This sermon emphasizes the transition from the old covenant to the new covenant, highlighting the superior promises and blessings of the new covenant. It focuses on God's work within believers, writing His laws in their minds and hearts, giving them the desire and ability to fulfill His will. The speaker shares personal experiences of how the new covenant has transformed his life, bringing security, freedom from anxiety, and a deep relationship with God as Father.

When I started my ministry, I did not know what God was calling me for. I was converted 54 years ago, when I was 19, I was an officer in the Navy, in India, and I had this great burden. I mean, the only thing I knew was how our sins could be forgiven, so that's all I could preach. And so, I was in the naval base, and in the two years I was there, I covered every single street in the town, preaching the gospel. And I thought I would be an evangelist, I witnessed the tracks on the trains and buses I traveled in, really seeking to witness for Christ, but gradually, over a period of time, I discovered through trial and error that I was not an evangelist. I didn't have that, I didn't see fruit, even though I labored so much. But when I began to teach God's word in little groups, I started sometimes with just one little family, I would ask them if I can come there once a week and share God's word. I found, you know, real results and fruit coming out of my ministry, so gradually I discovered that though I wanted to be an evangelist, God was making me a teacher. It's very easy to find out what gift you have, if you have a burden, the burden in your heart is very often an indication of our calling in the body of Christ. And then, but sometimes we can have a burden for something that gives us a lot of prominence, and that could be our own desire. So if you try to exercise that ministry, you find out pretty soon whether you've got that calling or not. For example, some people have come to me and said, I think God's calling me for a healing ministry. Well, I say, great, I hope you have compassion for the sick, but test it out, pray for a hundred people, and if nobody's healed, you know that you don't have that gift. Don't waste your time, go and seek for something else. Because in the, the Lord Jesus said, I have chosen you and ordained you, John 15, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. And I believe that there are different callings, there are evangelists, there are people with a healing gift, more rare now, and there are apostles and prophets, and all these gifts are there, but there will be in their labor fruit that remains, not that fruit that comes up and disappears. So that's something which I have longed for in my own ministry, that I want to see fruit that remains. And as I developed in the ministry of teaching over the last 40 years or so, I found God began to focus it on a few particular areas, and I saw that was because those were the neglected areas in scripture. And so I spent a lot of time listening to what other preachers were preaching, what television, Christian TV was preaching, and many others, and literature and books, and I discovered that there were whole sections of scripture that were not being touched at all. So God gradually began to show me, particularly after I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, the truths of the new covenant. Now I never knew for 16 years after I was born again, that there was something called the new covenant, and that Jesus spoke about it at the Last Supper, He spoke about it only once, when He took the cup, He said, this is my blood, this cup is the blood of my new covenant. There was something new. And in Hebrews chapter 8, this is the verse I want to read to you this evening, in Hebrews 8, there's some amazing words, and we want to look at them carefully, verse 6, in Hebrews there's a lot of comparison between Moses and Christ, and between the law and grace, between the old covenant and the new covenant, and here it says, He's talking about Moses first, and then comparing, you know, in verse 5 He's talking about Moses, and then He talks about Jesus in verse 6, Hebrews 8 verse 6, but now Christ has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He's the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. Hebrews is a great book that speaks a lot about the new covenant, and the word that keeps coming again and again and again in Hebrews is the word, better, better, better. Make a note of that. It says here, a better covenant, the new covenant is a better covenant than the old covenant. The old covenant was made with Israel on Mount Sinai, and the new covenant began on the day of Pentecost, it was sealed with the blood of Jesus on the cross, the beginning of it was there, and there are better promises here. The old covenant was mostly promised for earthly blessing. If you read the Old Testament, God's promises to Israel, there was nothing about heaven there, there was nothing about partaking of God's nature, there was nothing about overcoming sin, there was nothing about eternal life, these things were non-existent, and such words don't even exist. Even the word fellowship, you don't find it in the Old Testament, because Israel was not a fellowship of people who could become one body, they were a congregation, and there's a lot of difference between a congregation and a body. And a lot of churches are just congregations. A lot of Christians are living under the old covenant, without realizing it. And here it says, in verse 7, if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need, occasion sought for a second. So here it says, the Holy Spirit says that the first covenant that God established was faulty. Can you imagine God giving out something faulty? But it says here, so carry it. But it was not that God made a mistake. I mean the second covenant is not like a newer model of a car or something, rectifying the mistakes in the older model, no. The old covenant was not meant to do certain things, that's the point. And God could not establish a new covenant until Jesus came and shed His blood, and rose again from the dead, and the Holy Spirit was given, until then, and God couldn't establish this covenant, and in order for Christ to come to earth, He had to prepare a people through whom Christ would come, and that was the nation of Israel, which began with God choosing Abraham, and so He had to establish a covenant with them, and through the law and the sacrifices, so that when Christ came and died, they would understand what it was all about, and how seriously God took sin, etc. So it's only in that sense, we can say the first covenant was a temporary measure, preparing the way for the second. But it did succeed in raising Israel to a very high moral standard, in fact most of the laws in the world today are based on the Ten Commandments, and it raised Israel above all the nations of the earth, morally, because of the covenant God made with them, and not only morally, but even their hygienic standards were much higher than in other parts of the world, because that was also taught in the book of Leviticus. So, but it was only a temporary measure, preparing the way for what God's final plan was, the new covenant. We must remember that. So He finds fault with that covenant, He says, I'm going to make a new covenant, He says in verse 8, which is not like verse 9, the covenant which I made with their fathers in Sinai. And at the end in verse 13 He says, Hebrews 8 verse 13, and when the Lord says a new covenant, He has made the first obsolete, and what is obsolete is ready to vanish. So there is a covenant that's obsolete. It's like, I suppose it's true in Australia too, but many other Western countries, they're very strict about expiry dates for foodstuffs, and they say not to be used after so and so date. And it's a crime in many places to, for big supermarkets to stock food that's been, that's expired. They can be sued if anybody gets sick. But and so, all these markets are very careful to remove foods and cans and all that have crossed the expiry date. It's crossed the expiry date and most of us when we buy something, particularly medicines, we would look for the expiry date. Is the expiry date, it's over? I don't want to touch it. I want something that's current. Well I want to tell you, there's an expiry date on the old covenant. It expired long, long ago, 2000 years ago. But still people are picking it up and thinking they've got to live by that. Let me give you an example. In Deuteronomy chapter 28, we see something of the blessings and curses that would accompany the old covenant. The first 14 verses are the blessings and the remaining 54 verses are the curses. And what the Lord said was, if you obey everything that I tell you, these are the blessings that will overtake you, verse 1 and 2 and then he describes it all. But, verse 15, if you don't obey, then these are the curses. And if you look at it carefully, I don't have time to read through the whole thing. I just want to mention, basically he's telling them, if you obey my old covenant laws, you will be materially, financially wealthy and physically healthy. And if you don't obey me, you will be financially, materially poor and physically sick. So basically Deuteronomy 28 was a health and wealth gospel. It's very clear. If you don't believe me, just read it sometime. If you do this, I will bless you with health and wealth. It's expired by the way, 2000 years ago, but there are people picking it up today. There are an abundance of television preachers and how do they succeed in fooling a lot of Christians because most Christians today have not read the Bible carefully. That's a sad thing. And I often say, if you've got the Bible in your own language and you don't read it carefully, you deserve to be deceived by anybody. I mean, I can feel sorry for, I mean, there are lots of people in our country who don't have the Bible in their own language. They can be forgiven. But what about people who've got their Bible in 26 translations, why should they be deceived? And every one of them, those translations will tell you the old covenant is expired. We're not living in Deuteronomy 28. There's a new covenant that God has made with man. Why do we go back to the old? There's something in man's nature that loves the old. You know, Jesus said, even after tasting the new wine, people say the old is better. And I see that the new wine speaks about the life of Jesus. That's by the way, in the last verse of Luke chapter five, they say the old is better. But I see that happening around me. I mean, if someone offers, tells you, under the new covenant, you can overcome anger. You'll never get angry with your husband or wife. You can overcome bitterness. You can overcome lusting after women. You can overcome pornography. You can overcome jealousy. You can overcome pride and you can overcome selfishness and you can overcome the love of money and all types of sins, hypocrisy. And another preacher comes along and says, if you accept what I say, you'll be healed of your sicknesses, you'll get a better house, and you'll get a better car, which a carnal person accepts. You know, a carnal person is not interested in victory over sin. He says the blood of Jesus just cleanses me all the time. It doesn't matter if I sin, because no matter how much I sin, I can always go to the blood. The blood, the blood, the blood. That's what a lot of people say. There's cleansing in the blood. It's true. But they say, well, I want to live on this earth and if this other gospel offers me material wealth and health, that's what I really want. And as far as the spiritual part of it, so long as I just manage to scrape it into heaven, that's enough for me. Can you imagine that Jesus, having shed his blood, sacrificed everything and given his life completely for us, made that tremendous sacrifice, first of all, of coming from heaven to earth. And my response to that is, Lord, what's the minimum I have to do to get into your presence? I would be ashamed of myself if one day I stand before the Lord and I look back on my life and I've discovered that my whole life was animated by one principle. What is the minimum I have to do to go to heaven? And yet that's how most Christians live. And that's why there's so little joy in their life. The victory and triumph that the apostles spoke about is not there in their life. Now, I'm not throwing stones at anyone because I lived like that for 16 years after I was born again. So I'm not without sin. I'm not qualified to throw stones. I'm just saying, well, the Lord set me free from that and delivered me and showed me that I did not have to take that expired medicine anymore. I could throw it away. There was something better, a better covenant. And in this better covenant, it's not that God doesn't care for our earthly needs. He says, if you seek my kingdom and my righteousness, I'll take care of your earthly needs. I'll provide for you and I'll take care of your children. But that's not what we seek. It's sort of a bonus that's thrown in because we seek that which is what God provides for us in the new covenant. And so when you turn back to Hebrews chapter 8, you see there, this, he says, is the covenant I will make with them. So I just want to share that with you. The terms of the new covenant, the blessings of the new covenant. And it's not health and wealth. It's something better than that. It's something that deals with our deepest problem. When our eyes are open to see the seriousness of sin, we discover that a wrong attitude to another person is worse than cancer. Now most Christians don't believe that. If they had cancer and a doctor told them after a scan that you got cancer, terminal cancer, they'd be really disturbed. But if their conscience tells them you got a wrong attitude to that person, you got a bitterness against that person, they're not so disturbed about that. That shows the blindness of people who think that sickness is worse than sin. In the old covenant they thought like that. They wanted healing. But in the new covenant God opens our eyes to see that sin is much worse than sickness and I can prove it to you. I know people who've gone to heaven who died of cancer. I know them personally. But Jesus said, if you don't forgive somebody, your heavenly father won't forgive you. I mean that's Matthew 6.15. So if your heavenly father doesn't forgive you, because you didn't forgive somebody else, you had a wrong attitude, a bitterness, and you die in that condition, no matter how much healing and wealth you got, and your heavenly father hasn't forgiven you and you die, is there a second chance? It's appointed unto men, once you die, and after this the judgment. So is there another opportunity to be forgiven after he's dead? No there isn't. But you may say, but he did so much good in his life. Ah, then your understanding of the gospel is the heathen understanding that God will take a weighing balance and put all your good deeds on one side and all your bad deeds on the other side, and depending on which is heavier, determine whether you go to heaven or hell. Is that the gospel you believe in? I don't. That is the understanding of every heathen religion, that God's going to weigh your good deeds versus your bad deeds and determine whether you go to heaven or hell. But the Bible says, our good deeds are like filthy rags, everything is bad in God's eyes. So what is going to be the condition of a person who died without forgiving somebody? Let God be true and every man a liar. That's what it says in Matthew 3. I don't want to get anybody under condemnation, but I want to speak the truth. It's so clear in Matthew 6, 14 and 15 that I say words could not be plainer. If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly father will forgive you. I mean that verse itself should be enough, but Jesus amplifies it in the next verse and says, if you do not forgive men, your father will not forgive your transgressions. When he says your father, he's not talking about God. If he said God, then he's talking to the unbeliever. He's telling the unbeliever, you guys don't forgive somebody, God will not forgive me. When he says your father, who is he talking to? You think the whole world can say he's their father? God is not their father. Your father will not forgive your transgressions. Let's take Jesus' words seriously. So that's why I say, you can have cancer and go to heaven. And you can have a bitterness against somebody and go to hell. So which is worse? To me it's pretty clear. Now, that was not true in the old covenant. In the old covenant, you know, Jesus said, to whom less is given, less is required. To whom more is given, more is required. But the kindergarten class teacher does not expect as much understanding in that kindergarten child as someone who is in a PhD class, obviously. I think that's about the comparison. Old covenant is kindergarten and new covenant is PhD. The Lord expects more. David died without forgiving Shimei. But he went to heaven. But in the new covenant it's different. That verse is not found in the Old Testament. If you don't forgive others, God will not forgive you. It is in the new covenant. We can rise higher in the new covenant and sink lower. That's how it is. In the old covenant you couldn't rise high, you couldn't fall very low. On Hebrews chapter 8, let's get there and see what are the terms of this, what are the blessings of the new covenant. And I want to read from verse 12 to verse 10 upwards. Hebrews 8 verse 12 first of all. Because, you know, the reason why I start like that is it says for this and this and then finally it says for. So, when it says finally for, that's where it begins in verse 12. For means because. So, that's really the starting point. That's really the foundation. The first blessing of this new covenant. There are three of them. The first is in verse 12. I will be merciful to their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more. In the old covenant, sin was never cleansed. It's important to know that. In Egypt, they could say the blood was on the door, they were under the blood. In Psalm 32, it says, blessed is the man whose sin is covered. When I hear Christians singing that I'm under the blood, I'm covered by the blood. I say, you guys haven't read the Bible. That's old covenant. I don't sing those songs. You may have sung it all your life, but I just want to tell you it's old covenant. You'll never see that expression anywhere in the New Testament. Under the blood. Covered by the blood. Covered means, you know, your sins are all written down there on the board and you take a sheet and cover it. That's what God did. That's all that the blood of bulls and goats could do. Cover your sin. If you lifted up the sheet, it was there. But the blood of Jesus cleanses. It's like taking a wet rag and wiping it all out, it's gone. It's not there anymore. I'm cleansed by the blood. I thank God I'm not covered. I'm not under the blood, I'm cleansed by the blood. It's like a lot of people speak about being at the foot of the cross. I'm not at the foot of the cross. I'm crucified with Christ on the cross. You'll never see the expression in the New Testament, at the foot of the cross. Now, if people use poetic licensing, that's fine. But if you think our position is at the foot of the cross, it's not. Paul didn't say I'm standing at the foot of the cross, he said I'm crucified with Christ. I'm just showing you how careless Christians are with words. We've got used to, we've been brainwashed for so many years hearing certain expressions that we think they are true. And like I said, it's because they don't read the Bible carefully. When I was converted 54 years ago, I didn't know much about the Bible. But I, I don't know how, I somehow came to the faith that there is one book and only one that God gave to the human race. And that is the Bible. And I decided as a young 19 year old, just converted to Christ, Lord, if there is one book and only one that you've given for the human race, I'm determined to study it. And I don't have to go to a Bible school, I've never been to a Bible school. I said, I'm going to study it. While I was in the ship, I used to sit in my cabin and read the Bible. And say, Holy Spirit of God, teach me. And I just read it carefully and I found that you didn't need a, you didn't need a teacher to teach you. If you really came and read it, and I thank God I knew English so I could read it. And allow the Holy Spirit to teach me. And all I had to do is read carefully. And take a concordance for example and look up all the words where grace came or faith came or mercy came. And I got real understanding of what the New Testament was all about. So, as I read the scriptures, I found that so many things that many Christians spoke about and sang about were not true. I could give you numerous examples that may puzzle you, surprise you. For example, do you know the Bible never talks about sinful nature? It's never found in the New Testament. The Bible speaks about the old man and the flesh. So, when, it's alright, you can use another expression if you like. Sinful nature, there's no, nothing wrong with that. But I, when people talk about sinful nature, I ask them the question. Are you talking about the old man or are you talking about the flesh? They are confused. I say, the old man and the flesh are not the same thing. Romans 6 says, our old man was crucified with Christ. God did it. But Galatians 5, 24 says, those who are Christ must crucify the flesh. God crucified the old man, Romans 6. But Christians have to crucify the flesh. The old man is symbolized in the Old Testament by the armies of Pharaoh. God buried them under the Red Sea. Israel actually did nothing. The lusts of the flesh are symbolized by the giants of Canaan. God didn't kill them. The Israelites had to kill them. The picture in the Old Testament is exact. But why is it that Christians don't see the difference? I would say most Christians in the world that I have met think that the old man and the flesh are the same. Take a concordance and study it and see it's different. The Lord told Adam that by the sweat of your brow, you will earn your bread. And I've discovered that if you want to get bread from the scripture, you have to perspire. You have to work hard. If you're going to be lazy, you'll get all types of wrong ideas. God has given us scripture and He's a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently. The word of God says in Jeremiah 29.13 You shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Those are the type of Christians I want to find. Who are seeking God with all their heart. I've seen businessmen in Bangalore in India who are so gripped by the possibility of making money through business that they work from early morning till late at night and I presume dream about it when they go to bed. And that is their God. Mammon is their God and they worship it wholeheartedly. And I've often said to the Lord, Lord let it never be said that a worshipper of mammon, that false God, worships that God more wholeheartedly than I worship the true God. Is that true in your life? Are there businessmen in Australia who are more devoted to making money than you are devoted to living for Jesus Christ and being a witness for Him and serving Him, witnessing by your life and words? Don't you think that should put us to shame? People who worship false gods like mammon, so wholeheartedly, but the worshippers of Christ so casual and careless saying, what is the minimum I have to do to go to heaven? Whereas those businessmen are saying, what's the maximum I can do to open another store, expand my business, go across the country, across the world to expand my business, to make more money. Yeah. So, I'll just say that in passing. The Lord says, I will remember their sins no more. The blood of Jesus not only cleanses me, it says in Romans 5.9 that it justifies me. Now, that's another thing which, I mean, this may be very elementary, but I don't mind emphasizing it for the sake of those who are not clear on it. There is a difference between forgiveness, cleansing and justification. Justification is more than forgiveness. It says in Romans 5.9, we are justified by His blood or declared righteous. And, you know, when I read scripture, I like to think in pictures or illustrations. And the way I see it is, supposing I'm taken to court and accused of numerous charges, serious charges, which could give me the death penalty. And the judge looks at all those charges and he says, they are true. But I forgive you. You can go free. Of course, I'm happy. This is forgiveness. And people outside the court are waiting to hear that I got the death penalty and I walk out a forgiven criminal. Declared, proved to be a criminal in the court, by the prosecution, but forgiven. That's forgiveness. Now, justification is not that. Justification is, those charges are read out and the prosecution presents the case and the judge examines carefully and says, all these charges are false. He is not a criminal. He's a righteous man. And I walk out of the court more than forgiven, with my head held high. There's a lot of difference. Do you believe that through the blood of Christ, you're not only forgiven? God says, I look at you as if you've never sinned in your whole life. Don't you think you'll have a lot more boldness to go to God, if you've never sinned in your whole life? Don't you find in yourself something like, a hesitation, something like, driving your car but putting your foot on the brakes, you're not so sure whether you can go so freely to God? Because the devil is there to accuse you and remind you of all the wretched things you did. It's a wonderful thing to be justified. I wish somebody had told me that the day I was converted. I wouldn't have been so gloomy for so many years. Forgiveness is great, but justification is so much higher. Imagine, I'm 73 now and I say, I've never sinned in 73 years, as far as God is concerned. Can you imagine actually, supposing I actually never, never committed one sin, in word or deed or thought or motive or attitude, in my whole life. With what boldness I could come before God. That is what the blood of Jesus does for a wretched sinner and criminal like me. That's what it's done. And that's what gives me boldness, that's the first step in the new covenant. I will not remember their sins anymore. I'll be merciful to their iniquities. I'm declared righteous, justified. And I want every person who has really turned to the Lord here, who has come to the Lord in sincerity, acknowledged that you are a sinner, made no justification for yourself, not blamed other people like Adam. That's one of the things I tell people. I say, don't go to God, blaming somebody else. Like Adam. Yes, Lord, I did it, but it was because of my wife. You'll get turned out of paradise. If you want to stay in paradise, have you seen this comparison between Adam blaming somebody else and being turned out of paradise and the thief on the cross blaming nobody. He says, Lord, I am to blame. The Lord says, really, come with me to paradise. You see the contrast? He didn't say, well, Lord, my parents brought me up badly and that was the reason I got into bad company in my teenage years. No, it is me, Lord, 100% me to blame. The Lord says, today you'll be with me in paradise. That's the difference. When you confess your sins, don't blame anybody else. Take the blame 100% yourself. You can walk with Jesus in paradise. Your life on earth will be like walking in paradise. I tell you, I've experienced it. There were in the olden days when I was ignorant, I blamed people like Adam, being a true child of Adam, pointing fingers at others. I finished with it. I said, Lord, in my flesh dwells nothing good. I have no business to point a finger at anybody else. I am guilty. Not 99%, but 100%. And that's why I believe whenever there is a tension between two people, if you are a spiritual person, you should be the first one to go and apologize and set matters right. I asked this question in India where heathen culture traditionally makes the husband like a king and the wife like a slave. Not the queen, slave. And I asked people, if a husband and wife have a tension, as can happen in every marriage, who should apologize first? That's a very good question. Who should apologize first? Who do you think should apologize first? I say, well, let's take an example from God. When God and man had a tension, who took the first step to restore that relationship? Who was it? God. Not man. Even though he had not made any mistake. The mistake was entirely on my side, but he took the first step. God so loved the world that he sent his son. Why did he do that? Because he was more spiritual than me. So, now we get the answer. When a husband and wife have a tension, who should take the first step? The one who is more spiritual. And since both imagine that they are spiritual, they should be just running into each other's arms. Why isn't it so? Because you are carnal. He is the carnal person who waits for the other person to take the first step. Well, you know the answer now. I hope from today onwards, you will be just running into each other's arms every time you have a tension. Because we all want to be spiritual, right? At least we want to be known that we are spiritual. The Lord treats us as we treat others. So, that's forgiveness, cleansing, justification. The second promise of the new covenant is here. Verse 11, Hebrews 8.11 They shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, everyone his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest. That's the next step. First is forgiveness, cleansing, justification. Then, he is not saying there won't be any teachers. Ephesians 4.11 says, Christ has appointed teachers in the church. But the teacher's job is to teach people scripture. To teach people the doctrines of God. But knowing the Father, you can know him yourself. The teacher can only tell you what's here. But it's the Holy Spirit. Romans 8.16 says, The Spirit of God, when he comes in, witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God and cries out from within us, if I were to translate it, Daddy, Father. Abba is just, it's a Hebrew word, unfortunately not translated. But if it were translated, it would be Daddy. Dad. The Holy Spirit, you know, Dad is more intimate than Father. Father is sort of a formal word. And when it says in Romans 8, that the Spirit of God cries out within us, saying, Abba. Romans 8.15, Abba, Father. It's Dad. It's one of the great blessings of the New Covenant. The Holy Spirit comes in and tells us, we're not orphans. We got a dad in heaven. Can you imagine the security that a little child who had been in an orphanage, where they treated him nicely, four or five years, never experiencing the hug of a dad or a mom. Getting his food, education, clothing and all. When he's five years old, he suddenly discovered that he's not an orphan. That his dad is alive. He doesn't have to stay in the orphanage anymore. And he goes and lives in a home. And his dad hugs him and says, Boy, I found you after five years. You were lost. Can you imagine the excitement of that boy? I don't have to live in an orphanage anymore. I've got a dad. Have you experienced that? I see so many Christians living exactly like orphans. You know, Jesus said, All shall know me, it says. You don't have to be a very mature saint. The second blessing here in the New Covenant, Hebrews 8, 11 says, All shall know me from the least to the greatest. That means from the baby to the old man. All shall know me as father. Jesus came to reveal God as a father. In John 17 when he said, Father, I have revealed your name to them. What did he reveal? God was a dad. To those who would receive Christ as their Savior and Lord, God became their dad. To as many as received him, to them he gave the authority to be the children of God. So, it's, this to me is the greatest truth. I mean, it changed my life, I'll tell you that. I grew up as a very insecure, timid little boy and very shy and when I received Christ as my Savior, I really believed in him. To the best of my knowledge, I loved him. But I was not secure. I was like an orphan for many, many years. I mean, theoretically, I knew God's my father. But it's like an orphan saying, Yeah, I know God. I've got a father somewhere. I know where he is. It's something like that. That was my condition. It wasn't a real father who could hug me and take care of me. It was theoretically, I had a father. I would pray, Our Father who art in heaven. But I didn't know him as a father. You know, Jesus, the very first time that he spoke about the Holy Spirit, about the coming of the Holy Spirit was on the night before he was crucified. He never explained it so clearly as he did in John 14, 15 and 16. And he said in John 14, 16, I want you to listen to these words. I will ask the Father. He will give you another helper. I mean, I've been your helper till now. But I'm going away. And another helper will not go away like I'm going away now to heaven. He'll be with you forever. And that is, verse 17, the spirit of truth whom the worldly person cannot receive. Because his heart is unclean. His sins are not forgiven. That's why nobody in the Old Testament could receive the Holy Spirit within. It's very important to understand that. The world cannot receive and Old Covenant people could not receive. You know, God's spirit came upon people in the Old Testament. It could not come within. And it was like water being poured on a cup. Let me illustrate that. If this is your heart, imagine there's no water inside. And here's a veil. You know, the Bible speaks about a veil between the most holy place and the holy place. The tabernacle, by the way, is a picture of man's being. Body, soul, and spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23. And the tabernacle was outer court, holy place, most holy place. Body, soul, and spirit. But between the soul and the spirit was a veil. You couldn't get in. There was this division between soul and spirit that was blocked off. God could not dwell with man. And so when the spirit was poured out on such people who lived in the Old Covenant, it would go over that and flow over. It wouldn't go inside. It would flow and bless millions. I mean, Samson could do mighty works, but his heart was dirty. David could kill Goliath and do mighty works and establish a kingdom, but he'd sin with Bathsheba. It was all from the outside. Gideon. It says the spirit of God clothed Gideon. Judges 6. But then he actually finished. He went around making idols and worshipping them. Old Testament was like that. Elijah, the great prophet, who could bring fire down from heaven. The next day he's sitting depressed under a juniper tree saying, Oh, Lord, I'm fed up with my life. Take it away. This is Old Covenant experience of the Holy Spirit. It was all outside because there was this veil. When Jesus died, that veil was torn. And it was open now. And on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit could now come inside and from within bubble up and flow out and bless millions like rivers of living water. That's how it was. That's how it is in the New Covenant. So that's what he says here in John 14, 17. The first time he speaks about the Holy Spirit, he says, Till now he was with you, but in that day he will be in you. Did you notice that difference in John 14, 17? That was prophesying what would happen on the day of Pentecost. The spirit of God would come within. And then what's the next thing he says? The very next thing when he comes within, verse 18, he won't be an orphan anymore. You see that? He will have a father. The spirit of God from within will cry out, Dad! Well, as I was telling you, I was a very insecure Christian for so many years after I was born again. Theoretically I had a father. But how do you know whether you really experience God as Dad? You won't be anxious. You won't be afraid. You won't worry about the future. Will I have enough for my needs? This is what Jesus was saying. Your Heavenly Father feeds the birds and clothes the flowers. If you have anxiety, you may be a born again child of God, I don't question that. But you don't really know God as Dad. In the New Covenant you can. You've heard the story of the two little birds talking to each other? You probably have, it's very common. A little rhyme, where one bird asks the other, Why are these human beings always so anxious? Brow furrowed, wondering what's going to happen. And the other bird says, Oh, perhaps they don't have a Heavenly Father like we have. Do the birds say that about you when they look at some times in your life? One bird says to another, Why is that family like that? The bird says, Well, maybe they don't have a Heavenly Father like we have. I mean, they sing about it on Sunday, but they don't actually have a Father. You know, there's a lot of difference between theoretically knowing, because I have received Christ, God is my Father. It's like an equation. Like an algebra equation. There's a lot of difference between that and being hugged by a real Dad. That's what the Holy Spirit does. I will not leave you orphans. It happened to me. I could experience in my heart, You see, this is why the baptism in the Holy Spirit is so important. To be immersed in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit to fill every being, every part of our inner being. And to assure us, God is your Dad. And this great truth gripped my heart, which is written in John 17, 23. It's an amazing truth. I call it the greatest truth in the whole Bible that I've discovered. John 17, 23. He's praying to the Father and say, Lord, Father, I in them and Thou in me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know two things. When they look at my disciples, the world must see two things. They are my witnesses of two things. Number one, that you sent me. I think a lot of Christians are witness to that. God sent Jesus to the world to die for the sins of the world. But here's the second thing. They must also be witnesses to the fact that you, Father, love them as much as you love me. That is what I was not a witness to. I was a witness. As I said, I preached in the streets that God sent His Son to die for the sins of the world. But I could not be a witness to the second truth that God the Father loved me as much as He loved Jesus. But when I was filled with the Holy Spirit, that became real to me. The Spirit of God bore witness of me. The Father loves you exactly like He loved Jesus. And I can prove it to you from Scripture. Apart from that verse. The Bible says in Romans 8 verse 29 that the reason that God has predestined. Now there's a big dispute about this word predestination in Christendom that divides Christians into Calvinists and Armenians. And they confuse predestination. Predestination has got nothing to do with going to heaven or hell. Predestination, it says in Romans 8 verse 29, is to become like Jesus. He predestined me not to go to heaven. It's so clear there. He predestined to me to become like Jesus. And the whole purpose of making me like Jesus is also written there that Jesus might be the eldest brother among many brothers and sisters. He's called the firstborn. Many years ago, when I had only one son, he was my only begotten son. Then I got two, three more and he became the firstborn. You see how the only begotten becomes the firstborn? You just have one more son, then he becomes the firstborn. That's what happened on the day of resurrection. You read in John chapter 20, God, Jesus told Mary, who saw him at the tomb, Go and tell my brothers. He never called them brothers before. He said, your servants, John 15, even just before the crucifixion, he said, I don't call you servants, I call you friends. That was higher than servants. But now, after the resurrection, he says, tell my brothers. Jesus called his disciples, my brothers. I ascend to my father and your father. There's a special relationship now. Before that, he would only speak about my father or sometimes about your father, but never combined the two and said, my father and your father. The first time he said that was after his resurrection. Because he says, now, you guys are my brothers. I'm the eldest brother. And that's why, Jesus is not the only begotten son of God today. That was before the day of resurrection. That's why the resurrection of Christ is so important. Today, he's the firstborn. Because I'm his brother too. And, what is the consequence of that? Romans 2, verse 11. There is no partiality with God. How does that affect us? Well, I apply it to my own life. I have four sons. And I have never done, God is my witness, to the best of my ability and knowledge, whatever I did for my first son, I tried my best to do for all my other three sons. I did not love my first son more than the others. Now, I know some parents have got partiality towards one of their children for one reason or the other. But, I knew that I had to represent God to my children. Little children, their first understanding of God is from their father. In the strictness and kindness of their father and grace and truth that they see from their father, they are supposed to see God. And I realized that if I have to represent God correctly, I must be absolutely impartial to all my children. And anyone who is not impartial towards his children is not like God. And, I have tried my best to be that. Anything I did for my oldest son, I would do for all my others. And from that, I learned a great truth about God. That what he did for his eldest son, he would do for me. The eldest son is Jesus. Firstborn. There is no partiality with God. What he did for Jesus, he will do for me. If I fulfill the same conditions. Ya, there are conditions. Even for Jesus, there were conditions. Because when he came to earth as a man, let me show you some amazing verses. Why was Jesus exalted to the highest place in the universe so that his name every knee should bow? It's not because he was a son of God. Let me read it to you. Philippians 2. Being found in appearance as a man, verse 8, Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. Humility, obedience, death to his self, therefore, verse 9, God exalted him. That was a condition. He will exalt me too. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that he might exalt you in due time. Why did God hear Jesus' prayers? Was it because he was a son of God? Let me read to you. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 7. In the days of his flesh, that means during the 33 and a half years he was on earth, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his godly fear. I can be heard too if I have godly fear. So, there were conditions. So, everything that God did for Jesus, he will do for me if I fulfill the same conditions. If I humble myself, he'll exalt me. He will care for me as he cared for Jesus. You know, this brought such security into my life. This is what it means to know God as Father. Jesus was not in a panic. If there was storm in the sea, it's amazing how he was so much at rest. You know that instance in Luke chapter 4, you read there that verse 28, all the people in the synagogue got curious, didn't allow him to finish his message, grabbed a hold of him and it says in verse 29, all those maybe 200 people in that synagogue caught him and took him verse 29 to the hill on which the city was built to throw him down. 200 people gang up on one man, take him to a cliff to throw him down because they're angry with what he preached. And the next verse says, but passing through the mist, he just quietly went his way. How in the world did that happen? It was not like, it says, Philip was taken up once and taken out in Acts chapter 8. No, it wasn't like that. Well, Jesus wasn't lifted up and taken out by some angel. He quietly passed through and went his way, and I meditated on that. I stopped at some places and said, how did that happen, Lord? I don't know, but this is my guess. Maybe there was an argument among these 200 people as to which particular cliff to throw him down, this one or this one. And you know what happens when people get in an argument like the Democrats and the Republicans tooth and nail at each other. And while this discussion was going on, Jesus quietly went away. And by the time they decided which cliff to throw him down, they look around and he's not there. I say, Lord, what you did for Jesus, you'll do for me when I have to deal with angry people. Once Herod tried to kill him when he was a helpless baby. God took him out of danger. I've experienced that in India, where people try to harm you. I didn't know anything about it. God took me out of the way. I live in a security because of one truth I've discovered. God loves me as he loved Jesus. He's my elder brother. I'm a younger brother. And what he did for Jesus, he'll do for me. They shall not teach each other their neighbor, saying, No, the Lord all shall know me from the least to the greatest. You say, Oh, Brother Zach, that's because you've known the Lord so long. No, it says in Hebrews 8, from the least. Were you converted this morning? It's for you, brother. It's for you. As many as received him, to them he gave the authority to be the children of God. Why have you allowed the devil to rob you of that perfect security that will free you from anxiety, that will enable you to obey the command, rejoice in the Lord 24-7, Philippians 4-4. I have begun to taste a little bit of that since I discovered the security. This is the new covenant. It's far better than health and wealth, I'll tell you that. People with health and wealth live with so much tension and anxiety. But this is so much better. The third blessing of the new covenant, Hebrews 8 and verse 10. I will put my laws into their minds and I will write them upon their hearts and I will be their God. In the old covenant, God wrote his commandments on two tablets of stone. I think there were four commandments related to God on one of them and the six commandments related to man on the other tablet. Written with the finger of God. We read in Exodus. When Jesus spoke about casting out demons, he called the finger of God, do you know what he called it? The Holy Spirit. You can read that in Matthew 12, 28. I cast out demons by the Spirit of God. Now, if you compare that verse with the parallel passage in Luke, there it says the finger of God. That's how I know that the finger of God is the Holy Spirit. So, as God wrote those tablets with his finger, he writes his laws. Now the tablets are my heart, my mind, and my heart. Those are the two tablets it says in the new covenant. In the old covenant it was external. In the new covenant it's internal. It's one of the great differences between old covenant and new covenant. Everything was external in the old covenant. The sacrifices, the temple, the blessings. But in the new covenant it's internal. I will write my laws in your mind and in your heart and I will be their God. And I understand mind to mean that he'll give me a desire to do his will. That's writing his law into my mind. And heart means he'll give me the ability to do his will. Desire alone is not enough. Or, to use more scriptural language, in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 13, he'll work in me to will and to do his good pleasure. Philippians 2 13. That is writing his law in my mind and in my heart. Now God couldn't do that in the old covenant. Because the heart of man was hard. You remember Jesus saying, Ya Moses, allow divorce because of the hardness of your heart. It was harder than that rock on which I could write the laws. That's what God is saying. So hard. He couldn't write the laws in man's heart. He could write it on rock. But now, Ezekiel 36 says, I will take away that stony heart and I'll give you a soft heart. I'll put my spirit within you. And he will write his laws, means he will give me the desire to do his will in every area. He will give me the desire to overcome all sin. He will give me the desire to be totally pure. And he will give me the ability. Do you find it difficult to forgive somebody? Has the Lord given you the desire? Do you know the same God who gave you the desire will give you the ability? You don't have to look for that within yourself. He will work in you to will and to do. He will write his laws not only on your mind but also in your heart. It's wonderful. The Bible is really a very simple book. Don't you feel that after you hear this? Not a complicated book at all. Very simple and all fits in. It's exactly here, the same thing over there. We just got to read it a little more carefully. So, he will work in me to will and to do. It's good pleasure. In the Old Testament, David could say in Psalm 40, I delight to do thy will, O God. But when I see Bathsheba, everything changes. Like a lot of Christians today. Yes, Lord, I delight to do thy will. Look at the songs we sing. But, wonderful new covenant. He will give me the desire and the ability. Not only I delight to do thy will, I like to compare New Testament verses with the places they are quoted in the Old Testament. Let me show you something wonderful. In Hebrews chapter 10, Psalm 40 is quoted. Psalm 40 says, I delight to do thy will. But Hebrews 10, 7 says, when Jesus is coming to the world, verse 5, He says, I come to do thy will. You see that? That's wonderful. That's new covenant. It's not, I delight to do thy will. I come to do thy will. That's more than desire. It's ability. And He's the one we follow. We don't follow David. You know, it's good to study the characteristics, godly characteristics, of Old Testament people. The things you see in Moses, Elijah, David. But whenever you study Old Testament characters, please remember one verse. You know, in Hebrews 11, you have the list of these great heroes of faith in the Old Testament. And at the end of it, the last verse says, But, God has given us something better. So, whenever you study Old Testament characters, remember that verse. But God has given you something better in the new covenant. And that's what it says in the next verses in chapter 12. We can follow Jesus. So, our example is not Elijah or David. I don't have to fall into adultery after preaching for so many years, like some pastors do. Because I'm not following David. Look at the number of pastors nowadays, here and there, who suddenly are discovered to be in adultery or homosexuality. And then they will weep over television and say, forgive me. But David was forgiven. And he came back into the ministry as a king. So, God is putting me back. After six months of counseling, I'm back in the pulpit. Can you imagine the Apostle Paul saying anything like that? What respect would you have for the Apostle Paul if he suddenly says, hey fellas, I wrote all this about sin not having dominion over you, but I'm sorry, I was sleeping around with some women. And, well, forgive me. Most Christian preachers live under the old covenant. There's one proof of it. They don't have a clue about the new covenant that God works in us to will and to do. And that's what brings such a bad name, not only for Christians before the world. Imagine the blasphemy that the devil, you know from the book of Job, the devil is always watching people on the earth. He's called the accuser of the brethren. And he turns around to God and says, God, is that guy one of your servants? Fooling everybody in the congregation that he's a great preacher because he's gifted and living in sin and secret. Look at the blasphemy going on in heaven. Does it concern us? We are taught to pray, our Father hallowed be thy name. I want it to be hallowed up there. I want to shut the mouth of the devil that he can't say anything about me. I hope you have that passion. Not just my witness here on earth, but the devil can't find anything in me to accuse before my heavenly Father. God will work in me to will and to do His good pleasure. One last thing. It's great for me to compare the old covenant with the new covenant in this way. What was the old covenant? Let me read it to you in Exodus 20. The 10 commandments. Thou shalt Thou shalt not. I'm reading verse 3 and 4. Thou shalt not. Verse 5. Thou shalt keeping the Sabbath. Thou shalt honor your father and mother. Verse 13. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Basically, the old covenant is, you shall. You shall not. You shall. You shall not. The whole thing. Now, let me turn you to the new covenant. What we just read. I don't know whether you noticed it. Hebrews chapter 8. Verse 10. The Lord says, I will I will I will. Do you see a difference? Boy, it excites me. It's not, you got to do this and you can't do this and you can't do that. But the Lord will write His laws in my mind and heart. Fill me with the Holy Spirit. And make me do it. There's a great verse. If you read the Bible carefully, you would have noticed it in the book of Ezekiel 36. When the Spirit of God comes and fills us. You know what happens? Let me read it to you. Ezekiel 36 27. I will put my Holy Spirit within you. This is not possible in the old covenant. He's prophesying the day of Pentecost. I'll put my spirit within you and I will cause you to walk in my statues. Wow! And you will be careful to obey my commandments. This is not thou shalt, thou shalt not. So many Christians are laboring under thou shalt thou shalt not. And no wonder they are defeated. They are living under the old covenant. The devils blinded their eyes to what Christ purchased for them on the cross. It's like your father slogged away and worked hard for many many years and made a billion dollars, billion. And wrote a will giving it all to you. And you allowed some crooked lawyer to cheat you of all your inheritance. That's exactly what the devil has done to Christians. Cheated them of this wonderful life. He cheated me of it for 16 years of my Christian life after I was born again. And I decided Lord since when I began to see these things, not just see it but experience it. I said Lord I'm going to spend the rest of my life going everywhere as long as you give me health. Teaching your children about the inheritance they have lost and that they have missed. That they allowed the devil to cheat them of. Let's pray. Let's bow our heads before God. There's one question the Lord asks you. And it's not will you do this? For the same question he asked the blind man. Do you believe that I'm able to do this for you? Do you believe that I can do this work in you? In your heart? Or are you going to continue trying to obey the Daushyas and Daushyarnaths In the new covenant the standard is much higher. It's not adultery. Not even to lust. It's not murder. Don't even get angry. The standard is higher. But he says I'll do it in you. Dear brothers and sisters this is not a fairy tale. This is absolute truth. I stand before God and tell you that to a great measure I've begun to experience this in my life. It changed my life completely. There's no partiality with God. He can do it for you if you trust Him. Seek Him with all your heart and say Lord Jesus I want to open up every area of my heart to you. I don't want to have any more closed doors in my life. You can decide what I watch on television. You can decide the books I read. You can decide how I spend my money, how I spend my life. Every area, every single room in my heart is open to you. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and bring me into this new covenant. He will do it for you. There's no partiality with Him. Heavenly Father I pray that it'll not be like on the borders of Canaan where 600,000 turned away saying the giants are too strong. I pray that we'll be like those two, Joshua and Caleb who said God will help us and bring these giants under our feet. Yes Father we trust you. I pray that you'll really wake people up to possess their inheritance. Bless this church and its witness and all the leaders and pray that the light will shine brightly from here to draw many people to you to this wonderful life of the new covenant. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.