is being dishonored, not by non-Christians. No non-Christian can dishonor the Lord's name. No atheist can dishonor the Lord's name. Because they don't take his name. It's only when a woman marries a man and takes his name and calls herself Mrs. So and So, only then can she dishonor his name. If she's not married to him, she cannot dishonor his name. And it's when I'm married to Christ and I call myself a Christian, it's only then I can dishonor his name. Until that point, I cannot. Because I'm a non-Christian. See, I come from a country which is 98% non-Christian. And whenever I witness to non-Christians in my land, and I've lived there all these 79 years, one of the first things I always tell them when I'm sitting in a train or witnessing to someone about Christ, I want to tell them, first of all, I want to tell you something, my dear friend. 95% of Christians are not Christians. See, until I begin with that in preaching the gospel, he will say, this guy is trying to convert me to a Christianity and I know about this Christian fellow who cheated me two years ago. And there's another Christian who's a crook. So I have to eliminate from his mind prejudice by telling him that I disagree with that type of Christianity. That is nominal Christianity, which is not reflecting the life of Jesus. They may be speaking the Word. As I said, in the Old Covenant is the Word. In the New Covenant, the Word was made flesh. That's the difference. In the Old Covenant, the Word was in the book. And an Old Covenant preacher preaches from the book and from notes and things like that. And it's all correct. All those Old Testament prophets, they preach the right thing. But like I told you, it was not reflected often in their life. Whereas when Jesus came, the Word was made flesh. It was in His life. In His life was the light of men. And from there came the Word. It was from within, the Word came out. In Acts of the Apostles, in chapter 1 and verse 1, we read like this. Luke is writing about the previous book he wrote, which is the Gospel of Luke. This is the second book he wrote. He said, the first account I composed, O Theophilus, that's the Gospel of Luke, was about all that Jesus began to do and teach. So Luke's summary of the Gospel of Luke is what Jesus began to do and teach. And Acts of the Apostles is what Jesus continued to do and teach through His church. But notice the order. He first began to do and then teach. He did and taught. That was not Old Covenant. In the Old Covenant was He taught. The Word, the Word, come and hear the message of the Lord. Come and hear what the Lord has said. But in the New Covenant is come and see what the Lord has done in our life through His Word. That is what I share with you. So when you think of the Sermon on the Mount, that wonderful message that Jesus preached, it wasn't something that He sat down the previous night and took down notes as to what He's going to speak the next morning. He spoke out from 30 years of His life. For 30 years He had lived that life. And He spoke from that. That is the only type of preaching that is New Covenant preaching. So we say, well, then we won't be able to preach all these wonderful sermons. Right. We like to preach according to the level of your life. If you're in the first grade, you can teach people who are below the first grade. If you're in the second grade, you can teach people up to the first grade. If you're in the 10th grade, you can teach people below the 9th grade. The sad thing is when a Christian preacher who's only in the first grade begins to talk about 10th grade stuff, it's just a lot of nonsense. It's not real in his life. In the New Covenant, that is just not true. The New Covenant, as we read here, is a better covenant enacted on better promises. Now let me clarify one thing. I'm not talking about Old Covenant. I'm not talking about the 39 books of the Old Testament. That is the Bible. In fact, the word Old Testament describing the 39 books of the Bible is never found. That's a description man has given, calling it Old Testament just for convenience. But the whole, all 66 books of the Bible, the Old Covenant is the covenant or agreement that God made with Israel giving them a law. The New Covenant was established by Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost through the gift of the Holy Spirit and through his death on the cross. So, as I just said, the emphasis in the New Covenant is life more than teaching. We must be more interested in our life than in understanding. In Hebrews, in chapter 8, we see the promises of the New Covenant. He says here in Hebrews 8, verse 10, this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel and that applies to us today. Read carefully, Hebrews 8, 10, I will put my laws into their mind and I will write them in their hearts. This is the New Covenant and I'll be their God. Notice the emphasis, it's inside. Inside our mind, inside our heart. Inside our mind means he gives us the desire to do his will perfectly, all of his will. Inside our heart means he gives us the ability to do his will. There are two things we need. A desire to do his will and an ability to do his will and that's going to be inside. If you have a desire to do the will of God, don't ever think that you work that up yourself. It is a fulfillment of that promise. I will put my law into their mind. If you're better than that other guy who has no desire to do God's will, it's not because you're a better person. You've got to just humble yourself and say, Lord, you had mercy on me and you put that desire into my mind to do your will. Now don't stop there. In the Old Covenant, it was the external life alone that mattered. But in the New Covenant, it's the inner life that matters. You remember Jesus told the Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup, but the inside is all dirty. That's how it was. And when my external life, please listen carefully, when my external life is better than my inner thought life, something is wrong with my Christianity. I am an Old Covenant Christian. The Old Covenant people, their external life was much better than their inner life. Think of David. Do you know that David wrote more scripture than the Apostle Paul? He quoted the Psalms and the number of Psalms he wrote. But he would say, don't look at my life. If I saw a pretty woman like Bathsheba, I'd fall. And to get her, I'd even kill her husband and marry her. That's David. But boy, look at those Psalms he wrote. And when a man's message is more powerful than his life, he's an Old Covenant Christian, even if he's the greatest preacher in the world. Jesus did and taught. In him was life and the life was the light of men. Life. The word became flesh. It didn't just come out of his mouth. And when we look at these standards in the New Covenant, we see how far short Christendom has fallen. Because the devil has cheated us of our inheritance. Because the Lord says, I will not only write my law in your mind, I'll put it in your mind and I'll write it in your heart. It's his responsibility. You remember when Moses went up to the mountain, God with his finger. And the finger, by the way, in the New Testament is a picture of the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus once said, I will cast out demons by the finger of God. In another gospel it says, he cast out demons by the spirit of God. So you put the two verses together, you write, the finger of God is the Holy Spirit. And with that finger, he wrote on two tablets of stone. Hard rock. And he wrote on that. Four commandments on one. Man's relationship with God. And six commandments on the other. Man's relationship with each other. And God was, as it were, telling Israel, it's easier for me to write on those rocks than to write in your hearts. Your hearts are harder than these rocks. But in the New Covenant, the Lord says, I will write that law in your heart now and in your mind. These are the two tablets now which Jesus wants to write his law on. Your mind and your heart are the equivalent of those two tablets of stone. And even if your mind and your heart are harder than those rocks, the Lord says, I'll write it. That's what the Holy Spirit has come to do. And so, don't say, I'm too bad. No. It's for bad people. Jesus came for sinners. He didn't come for the righteous. He didn't come for the holy people or those who think they're holy. He came for hard-hearted people and says, I will write my law in your mind and in your heart. So believe that first of all and believe that God wants to do it. You know, when Jesus once talked about the gift of the Holy Spirit, there's so much confusion concerning that in the world today. So much confusion. And because of that confusion, some people turn away from it altogether. We have two extremes concerning the Holy Spirit nowadays in Christian teaching. One is this extreme where you have all this fanaticism going on in the name of Holy Spirit bringing such dishonor to the Lord. And then on the other side are those who say, we want to steer away from that and don't talk about the Holy Spirit at all. Well, the devil's quite happy with both groups, I'll tell you that. Because one group won't talk about it and the other group goes into extreme fanaticism. But there's a balance in God's Word. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. He could never have fulfilled that ministry apart from that. You know that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit at the age of 30. He had the Holy Spirit from birth. He himself is the Son of God and yet he needed to be anointed. Not to be more holy. Jesus was not more holy when he was 31 than when he was 25. But there was something that came upon him when he was 30. At the baptism in the river Jordan. After which he would preach cast out demons and do the will of God. Do God's work. And that's the same gift he gives us. So, in Luke chapter 11 he spoke about this gift of the Holy Spirit like this. In Luke 11 the subject here is when the disciples came to him and said Lord, teach us to pray. Verse 1 And many people finish with just that the Lord's Prayer. Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. But there is more to it than prayer. Just that what we call the Lord's Prayer. He went on to say I want to explain some more in answer to your question Lord, teach us to pray. And he said this is how you should pray. In verse 5 Luke 11 verse 5 Supposing you have a friend and you go to him at midnight and say to him lend me three loaves. And he says I'm asleep my children are asleep don't trouble me now and I can't give you anything. But this man doesn't give up. He keeps on banging at the door saying you got to give me you got to give me because a friend of mine has come who's needy and I don't have what it takes to help him. What is he asking for? He's asking not for himself he's asking for something to feed a needy person who has come to his house. This is Christian ministry. Around us in the world are needy people. Of course I can act with no concern for them some friend has come to my house he's hungry so what go to bed man we'll see you in the morning. But this man was not like that he said listen have you eaten? Now you don't usually ask people at midnight when they come to your house whether they've eaten because if you don't have any food in the house it's better not to ask them. But this man was so concerned he had so much love for that person and this is the basis on which we pray for others that I'm so concerned about that person's need number one and secondly an awareness that I don't have within me what it takes to meet that need. Then I will go to God like this man say God give me what it takes to help this man. This is the only basis of Christian ministry. And as I said I never understood it for 16 years after being born again. I thought all I had to do was sit down and study and read a lot of books and prepare a sermon and preach it. That's not the way brother sister. It's by having a burden and a compassion and love for people in need and then recognizing secondly that I don't have it what it takes to meet that need and going to God and saying give me what I need to help this person and what is it I need to pray for. Verse 13 If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. Not to everybody to those who ask Him how? In this way. In this way. Lord give me this give me this give me the power of the Holy Spirit to live this life to offer this person something from my life that will lead him higher. Not a theory. That is new covenant. It is very different from the old covenant. That is full of rules and regulations. But this is a life where God writes His law in my mind and in my heart. And thereby I can live this life. In the new covenant the very first promise in the new testament is in Matthew 1 in verse 21. It's very important to understand this. Because that's where the new covenant begins. When I spoke about life Matthew 1, 21 it says You shall call His name Jesus. And the reason is given there in Matthew 1, 21. Read it carefully. Not He will forgive His people their sins. That was already there in the Old Testament. David said in Psalm 103 Bless the Lord who forgives all my sins. One thousand years before Christ came. He rejoiced for the forgiveness of sins. But this was something new. He will save His people from their sins. That is the new covenant. In the old covenant it was forgiveness. In the new covenant it was deliverance from sin. That's what I mean when I say that most Christians haven't come into the new covenant. How has it been in your life? I've asked people this question. I said Has Jesus saved you? He said, yeah. I said, what do you mean? Has He saved you from anger? Has He saved you from dirty thoughts? You know they are sin. Has He saved you from bitterness? Has He saved you from all murmuring and complaining in your home? Has He saved you from losing your temper at your husband or your wife? And always the answer is no, no, no, no. Has He saved you from the love of money? Has He saved you from anxiety and fear and discouragement and bad moods? And I say, no, no, no, no. He's not saved me from any of those things. But I confess them and I'm forgiven. Ah! I say then be honest. Honesty will take you very far. Say that Jesus is my forgiver. He's not yet become my savior. Ah! But He saved me from hell. But hell is at the end of your life. Okay. He'd save you from that. What about is there no salvation right now from these things? You shall call His name Jesus because He will save His people from hell? No! What did we read in Matthew 1.21? He will save His people from their sins. Now I want to say in my life after I was born again all I knew was that I was saved from hell. I could not honestly say I was saved from sin. The devil had cheated me of my inheritance. And I saw as I read the New Testament, the 27 books in the New Testament and I was thirsty. I said there's a life I want which I don't have. You know I think of all these immigrants who come from different countries to the United States. Why do they come here? Because they want a better life for themselves and their children. They know this is a country which will receive them and give them a better life. Why don't they go to some poor country in Africa? Because they know they won't get it. They have such a longing for a better life on this earth. That's why we look for jobs where we can live and have a better life for ourselves and our children. My question is why don't we have that same longing spiritually to come to a life free from sin? We don't realize how much sin is destroying our inner life and how much it's bringing a bad name to the name of Jesus Christ on earth. So if I have a longing Lord I want to be saved from sin like I we read that verse if you search for me with all your heart you'll find me. You remember Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit also in John chapter 7. One day he got up and it's the only time we read in the Bible that he shouted out usually Jesus spoke very softly but you know one day it says he cried out John 7 37 If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink and from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. And this he spoke it says in verse 39 about the Holy Spirit. And it's very interesting written here in verse 39 this he spoke about the Holy Spirit who those who believed in him would receive for the Spirit listen to this for the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. And then you wonder how did David have the Spirit? How did Samson have the Spirit? Gideon and the prophets Elijah Elisha got a double portion of Elijah's Spirit. How does it say the Spirit was not yet given? The meaning is the Spirit was not yet given in this way. It says from the innermost being the rivers of living water will flow. It was not like that in the Old Covenant. Here's another big difference between the Old Covenant and the New. In the Old Covenant the Holy Spirit came upon Moses and David and Samson didn't come inside them. And it's like a waterfall that flows over our head and flowed around and blessed millions of people. But in the New Covenant the Lord says the Holy Spirit will come within and the water will flow from within. It's like if I have a glass here and I have a lid over it and I pour water on it yeah, you keep on pouring water it can flow around like rivers and bless many people but the inside of that cup will still be dirty because the water hasn't flown inside. That's what happened in the New Covenant that God removed that lid and the Holy Spirit could come into our spirit and clean up our spirit first and then flow out from within. That's why you read David could commit adultery Samson could commit adultery and as I said Moses and Samuel couldn't bring up their children properly but you never read in the New Testament about Paul committing adultery or John committing adultery or Peter committing adultery. There is a lot of difference between New Covenant and Old Covenant. We need to recognize this. So many Christians when they fall into sin they go for refuge to the Old Covenant. Ah! But those people did that and still God used them. What are you interested in? Just to be used by God? You know the Bible says in 2 Timothy and chapter 2 there are different types of vessels in God's house. 2 Timothy 2.20 In a large house there are gold and silver vessels and also vessels of wood and earthenware. If it's only a question of being used we use wooden crates and boxes we use earthen jars but if your house is on fire you won't rush in to pull out those wooden crates and those earthen jars. You'll go in and pull out your gold vessels and silver vessels because those are the ones that have got intrinsic value. What is your value before God? If you only think of being used you'll be a wooden crate and an earthen jar. And a lot of Old Covenant people were like that. They were used mightily and there are many Old Covenant preachers being used today. Do you know that Jesus said that in the final day Matthew chapter 7 there will be many who will stand before him Matthew chapter 7 and verse 22 Matthew 7, 22 it's not one or two many will say to me the Lord says on that day Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name? We cast out demons in your name. We did many miracles in your name. Can you think of preachers today who are prophesying in Jesus name casting out demons and doing miracles? Go to the next verse. Then I will declare to them verse 23 I never knew you. I'm not saying you didn't do these things in my name. I'm not saying you're telling a lie. Of course, you cast out demons in my name not in the name of some heathen God. You healed the sick you preached in my name but I never knew you. I never had an intimate relationship with you. The word know is an Old Testament word which speaks of the relationship between a husband and a wife. Adam knew his wife and the Lord says I never knew you. What he means is I never had this bridal bride groom bride the husband wife relationship with you spiritually. You were only interested in serving me. You were not my bride. In the new covenant we become the bride of Christ. In many homes in India we have maids who work in the house. It's very important to have them because if you don't give them a job they'll starve because there's so much poverty. So it's an act of compassion to give a lady a job as a maid in your house. So you can have in your kitchen your wife cooking a meal and the maid also cooking and she may be a better cook but she's not your wife. Did she do a good job? Terrific job for the meal she cooked. She has no relationship with you. She won't get your inheritance. That's the difference between new covenant and old covenant. And that's what the Lord is saying to these people. They're saying Lord we cooked all this for you. And the Lord says that's fine but you never became my bride. You were only interested in doing this and that and the other for me. You never thought of a relationship with me. Do you know that the most important thing in the new covenant is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as a bride to a bridegroom? Do you have that? Do you wake up every morning and tell the Lord that you really love Him with all your heart? Do you have that type of relationship? That is new covenant. And that's what the Lord means when He says here as He read in Hebrews 8 I will put my law into your mind and write them in your heart. Now I want to tell you one more thing in relation to the Holy Spirit. If you think that you are more eager to receive the power of the Holy Spirit then God is eager to give it to you. That is unbelief. And that's the main reason why many believers do not receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. That was the problem with me for many years. I prayed faster than I said Lord give me the power of the Holy Spirit bring me into this new covenant life where I can rejoice always where I can be free from anxiety and fear and murmuring and grumbling and come into a life of overcoming. Be one like those overcomers spoken of in the book of Revelation. And I would pray and pray and pray and nothing would happen. And I discovered finally that I was full of unbelief. And the unbelief is this I was more eager to be filled with the Holy Spirit than my Heavenly Father was eager to fill me with the Holy Spirit. And as long as I had that attitude and that type of faith that I am more eager I'm crying, I'm praying I'm fasting but God doesn't seem to answer my prayer that unbelief prevented me from receiving God's gift. Till I came to the place where I said Lord my Heavenly Father if earthly fathers give good gifts to those to their children when they ask for bread the Father will not give a stone. How in the world will you deny me the Holy Spirit? It is impossible. If the Holy Spirit does not come and fill us my brothers, sisters because there is some area in your life you are not yielded. Whenever you are when you are born again the Holy Spirit comes in but He may not fill your life. In the new covenant we can be filled with the Holy Spirit within. If you think of your heart like a house with ten rooms there is one room which is called the guilt room where we feel guilty about all the thousands of sins we have committed in our life. And when we ask Jesus to come into our heart it's the Holy Spirit who comes in. He can't be born again without the Spirit coming in. He comes with the guilt room and all our sins are cleansed in a moment. But it's like a house you see a house on a hill with ten rooms and there is light in one room. Is there light in that house? Yes. Is it filled with light? No. Nine rooms are dark. And that's how it is in our heart too. The Holy Spirit has come but we are not filled with the Holy Spirit. The disciples received the Holy Spirit on the day that Jesus rose from the dead. He came to that room and said He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. And they received the Holy Spirit. And then 50 days later on the day of Pentecost they were filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And for that He comes and knocks at the different doors in your house. Okay. He has forgiven you all your sins. Praise the Lord. One room is full of light the guilt room. And now He says, Can I come into your television room to determine what programs you watch? Jesus says, Can I come in and control that? And you say, Well Lord, there may be some programs you don't like so we'll keep that room locked. Or the Lord says, Can I come and see the books you read, the magazines you read? And you say, Well, let me think about that. That room is locked. The Lord says, Can I come and look at your finances? How you earn your money? Is it all righteously? Are you generous? And you keep that room locked. And all these rooms locked and you say, Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit. It'll never happen. Because you don't open the door. You can pray for a hundred years. Nothing will happen. But if you open the doors, He'll fill you immediately. So I want to say this as a challenge to all of you. Do you really want to come into this new covenant life? When you go home, spend a little time before God alone, and say, Lord, show me the rooms in my heart that are not open to you. I'm going to be radical today. I'm going to give up everything you tell me to give up. I don't want to watch any program on television from today which you will not sit next to me and watch. I don't want to watch a movie which you cannot watch with me. I don't want to read a book or a magazine that you cannot read with me. I don't want to earn money in any way that you cannot certify is righteous and upright. I don't want to spend my money in any way that you will not approve of. You take God seriously. And don't play games with God. And go to Him like this, area by area and area. I tell you, you'll be filled with the Holy Spirit before next Sunday. I can tell you that. I know from my own experience. Your life will be changed. You'll begin to possess your inheritance. It won't come all of a sudden but there'll be a growth. Many of us, if we look at our past Christian life, it's been the same level or sometimes further down than when we were when first converted. But it's going to go the other way if you take seriously what I say. Lord, write your law in my heart and mind. I open myself. He won't force you. If you thirst for it, you say, this is what I want more than anything else. He'll do it for you. Let me conclude. We read here that it's enacted on better promises. I'll just give you three of them. Matthew 6, 33. It says, if you seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness, all your earthly needs will be added to you. He's talking about food, clothing, shelter and all the things. You know the things we work hard for. Going slog away week after week after week earning our money. And the Lord says, if you determine, I'm not saying you should give up your secular jobs, keep them, but in it all, let the kingdom of God be upright. The principles of God's kingdom and righteousness be upright. That you'll never cheat anyone. You'll never do anything contrary to what your conscience tells you to do. Everything that you need on earth will be added to you. I've been in full-time Christian work for 52, 53 years now. 52 years. As I said, my wife and I have been married 50 years. We decided to seek God's kingdom first. We decided never to send a report of our work to anyone, anywhere in the world. Never to make our needs known to anyone but our Heavenly Father. And I want to say to you, we haven't starved. We're not the richest people in the world, thank God we're not. But, God's added everything we need for ourselves and our children and God's taken care of that. I can testify it is true. Then I want to give you another promise. It's true for every one of us. It's in your Bible too. 1 Corinthians, in chapter 10, and verse 13. The other fear we have is that, supposing some massive temptation comes to me, it should be too much for me to overcome. It will not come. When you allow Jesus to be Lord of your life, it says in 1 Corinthians 10, in verse 13, 1 Corinthians 10, 13. Listen to it and claim it. No temptation will overtake you but such as is common to man. And God is faithful, this is the part I want you to see, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able. He won't give you a 10th grade examination paper when you're in the 3rd grade. He just won't do it. But with the temptation, will provide the way of escape that you may be able to bear it. This is the wonderful thing about temptation. That God stands by us. He not only gives us a question paper according to the grade we are in, He sits beside us and helps us to answer that paper. Isn't that wonderful? If you had your teacher sitting next to you when you had to answer the question paper, that's the Christian life. Really. But, if I don't allow the Lord to have possession of my life, then of course it doesn't happen. But here's the promise, He will never allow you to be tested beyond your ability. I've claimed that and I can testify to that after all these 59 years of being a Christian and especially the last 43 years where I've understood the New Covenant. That I said, Lord, I'll never allow myself to be tested beyond my ability. I know that. You will not allow it and I can prove it in my life. And I want to say that to you also. Don't ever fear, Oh, some massive temptation will come to me and I will be defeated. No. The third promise I want to give you is a very well-known one from Romans 8 in verse 28. For all those who are under the New Covenant, Romans 8, 28. God will cause all things to work together for our good if we love Him and are called according to His purpose. And that good is mentioned in the next verse, verse 29. That He will conform us to the image of His Son. So here are three promises. If I seek God's kingdom first and His righteousness, everything I need on earth will be added to me. Health, what I need of material wealth, etc. I will never be tempted beyond my ability in all of my life. But with the temptation God will give me strength to overcome it. So I can be a conqueror from this day onwards to the end of my life because of that promise. And third, whatever evil other people may do to me or whatever may happen accidentally or purposely that people do, it will work for my good to make me more like Christ which is my goal in any case. Dear brothers and sisters, this is the inheritance that Jesus purchased for us on the cross. And we have a loving Heavenly Father who has promised to do it for everyone of us. Let's go and possess it. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Amen. While our heads are bowed in prayer, I don't think you can, if you've never understood all this before, you can begin right now and say, Lord, I want to enter into this new covenant life. I don't think you can rush into it. Go home and you can receive Christ right now. That takes only a moment for Him to come into your life and forgive your sin. But for those whose sins are already forgiven, to enter into this new covenant life, you need to sit down and count the cost and ask whether you really want the Lord and don't play games with God. Be honest with Him and say, Lord, I want you to enter into this area, this area, this area of my life. I want to yield it to you. Fill me with the Holy Spirit. I want to say to you, He'll do for you more than you can ask or think. Heavenly Father, remind us again and again and again of the word that you have spoken so that it can be true in our lives. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.