The sermon emphasizes the contrast between the passing world filled with desires and the eternal life promised to those who seek and do the will of God. It highlights the importance of choosing God's will in every situation, understanding the new covenant, and living a life aligned with God's standards. The speaker challenges the audience to grasp the significance of the New Covenant, avoid living under the old covenant, and recognize the need for a deeper understanding of God's will.

The Bible says that the world is going to pass away. And he who does the will of God will abide forever. Let me show you that verse. It's a very important verse. In 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 17. Now, I understand this verse like this. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 17. The world is passing away and all its lusts. And the Message Bible says the world and all its lusts means wanting, wanting, wanting. That's it. I want this and I want that and I want the other thing, I want the other thing, I want the other thing. It's on its way out. But the one who wants God's will, he's all set for eternity. So you see, here is the contrast in verse 17. The world is full of lusts means I want this and I want this and I want this and I can't do without this. I can't do this, especially when I see somebody else have it. I want it, I want it, I want it. And here's another person living in the same world. And says, I want God's will. I want what will please my Savior. I want to do what will please Him. I want to sacrifice to please Him. I'm not going this way. And those who go this way will perish. That is the broad way. But here is the way that he who does the will of God lives forever. So, I don't think many Christians go to this verse to find out how to have eternal life. He who does the will of God lives forever. And so I want to say to you, dear brothers and sisters, choose the will of God in every situation. The will of God is revealed to us in scripture. The reason I've studied scripture thoroughly is for one reason. It's not to preach it. It is to know God's will so that I can do it. You must study the scriptures even if you've never preached in your whole life. Because that's where you know the will of God that will enable you to live forever. And that's what will give you light on yourself. You know, many of us who think we are pretty holy, it's because we don't have much light on ourselves. I think a lot of us have got a lot of religion. Words, religious attitudes, which is very different from being spiritual. Spirituality is primarily found in extremely low thoughts about myself in my own thinking. I don't think I'm an expert who can teach everybody else how to live, or I'm not eager to give advice to other people. If you are very eager to give advice to others who are younger to you, you are probably downright religious. That's one of the marks of a religious person. The Pharisees were always like that, eager to tell people how to live and what to do. Whereas a godly man, he's not like that. He's very careful with his words. He's slow to speak. He's quick to hear. And people will go to such a man eager, or such a woman eager for advice because they know that that person can set him on the path to life and set him on a path that will bring tremendous profit in eternity. So, we need to understand this new agreement that God has made with man. He's abolished the old agreement. That's what we need to understand. And I see, you read all the literature there is out in the Christian world, listen to all the tapes, and you'll find almost zero on the new covenant. Because people don't understand it. And most Christians are living under the old covenant. You know, the other day I heard a message by a very well-known preacher, whom all of you respect very highly, not in this country. And he was saying how he also got depressed for days on end, just like Elijah in the Old Testament. And I listened to that and I said, boy, here is a man who is respected around the world. And what's he teaching people? Around the world, he's teaching people that you can be a wholehearted servant of God and live in depression for days like Elijah. Some people wrote to me and asked me what I thought about that, whether that was my experience. I said, certainly not my experience. It was my experience for many years, I agree. But when I saw the new covenant and what Jesus had done, what the Holy Spirit could do, when I knew the Father, it changed. And I said to them, Elijah is not the author and finisher of my faith. I'm sorry. Elijah is the author and finisher of your faith. Go and sit under the juniper tree and be depressed as long as you like. But the Bible says the author and finisher of my faith is Jesus, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. The author means what? If I take up a book and say I'm the author of this book, that means I wrote it. So when you say Jesus is the author of my faith, that means the faith I have was written, not by me, by Jesus Christ. Jesus said, Paul said, I am crucified with Christ and nevertheless I live. What is no longer I, but Christ lives in me. The life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. The faith that he wrote in me. Not the faith that Elijah wrote in me. No. There are many good things I can learn from Elijah. His boldness to face false prophets. But there are certain things I can't learn from him. Like sitting under a juniper tree and saying, Lord, take away my life. I've had enough of it. Or there are things we can learn from David. But not going to sleep when people are going to battle and getting up and committing adultery. No, I can't learn that from him. You must remember this, the people under the old covenant lived a very substandard life compared to the way God wants us to live. And if you don't understand the difference, you'll always find a comfort. There are Christian preachers who find comfort in the fact that David fell into adultery. And they fall into adultery. Television preachers and they get up and say, Oh well, David was a man after God's own heart. And he also fell into adultery and God forgave him and used him again. So, God's forgiven me. Like imagine Paul getting up one day in some church and saying, Fellas, I'm sorry I slept with some of your sisters here. But David also did that and sort of, it's okay. God's forgiven me. What respect would you have for Paul's letters after that? I'd throw them out. I wouldn't listen to a man who is being like that, you know. I mean, in their unconverted days when they didn't have light, they could have done all types of evil things. Okay, forget it. But after they've got light and they become leaders. I can't imagine that. Look at what's happening in the world today. There are leaders who divorce their wives and get married to their secretaries and they continue to preach. So, you just leave that church and go to another church. This is the terrible state in Christendom today. And so, it's all because they haven't understood the New Covenant. In the New Covenant, there is no such thing as divorce. And there's no such thing as, if somebody did divorce you, there's no such thing as remarriage. It's not there in the New Covenant. In the Old Covenant, it is there. In Deuteronomy 23, you read. So, we live in a terrible world today, in Christian world. So, in Hebrews chapter 8, I want you to see this. The Lord says in verse 7, If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. The reason why God made a new agreement was because the first agreement was faulty. Faulty in what sense? It's not like some car maker makes a car and discovers some fault in that and repairs it in the next model. No. God's not like that. God didn't make a mistake the first time. No. It's faulty, not in the sense that God made a mistake, but faulty in the sense that it could not do what God wanted man to have. You know, there are certain things it says in Romans 8 verse 3. The law could not do. So, why did God give the law then? God gave the law to help man to see his sin, to help man to see God's standards, and to see that you can never come up to my standards. And no matter how hard you try, you'll never become as holy as me. You can try and try and try and try and try and try for a million years, you will not become holy as me. That's what the law taught. Not even according to God's law in the Old Testament.