This sermon delves into the glory of Jesus in the New Covenant, emphasizing the shift from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. It highlights the privileges of the New Covenant, such as being justified by the blood of Jesus, knowing God as our Father, and having God's laws written in our minds and hearts. The speaker urges believers to move from a mindset of external rules to an internal desire empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a victorious Christian life.

We want to look at the glory of Jesus in the New Covenant. And we'll split this up into two sessions, about 45-50 minutes each, so that we can finish by 12 o'clock. First of all, let's turn to Hebrews in chapter 8 and verse 6. It says here about Jesus, Now Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant, verse 7, had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. But finding fault with that, God says, the days are coming when I'll effect a new covenant. I was born again 50 years ago, in 1959. And in all these 50 years, I have attended many, many churches, listened to many, many messages, read many, many books. But I hardly ever in my life heard anyone explain to me clearly what is the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. I've heard many wonderful messages, but nothing that was practical could lead me into a new covenant life myself. And as I've spoken to believers in many countries in these last many years, I've found very few believers who can explain what is the glory of the New Covenant compared to the Old Covenant. When Jesus said in Matthew 11, 11, that the greatest human being ever born up to that time was John the Baptist, but the least person in the Kingdom of God could be greater than That means the New Covenant was so wonderful that it could lift me even higher than John the Baptist. Now, how many believers have you met in your life who are better than John the Baptist? I've met very few. What does that show us? That many born-again Christians don't have a clue about what the New Covenant is. Who has blinded them? The devil. Like the devil has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to the truth of the forgiveness of sins in Christ. He has also blinded the minds of many believers to the New Covenant. I come from a country where many people are trying to get forgiveness of sins in many ways. Ninety-eight percent of Christians, of ninety-eight percent of people in India don't believe in Jesus Christ. But they seek for forgiveness of sins, and they try for it in many ways. They go for pilgrimages to many places, they give money to God, they go to temples, mosques, churches. They give money to the poor, they roll on the ground, they give money to the poor, they dip in a river. I think many of them are sincere. But they haven't understood that forgiveness of sins is free. That I cannot do a single work to forgive my sins. But Jesus did it all. Satan has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they don't see this truth. But most of us sitting here have seen it. You may not realize that Satan has blinded your eyes to another truth. That there is a glory in the New Covenant which is more than forgiveness of sins. It says here that Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant. Established on better promises. And it says here the first covenant was faulty. Verse seven. Who established the first covenant? Can God establish the first covenant? Can God establish something which is faulty? It was not because God made a mistake. The New Covenant is not like some better model of car repairing the old model. But the law, the first covenant, was never meant by God to lead man to his highest purpose. The Old Covenant was never meant by God to lead man to his highest purpose. It was only a first step to what God finally wanted to lead man to. It was like between Egypt and Canaan there was a two year period in the wilderness that Israelites wandered. When they were in Egypt it was a picture of being unbelievers. In the wilderness for two years it was like being under the law. And then in Canaan it was a picture of the New Covenant. But they did not enter into that land. Why? Because they didn't believe in the New Covenant. They didn't believe that God had something better for them than the wilderness life. And because they didn't believe in God God said, OK, you spend another 38 years in the wilderness and you will die there. And many believers are like that. They've been redeemed from Egypt by the blood of the land. They're baptized in the Red Sea. Baptized in the cloud from heaven, the Holy Spirit. But still wandering in the wilderness there's no victory in their life. The giants of sin are ruling in their body. They're defeated in their life. They live in an endless cycle of confessing their sin and sinning again. You've seen these merry-go-rounds that children sit on and go round and round on a horse. A wooden horse. That's the type of merry-go-round the devil has put many believers on. In such a merry-go-round there are many Christians. They never make any progress. A child can sit on that wooden horse for one hour and he's still in the same place. But are they moving? Oh yes. They're moving and moving and moving for a long time. But they're in the same place. That's a picture of many believers. There's so much activity. They read the Bible. They pray. They go for meetings. But after many years they're in the same place. Their family life is at the same defeated level. There is less fellowship between husband and wife now than when they first got married. Are these believers or unbelievers? Are they in the New Covenant or the Old Covenant? They sin. They repent. They ask for forgiveness. They are cleansed. They sin again. And they are repent. They ask for forgiveness. And they are cleansed. And again tomorrow they repent. And tomorrow they sin again. And go around in that circle year after year after year. And the worst part is they're happy with that. They look around at other believers. And they find they're also in a merry-go-round like this. And they say, I suppose this is the Christian life. It is not. Jesus has enacted a New Covenant on better promises. Those better promises are called the New Covenant. Now when Jesus has established the New Covenant, why should any believer want to go back to the Old Covenant? When Jesus has established the New Covenant, why should any believer want to go back to the Old Covenant? Isn't that frustrating the purpose of God? How many bullock carts do you see on the streets of Holland? We see it in the villages in India. And maybe three, four hundred years ago you had bullock carts here in the Netherlands too. But now that you have a car, how many of you would like to go back to driving bullock carts? I mean, wouldn't you be surprised if you saw a bullock cart on the highways here? You'd say, is this guy living in the 1600s or something? Doesn't he know there are cars? Or if you go to a house where there's no electricity, and they're using lamps. You'd say, what's wrong with this man? Doesn't he know that electricity has come? That's exactly how I look at many believers. I say, look at these people fighting with each other at home. Are they Old Covenant or New Covenant? What are they? Look at them, defeated by sin in their life. That's like people riding bullock carts. Hear the good news! Jesus has enacted a New Covenant. You don't have to be defeated by sin anymore. You can have the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's turn to John and chapter 1. And verse 17. The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The word for the Old Covenant was law. The word in the New Covenant is grace. There was no grace in the world until Jesus came. Just like there was no Ten Commandments before Moses. Moses brought the law. Jesus brought grace. Now the question is, which is better? It's like asking, are bullock carts better or cars better? It's like asking, would you rather light a lamp or switch on the light and have electricity? It's as simple as that. How much better is a car than a bullock cart? How much faster can a car go than a bullock cart? It's so much faster. How much more light can you get from a powerful bulb than from a lamp? That is the difference between law and grace. So when you look at the height to which law could bring people, the Ten Commandments made the Jewish people the finest nation on the face of the earth. They were the most upright and they had the most morality compared to all the other nations in the world. Think of the standard of life of people like Elijah or a full-time worker like Elijah who did not care for the money of Naaman. How many pastors and preachers have you found like Elijah? How many predecessors do you know who do not care for the money of the rich? I know very few. And what does that show? The people who say they live under a new covenant do not even live at the level of Elijah who was under the law. Why is that so? Why do preachers when they fall into adultery say oh David also fell into adultery but he came back? Why don't they look at the new covenant and say Paul never fell into adultery? Many people go to the Bible not to find victory over sin but to find comfort for their sin in some Old Testament example. It's a very dangerous thing to go to the Bible to find comfort for your sin because you'll find it. The devil will help you to find some example and some verses to find comfort for your sin. Because he wants you to live defeated in your life. He wants you to have a miserable, fighting, quarreling family life. And he wants your children to see your hypocrisy at home and go astray. And he wants you to build a church on doctrine where they fight and quarrel and have no victory over sin. So that the heathen can look and laugh at the whole thing. Do you know that the demons in hell are laughing at so many churches today? Do you know that the demons in hell are laughing at so many churches today? at so many so-called Christian homes, it's very sad that hell is laughing at the condition of Christians who say they are following Jesus. You know, one of the wonderful examples in the Old Testament is Job. God could ask Satan once, where have you been? I've been wandering around the earth, Satan says. And God says, okay, you've seen so many people on this earth. Have you seen Job? There's nobody like him. A perfect and upright man. There were many religious people in those days. There were three preachers. Their names were Bildad, Zophar. There was another young preacher called Elihu. But God couldn't point to any of them. Do you know that Satan even today goes to God? He says, I'm wandering around the earth, and God, you know that most of your children are hypocrites. They preach one thing in the church, but they live another way at home. And God says, yes, I know that. But, have you seen this man? Have you seen this woman? Have you seen this family? Have you seen this church? I want to ask you, can God point you out to Satan and say this man is different from all the other Christians? Can he point to your home and say, look at how this man lives with his wife? Look how this man has brought up his children. Look at this church. I know there are many churches, God says, which are full of fights and quarrels. But look at this small church here. Do you have a passion that God should be able to point you out to Satan? I don't care one bit for the honor of men, but I want God to be able to point me out to Satan in this generation. That when Satan wanders around India, God can point me out to him. That he can point me out as a preacher who will never preach for money. Who will never preach to please men. Who will never hide the truth to become popular. And who will preach only what he is practicing in his life. That God can point my family to Satan and say, look at that family. And that God can point out my church to Satan and say, look at that church. That means more to me than getting the Nobel Prize or becoming world famous. What is the use of the Nobel Prize? If God cannot point you out to Satan, you are wasting your life on this earth. So, I want to challenge you in this weekend. Enter into the new covenant, so that God can point you out to Satan. Don't care for the empty honor of men. See for example in our church. I don't care what people think about our music. We are not the world's best musicians. There are many worldly people who can produce music a million times better than us. I'm not in competition that our church must be a beautiful building. Or there are 10,000 people in our church. Or we've got wonderful music. Or even wonderful preaching. Or we have great Bible scholars who know Greek and Hebrew and so many things. I'll tell you what my passion is. That as the devil wanders around India, God can point out one church and say, Satan, look at that church. They may not have good music. They may not have clever people. They may not have any millionaires. They may not have large numbers. But look at their life. Look at their homes. Look at the way they live with each other. Look at the way they forgive one another. Look at their humility. Look at their love. Look at their purity. Look at their young people, how zealous they are for God. Not just for knowledge, but for purity. You know, you will get what you desire. Jesus said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be satisfied. You will become as holy as you really want to be. If you're not more holy today in your life, if you're not more holy in your family life, let me tell you the reason. God saw that you never wanted any more holiness in your life. There is a law with God that you will get as much as you thirst for. Don't think that anybody can come to Jesus. No. Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come to me. John 7.37 Even in the last page of the Bible, the Spirit says, Let him who is thirsty come and drink. What about those who are not thirsty? Go your way. Live your own defeated life because you're not thirsty for something better. In the book of Hebrews, the word better comes 13 times. Grace is better than law. Much higher than law. The new covenant is much higher than the old covenant. You ask me, How much higher? As much higher as Jesus is. So much higher than Moses. If the old covenant could raise a man like Elijah to that level, If the law of Moses could bring Elijah and John the Baptist to a certain level, If the grace of Jesus Christ could lift me, a wretch like me, to a much higher level, If you can't say that, Dear brother and sister, you have not understood the new covenant. The devil has robbed you of your birthright. He has robbed you of the inheritance your father has written for you in his will. Do you know that Jesus said something in Matthew 11? I want you to see this. I told you this, Matthew 11, verse 11. There is no one born of women greater than John the Baptist. He was greater than Moses, greater than Elijah. Up to the time of Jesus. The greatest human being was John the Baptist. I like to mention that to my Roman Catholic friends. Do you know that John the Baptist was better than even Mary? So if you believe in praying to someone, better to pray to John the Baptist than to pray to Mary. Because Jesus said he was greatest. But we don't have to pray to any man. Because Jesus is our only mediator. But he went on to say, The least person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him. That means we have the potential to rise higher than John the Baptist. It doesn't mean we are better than John the Baptist. But if we use the provision we have in the new covenant, we can rise higher than him. One of the greatest scientists of the last century was Albert Einstein. I'm sure you all agree he was cleverer than me. Cleverer than all of us. But do you know that I can do a mathematical calculation today faster than Albert Einstein? How is that? Because I have a computer. Not because I'm cleverer than Einstein. But if you give him a problem in 1940, and give me the same problem in 2009, a mathematical problem, I can answer it quicker than him. Not because I'm cleverer than him. But because I have more resources. That's the difference between new covenant and old covenant. John the Baptist did not have the Holy Spirit living inside him like I can have. Albert Einstein did not have a fast computer like I have. So if you have a fast computer and you still can't do things faster than Albert Einstein, something is wrong. You don't have to be very clever. You have to use the resources that you have. So that's the thing. We have the Holy Spirit living inside. John the Baptist had the Holy Spirit upon him outside. Many people haven't understood this. But how do we enter into this? It says in verse 12, From the days of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. And violent men take it by force. So, Christians must be people of violence, according to this verse. Not externally. Externally, we are people of peace. We love our enemies. We bless those who curse us. We refuse to quarrel with those who want to quarrel with us. But inwardly, we fight against the devil. In the old covenant, they fought against human beings. Philistines, Canaanites, Midianites. And all people who fight other human beings are living under the old covenant. If you fight with your wife, you are under the old covenant. If you fight with your husband, you are under the old covenant. If you fight with your neighbor, you are under the old covenant. If you fight with Christians who believe some other doctrine, you are under the old covenant. Many years ago, the Lord showed me this verse in Ephesians 6, verse 12. You all know this verse. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, principalities, and powers of darkness and wickedness. And what the Lord showed me there was, you can either fight with human beings or you can fight with evil spirits. If you spend all your energy fighting with human beings, you won't have much energy to fight with evil spirits. You must fight the lusts in your flesh, and you must fight evil spirits. In the old covenant, they did not fight evil spirits. You don't find a single person in the old covenant fighting with evil spirits. They had no understanding about fighting with the lusts in the flesh. They only knew how to fight with human beings. That is a mark of old covenant people. They wrestle with flesh and blood. And the Lord showed me, as long as you wrestle with flesh and blood, you are under the old covenant. And the Lord showed me, as long as you wrestle with flesh and blood, you are under the old covenant. Philistines, or Midianites, or your wife, or your neighbor, or a brother in the church, or somebody in some other denomination, you are under the old covenant. You must make a decision in your life, the Lord told me, that you will never again fight with a human being. You must now make a decision in your life, that you will never again fight with a human being. I am grateful that I made that decision many years ago. And I put all my weapons on my flesh and on the devil. I don't have any more weapons to fight with human beings. And that's when I began to understand victory. That's when I had the authority to overcome Satan in my life, in my home, in my church. How is it that the devil comes into so many churches today and causes confusion and splits and divisions? I'll tell you, because Christ is not in that church. Is the devil more powerful than Christ? Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will never prevail against it. Then how is it that Satan is overcoming so many churches? How is it that Satan is overcoming so many homes and bringing divorce in the homes? The real answer is, Jesus is not in that home. Jesus is not in that church. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. If Christ is in me, I am unconquerable. If I yield to this Christ completely, I am unconquerable. Like Paul says, I am more than a conqueror. But how many Christians can say that? I see Christians everywhere overcome by the devil. I see homes overcome by the devil. I see churches overcome by the devil. I see communities overcome by the devil. Gentlemen, I say, what a disgrace to your name. And how many of you are concerned about that? If someone says something bad about your name, imagine that someone spreads a scandal in your town about your own daughter. Imagine that someone spreads a scandal in your town about your own daughter. Imagine that someone spreads a scandal in your town about your own daughter. What would you do? Something that is not true at all. You would be concerned. But are you concerned when the name of Jesus is dishonored? What is the first prayer that Jesus taught us to pray? Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Not protect my name, but hallowed be your name. Have you ever said this to the Lord? Lord, I don't care what people say about me. I don't care what people say about my children. But hallowed be your name. You start praying that prayer, and you'll get into a victorious life pretty soon. Jesus said, whenever you pray, say, Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. That's the number one request. And then we begin to understand the new covenant. It's a life of overcoming the lusts in our flesh. It's a life of overcoming evil spirits. I remember the Lord saying this to me after I had understood this for some years. The Lord said to me one day, from now on, as you were afraid of the devil once upon a time, from now on, the devil will be afraid of you. I said, this is wonderful. I was afraid of the devil for many years. And now, to come to the place where the devil is afraid of me, and you say to me, oh, Brother Zach, you're very proud. Just hang on before you accuse me of that. Let me show you a scripture. 1 John chapter 2. This applies not only to me, it applies to you. This is the glory of the new covenant. This is what Jesus has brought to us in the new covenant. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 6. What does it say here? The one who says he abides in Christ must walk in the same way as he walked. Let's read it again slowly. Do you say you abide in Christ? I think maybe 95% of you say that. You say you are in Christ? Okay. Then you must live your daily life like Jesus lived on earth. He's not saying that this is something we're going to do in heaven. No. If you say you're in Christ, you must walk as Jesus walked. Now, if some young 20-year-old newly converted believer comes up here and says that, you say, ah, he's idealistic. He doesn't understand reality. He's not an idealist. He's still young. But who says this? A 95-year-old apostle, John. Now, I want you to picture this in your mind. Forget Zac Ponin standing here. This is 95-year-old apostle John standing here. And he's saying, little children, I have walked with God from the day of Pentecost when I was 30 years old. I'm 95 years old today. I have walked with Jesus for 65 years. I'm not telling you theory. I'm telling you reality. You can walk as Jesus walked on this earth. Do you believe the apostle John? He's not some young 20-year-old convert. He's a man who's walked with God for 65 years. And when I read that, I said, Lord, I can do this. I can enter Canaan. I'm not going to be like those 600,000 people who say, no, no, no, the giants are too big. But every giant will be under my feet in Jesus' name. I can overcome every sin in Jesus' name. I can walk as Jesus walked. And that's for you. According to your faith, be it unto you. There were two blind men who came to Jesus once. They came to Jesus in Matthew 9. You read that in verse 25 onwards. And Jesus asked them, what do you want me to do for you? Two blind men. Lord, open our eyes. He asked them one more question. He always asks us two questions. Number one, what do you want me to do for you? Number two, do you believe that I can do this for you? Let's remember those two questions again. Number one, he is the same today, yesterday, today and forever. My son, my daughter, number one question, what do you want me to do for you? He said, Lord, I want my sins forgiven. I want to go to heaven when I die. Second question, do you believe I can do this for you? He said, yes, Lord. You died for me. I believe you can forgive my sins. I believe you'll take me to heaven. Wonderful. According to your faith, be it unto you. But you can ask for more. See, supposing one blind man had said, Lord, my two eyes are blind. But I have faith that you can open one blind eye. What would Jesus have told him? According to your faith, be it unto you. And he would have come out with one eye open. And the other blind man, he says, Lord, I believe you can open both eyes. Okay. According to your faith, be it unto you. And he comes out with both eyes open. Now, these two people meet each other after some time. And the man with one eye open, he asks, how did you get two eyes open? I went to Jesus and I got only one eye open. He said, I went to the same Jesus and I got two eyes open. Is it because God is partial? Is it because God is partial? Is it because Jesus loved the second man more than the first man? No. Okay, what are these two eyes I'm talking about? One is forgiveness of sins. And the other is victory over sin. Many Christians have got one eye open. You know why? Not because God loves them less. That's all they have faith for. Oh Lord, you can forgive my sin. According to your faith, be it unto you. What about Jesus giving you victory over sin? Victory over your anger. Victory over your lusting with your eyes. Victory over love of money. Victory over your jealousy. Your quarreling spirit. And the 101 other things you are defeated by. Yeah, I'm not sure whether Jesus can give me victory over that. Okay, you remain with one eye blind for the rest of your life. But another blind man, he says, Lord, I believe you can forgive me and give me victory. What did he have more than you? He believed the Bible when it says, sin shall not rule over you. You believed only that he would forgive his sin. He believed that he could also walk as Jesus walked. So, for 16 years after I was born again, I was defeated by sin. I was on this merry-go-round. Not for one or two days, 16 years. Sin, repent, confess, be cleansed, tomorrow, sin again, repent, confess, be forgiven, cleansed, next week, sin again, next year, next year, 16 years. Is that your history? I want to say to you, you can get off that merry-go-round. And you can walk further like Jesus walked. How did Jesus live on this earth? Let me ask you, do you believe that the devil was afraid of Jesus? You all agree there, yes. Can you walk as Jesus walked? I believe that. That's why I believe that the devil can be afraid of me. I used to picture this in my mind when Jesus was in Israel. And he was going towards Galilee. All the demons would be scared. He's coming here, he's coming here. And then he would go to Judea. And the demons in Judea would be scared. He's coming here, he's coming here. I said, Lord, I want to walk as you walked. I'm a sinner saved by grace. But you have filled me with the Holy Spirit. You have changed my life. I'm not a child of Adam now, I'm a child of God. And I can walk as Jesus walked. And wherever I go, the demons will tremble and say, he's coming here now. My brothers and sisters, don't you want to live like that? Imagine what will happen to the Netherlands if even just a few of you live like that. I want to live like that in India. I believe that's how God wants us all to live. You have to decide you will never fight with human beings again. You have to make a decision this day that, Lord, I'm never going to fight with my husband or wife again. Never. I'm not going to raise my voice at my husband or wife for the rest of my life. I'm not going to fight with my neighbor. I'm not going to fight with other Christians. I'm not going to fight with a single human being. If people come to fight with me, I'll keep quiet. Let them imagine they have won the argument. I refuse to fight with human beings because all my guns are trained at the devil. Make that decision. And your life will be completely different. Let's have a break now. We'll just sing one song and then we'll continue. We can think a little better if we have a little break in between. I want to turn now to Hebrews in Genesis. We turn to Hebrews, chapter 8. We see here that God has established a new covenant with man. And it's very important that we understand it. The Bible says don't frustrate the grace of God. Don't receive the grace of God in vain. And when God has made such provision, we must use it. Think if your father left a million euros for you. Think if you wasted it and wasted it in about one or two weeks. And you lived after that like a poor beggar on the street. Just living hand to mouth a little bit. That is a picture of many Christians. God has provided such tremendous spiritual riches for them in Christ. But they don't live with those riches. Spiritually, they live such poverty stricken lives. So that is my burden. My burden is to storm the kingdom of the devil. Jesus has already defeated him on the cross. I just want to go and establish that victory in every place I go. To deliver people from the deception of Satan. And the bondage of Satan. And the legalism and the rules and rituals of the old covenant. And bring them to the abundant life in Christ. Jesus said in John 10.10 I have come that you might have life and abundant life. Many Christians are happy with life. They don't have abundant life. Let me give you a picture of that. Here is a sick man lying in the hospital with tubes in his veins and mouth and nose and all over. He's not dead. He's struggling to breathe. And you say has he got life? Yeah, he's got life. That's a picture of life. Now I'll show you a picture of abundant life. You go to a soccer stadium where they are playing football and you see those young energetic people running around for 90 minutes. That's abundant life. Which type of life do you want? Some Christians are like these hospital patients. Always falling into sin. They have to be in the hospital all the time. Every day. Hardly able to breathe. Sick. Yeah, they are born again. They certainly don't have abundant life. I don't want that type of life. I want abundant life. And I want to say to you in Jesus' name that is your birthright. Don't sell your birthright like Esau for some earthly bowl of porridge. So let me explain to you the new covenant. Hebrews 8. First of all, verse 13. When God said a new covenant He has made the first obsolete. This is not just like electricity and lamps. No, God says no more lamps. Only electricity. This is not like bullock carts and cars. God says no more bullock carts, only cars. The old covenant is obsolete. It is not an option anymore. You have to be under the new covenant. You know, it's like when they changed the guilder into the euro here. I don't know whether you can still use the guilder here. I'm not sure. No, you can't. So what's the use of having a whole lot of guilder currency notes in your house? It's as useless as toilet paper. The old covenant is like that. Imagine if you still think the old covenant is valid. Yes, the guilder was valid once upon a time. You've got to forgive me. I sometimes get excited when I speak about the new covenant. I go ahead of the translator. But the old covenant is abolished. We are in the days of the euro now. We are days of the new covenant. Why is it Christians remain so blind when God says the old covenant is abolished? Let me just say a few things. There are three points here. Verse 12, 11 and 10. And I want to compare these three with the old covenant. We'll start with the bottom. First of all, concerning sin. Because that is our first problem. The guilt of many years of sin. What is the Lord saying? He's not talking about grace here. He's talking about mercy. I will be merciful to their iniquities, verse 12, and I'll remember their sins no more. There is a difference between grace and mercy. It's the same word. Oh, okay. Okay. We need a new translation in Dutch then. Let's turn to Hebrews 4 and verse 16. Let's turn to Hebrews 4, 16. Please read it. Hebrews 4, 16. Are there two different words? You come to the throne of grace, and then what do you get there? You first get mercy, and then you get grace. Mercy is an Old Testament word. You read it many times in the Old Testament. The mercy of the Lord endures forever. It refers to forgiveness of sins. But here it speaks about after mercy you get grace. That's a new covenant word. Grace means victory over sin. Sin shall not rule over you because you are under grace now. Romans 6, 14. Not we are under mercy. So in the new covenant we have more than forgiveness. Let's go back to Hebrews 8, 12. That's lesson number one. We're going to have three lessons. Very briefly. First of all, Psalm 103. This is written one thousand years before Christ. David says, Bless the Lord, O my soul. He does many things for us. Number one, verse three. He forgives, pardons all your sins. How many sins? All your sins. This is not new covenant. This is old covenant. One thousand years before Christ. And second, He heals all your diseases. That's also bullock cart. Old covenant. How many diseases? All your diseases. Third, He redeems your life from the pit. That's fine. He satisfies your years with good things. That means He gives you so much material prosperity. He gives you a good salary, good house, good job, so many material benefits. Old covenant. What are the four things? Feeding, forgiveness of sins, healing from sickness, deliverance from hell, material prosperity. That gospel, which many people are preaching today as a new covenant gospel, is actually an old covenant gospel that David preached one thousand years before Christ. But so many people today are preaching that as the new covenant gospel. They are leading Christians back to the age of the bullock cart. They are leading Christians away from the electricity age to the lamp and candle age. And I say, the Bible says the old covenant is obsolete. It's finished. Let me show you another verse. David again, Psalm 32, verse 1. How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. In the Old Testament, sin was covered. If it's a black word and all my sins are written down here, here is, sin is covered. You can't see it. It's covered. But if you lift it up, you can see what's underneath. But in the New Testament, the blood of Jesus cleanses out all that sin. It's not covered, it's cleansed. Do you want your sin to be covered or cleansed? I want it to be cleansed. I don't want anybody to know about my past life. Because Jesus' blood cleanses. There was no cleansing in the Old Testament. It's all in the Bible. Why is it you haven't seen it till today? You know, many people, when they hear me preach, they say, Brother Zach, you've given us a new Bible. You know, all I did was ask you to read it carefully, that's all. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. If you were given a legal document, you would read every word carefully. Many Christians don't read the Bible even half as carefully as a legal document. If your earthly father wrote a will for you with all the property he has kept for you, you would read every word carefully. Why don't you read the Bible so carefully? Do you know how much you have lost by not reading your heavenly father's will carefully? The blood of Jesus cleanses us. And when we are cleansed, the Lord says in verse 12, Hebrews 8, verse 12, I will remember their sins no more. That means when God looks at you, He looks at you as completely sins all blotted out. We are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible says in Romans 5, 9. Justified by the blood of Jesus. Now what is the meaning of justified? I want to take two pictures of it from modern understanding. If you have used computers and you have used any word processing program like Microsoft Word, you know that in that word processing in the document there is a command called justify. That means, you know in the olden days when we used to typewrite our letters, you could get the left edge straight with a typewriter. But the right edge would all be different lengths each line. If you use typewriters you know that. There was no way to get the right edge straight. But now with a computer and a word processing program, after you type many pages and every line is crooked, maybe you have written 50 lines and they are all different lengths and then you highlight it with your cursor and you click on justify and in a moment the lines are straight. Just like your bible. See how the right edge is absolutely straight? That is justify. That means you live 50 years with lots of sins and a lot of crookedness and in a moment the Lord Jesus says justify and it becomes absolutely straight as if you have never sinned in your whole life. I thank God that I am not only forgiven, I am justified. Jesus used examples to illustrate truth. So I'll use one more example. Supposing a man is taken to court as a criminal and there are 25 charges against him. Murder, adultery, rape, so many things. Stealing. And the judge looks at all the charges and he says okay I'll be merciful to you, you're forgiven. And the people are waiting outside the court. What is the judgement on this? And he comes out with his head hanging down. Happy. Forgiven. But why is his head hanging down? Because he's a criminal. A forgiven criminal. Okay here's another man now, who goes into the same court and all these charges and the judge examines each charge and says every charge is wrong. There's nothing to this, there's nothing to this, there's nothing to this. I don't ever forgive you. You're righteous. He also comes out of the court with his head lifted up. I am not a criminal. That's the difference between being forgiven and justified. We are forgiven first. That's good. We're happy. My sins are all forgiven, I'm on my way to heaven. But many believers are still with their head hanging down. Oh lord, I'm such a wretch. I know what I did ten years ago. Oh, I can't forget what I did five years ago. But thank you for forgiving me. I'm such a wretch, you've forgiven me. And here's another brother, who did all the wretched things this man did and God forgave him also. But he learned another truth. That he's not only forgiven, he's justified by the blood of Jesus Christ. Justified means declared righteous. That means I stood in the court and the almighty God said, you're a righteous man. And like the psalm says, he is my glory and the lifter of my head. The lifter of my head. He lifts up my head. I don't have to walk with my head hanging down on this earth. Because I'm not only forgiven, I'm justified. Their sins I will remember no more. So when God looks at me today, he doesn't look at me and say, ah, I know what he did five years ago. I know what he did twenty years ago. I'm nearly seventy years old now. It's wonderful that God looks at me as if I've never sinned once in all seventy years. That's why my head is lifted up. That's why I'm a happy person. I know my father rejoices in me. That is the mighty power there is in the blood of Jesus Christ. Not only to cleanse me, to redeem me, to purchase me from the slave market of sin, to overcome the accusations of the devil, but also to declare me righteous. Not just forgiven, but righteous. That's the first thing in the new covenant. Then second, Hebrews chapter eight, and verse eleven. In the old covenant they could only call him God. But now, we call him father. It says here in verse eleven, they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizens saying know the Lord, but all shall know me from the least to the greatest. In the old testament you had to go to some priest or some prophet and say please tell me about the Lord. But not now. Now you can go and know God personally yourself. Because he has become our father. You know that nobody in the old covenant could look up and say father. Not only father, the bible says the spirit cries out Abba! Father. Abba means the intimate word daddy. Whatever you call your daddy at home, your earthly father. We know God like that. That's the second privilege of the new covenant. In the old testament they said oh great and almighty God we come with great fear before you. I still have the same reverence for God. I don't lose reverence. But with my reverence I can say Abba. Daddy. Because he has become my father. It's wonderful. How do you know whether you really know God as your father? Theoretically you'll all say God is your father. But we must test it. All shall know me from the least to the greatest. Now in the world they say from the greatest to the least. From the king to the beggar they say in the world. But in the bible it says from the least to the greatest. You know why? You know some people tell me this. Oh brother Zach you've known God for fifty years. When you pray God will hear you. But I was born again last week. I'm a little child. God won't listen to me like he listens to you. I say hang on. Just listen to me. Supposing your father is sitting with his five or six children around the table. And the twenty year old says dad I want to say something to you. And the two year old says daddy I want to say something. Who is the daddy going to listen to first? I know. He'll tell the twenty year old you keep quiet let me listen to the two year old first. God is like that. From the least to the greatest. He will listen to you. He won't listen to me more than he listens to you. It's wonderful. We are equal around the father's table. We are brothers. Nobody is bigger or greater than the other. We are all equal. And we like a father. How do we know whether we really know him as a father? One test. There is a verse where Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 This is how we know whether we really know God as our father. Jesus said in Matthew 6 verse 31 Do not be anxious. Again a second time in verse 34. Do not be anxious. In the Old Testament there was a commandment saying do not commit adultery. Do not commit murder. Do not steal. How many of you obeyed those commandments? Don't murder. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. The same God says in the New Covenant Don't be anxious. Why don't we take that as seriously as don't murder, don't commit adultery? Supposing a man committed adultery and said oh that's just a weakness it's not a sin. But that's what you say when Jesus said don't be anxious you say my anxiety is a weakness it's not a sin. I want to tell you this. When Jesus says twice in four verses don't be anxious and you become anxious it's a sin. In the Ten Commandments it's not written twice in four verses don't commit murder. Only once don't commit murder and you take it seriously. But here Jesus says twice in four verses don't be anxious and you say well that's optional. You know the fundamental problem with Christians is they don't take God's word seriously and that's why they don't understand the new covenant and that's why they don't see the glory of the new covenant and that's why they live defeated lives. First step take God's word seriously when he says don't be anxious I say Lord I want to live that life. Don't be anxious about anything. Why? Because verse 32 your heavenly father knows whatever you need. Your heavenly father knows what you need. So don't be anxious. Now let me use an example. Supposing you're in a time of recession people are losing their jobs. Now here you have social security the government takes care of it. In India there is no such thing. If a man loses his job he has to leave his house and sometimes we see people with all their luggage and all thrown out on the street. Now supposing somebody knows that tomorrow I have to vacate this house. I don't know where to go. I don't have any money in the bank. I've lost my job and the landlord has told me to get out of this rented house and whole night he and his wife are worried and in the next room his two year old child is sleeping or three year old child and you wake up that three year old child and you say hey don't you know that you're going to be thrown out of the house tomorrow? Why are you sleeping? Why aren't you worried? He said don't disturb me. Go and tell my daddy all that. Go and tell my father all that. See what it means to be like a little child. He's not an orphan. Orphans are worried about many things because they have no father. Many Christians behave exactly like orphans. If the queen of the Netherlands was your close personal friend or your own mother and you were her son and you had a problem what would you do? You would call her up and say mom can you please help me? And she said don't worry I'll take care of that. You can go to sleep. Why? It's a very serious problem. But your mother is the queen and she said she'll take care of it. Now I have one question. Is your heavenly father more powerful than your queen or less powerful? Very simple question. Do you think your heavenly father can do more than the queen of the Netherlands? Many Christians don't believe that. They say oh if some rich person were my father all my problems would be solved. But what about if your heavenly father is the ruler of this universe? That is the proof that you don't know God really as your father. In a form you can fill up father's name God. But in actual life you live in fear like an orphan. But in a daily life you Jesus has come to show us that God is our father. And that's why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. See everything in the new covenant depends on being filled with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will tell me God is my father. And one last thing. Hebrews 8 verse 10. The third part of the new covenant. I will write Hebrews 8 10 I will put my laws into their minds and I will write them upon their hearts. That's the third part of the new covenant. In the old testament the law was written outside on stones. Two stones. Today those two stones are our mind and our heart. When it says I will put my law into your mind it means God will give me a desire to do his will. When he says he will write it upon my heart it means he will give me the ability to do his will. He will give me first of all a desire to do his will. Put his law in my mind. And then give me the ability to do his will. Write it on my heart. That's all I need. Everything that is God's will written in the scripture when it says don't be anxious put away all anger love your enemies don't love money rejoice always in everything give thanks pray without ceasing God's will God works in me to have a tremendous passion to do all that. And then he gives me the ability to do that. That I can live that life. That is not possible in the old testament. The old testament it was written outside. And if you read the bible like that I have to do this I have to do that I have to do this other thing oh lord I can't do it. That's just like having the rules outside. Many churches they have so many rules. You do this you do this can't do this can't do that. But God puts the desire inside. It's one thing for a church to tell you you shall not have a television and watch dirty movies. But it's another thing when God puts the desire in your heart that I don't want to do it. One is an external rule. The other is an inward desire. We can follow external rules and never get rid of the inward desire. The wonderful message of the new covenant is we don't live by rules on the outside. If your christian life is based on external rules I want to tell you the good news. Ask God to write his law in your heart with the finger of God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called the finger of God in the gospels. And he writes the law means he gives me the desire and the ability to do his will. So we don't have to say I want to do it but I can't do it. That's the old covenant. Jesus could desire and do God's will. That's the message of the new covenant. It's not by your struggle. The Holy Spirit will empower you. Like you switch on the light the bulbs come on. It's so simple. Open ourselves to the Holy Spirit of God. Say Lord write your law in my heart. Do you know brothers and sisters how much we have missed in the christian life? Make sure that this weekend is going to turn your life around completely. That God will lift you this weekend to a higher level of the christian life that you have never experienced so far. According to your faith be it unto you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father we pray that you will apply these truths to our daily lives. I believe there are many hungry people here. Help them to enter into this life. In Jesus name. Amen.