This sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding the New Covenant, highlighting how many Christians are unaware of its significance despite its existence for centuries. It delves into the revelation of the church as built upon Christ, the Son of the living God, and the authority given to believers in the Kingdom of Heaven. The message stresses the need to prioritize heavenly things over earthly desires to truly operate in the New Covenant and wield the authority granted by Jesus.

We've gone through nine studies in the New Covenant. And the reason I took these studies is because I found that most Christians, and by most, I mean more than 90%, are totally ignorant of what the New Covenant is all about, even though the New Covenant has been in existence for 2,000 years. It's like I've heard that some of the slaves in the United States never knew that Abraham Lincoln had proclaimed freedom even 40, 50 years after it was proclaimed. This would be like someone in India not knowing that India became free from British rule more than 60 years ago. I mean, that would be surprising. I think even in the villages, people would know that. Think if 90% of people in India did not know that India was free from British rule. That's something, a picture of the condition of a lot of Christians today. If you were to ask the average believer, if you don't believe me, just test it out. Go to the average believer you know and ask them, in what way is the New Covenant different from the Old Covenant? And I guarantee you'll discover that 90% do not know. And that's why I felt there was a need for this study. Now these 10 studies don't cover everything. There's a lot that we've spoken about through the years. But these are the main things I wanted to stress. So today we want to come to Matthew chapter 16. We've been looking at some of the words that come for the first time in the New Testament and we've basically been looking only at the Gospel of Matthew. I'll write in the first few chapters of Matthew as it were, hidden truths about the New Covenant. And here is a word in Matthew 16 that comes for the first time in the Bible, the first time that Jesus ever spoke of it. That's the word church. Another word, which is totally misunderstood. And that's found in verse 18. You see, Jesus had asked the disciples in verse 13, who do you people say that Son of Man is? And people had different ideas. Then he said, who do you say that I am? Verse 15. And Simon Peter answered and said, you're the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because you didn't get that revelation from your own intelligence, but from my Father in heaven. And I want to say to you, Peter, you are, Peter, upon this rock that you just confessed. What did he just confess? Christ, the Son of the living God. What you just confessed, upon this rock, I will build my church. So that is the rock on which the church is built, the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the next thing he said was, because it's built on Christ and it's built by Christ, the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Now in the Old Testament, we read many times that the gates of a city were the place where the elders of the city sat, the judges, the rulers sat in the gates of the city. Today we would talk about the parliament building or something like that, where the rulers of a city sit. So it's talking about the headquarters. When it says the gates of Hades, Hades is a place of departed spirits. And so when it talks about the gates of Hades, he's referring to those who rule, the rulers of the powers of darkness. They will not be able to overpower the church. And then he said, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And we already saw that the kingdom of heaven was something, particularly in the New Covenant. It's not found in the Old Testament. The Old Testament was a kingdom of earth. And the New Testament is a kingdom of heaven. Don't forget that. All believers who are primarily seeking after earthly things, even if they understand the New Covenant thoroughly, are still under the Old Covenant. It's not a question of what you understand. You can understand all about electricity and have no electricity in your house. You know that. You can understand all about the New Covenant and still live under the Old Covenant. And one of the clearest marks of it is that earthly things are primary to you. So it's not a question of understanding, because a lot of Christians today think, if I understand something, I got it. If I understand how to be born again, I'm born again. No. If I understand how to be baptized in the Spirit, I'm baptized in the Spirit. No. If I understand the New Covenant, I'm in the New Covenant. No. If you are detached from earthly things, and heavenly things mean more to you than earthly things, you have come into the Kingdom of Heaven. Otherwise, the word is the Kingdom of Earth. That's what you seek. Jesus said, Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God, and then the earthly things you need will be added to you. So Jesus gave Peter the keys for the Kingdom of Heaven, not for an earthly kingdom. Now a lot of preachers today have got the keys to the Kingdom of Earth. Well, that they got from the devil. But Jesus spoke here about an authority that we have when we are heavenly minded. You know, a lot of people use the name of Jesus whose minds are set on the things of Earth. But they don't have that authority. Do you understand why some of your prayers are not answered now, even though you pray in the name of Jesus? There is an authority in the name of Jesus, which is a very powerful authority. Nothing can stand before it. But that name has to be used by a man who is heavenly minded. An earthly minded man, if he uses that name, it's like the sons of Sceva. You read in Acts chapter 19, trying to cast out a demon saying, We cast out a demon in Jesus' name whom Paul preaches. And the demon said, Who do you think you are? I know Jesus and Paul, they're heavenly minded, but not you fellas. And that's exactly what the devil tells a lot of people today. Christians, born again Christians, who pray in the name of Jesus. And the devil says, Ha ha, the name of Jesus. I know where your minds are set. You think you're going to get any answer to your prayer? You can fool yourself that you prayed. And when the answer doesn't come, you'd say, Oh, it's not God's will. That's not the reason. The reason is you are earthly minded. You're not in the new covenant. Why not face up to it? You see, man has had a tendency always to blame God when something goes wrong. Even in these insurance policies, they say acts of God. That means something went wrong, which we couldn't handle, like earthquake or fire or something like that. They blame God for things which they probably had to blame themselves for. And they say, Oh, well, it wasn't God's will. Blame God. Wasn't that at all? They never think the fault could possibly be with me from Adam's time. You know, when God asked Adam, why did you eat of this tree? He said, this woman whom you gave me, gave it. Whose fault is that then? God's. And that habit has come down through 6,000 years. Dear brothers and sisters, I've also said this. One of the primary characteristics of a man who's come under the new covenant is also that he learns to judge, that he knows how to judge himself. Doesn't blame other people. Doesn't blame God. So, the keys to the kingdom of heaven are not only for Peter. It's for us to be a part of that church. Then we confess Christ as the son of the living God and we want the kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom of earth. I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And once you got that authority, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. See, this is speaking about warfare. And whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.