1salvation to the uttermost

Salvation to the Uttermost

An Exposition on the New Covenant

Daniel G. Caram

“Salvation to the Uttermost: An Exposition on the New Covenant” © 2005 Daniel G. Caram Printed March 2005 All Rights Reserved

Printed in the United States of America

All Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the King James Version unless otherwise stated.

Printed by: Zion Christian Publishers P.O. Box 70 Waverly, NY 14892

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ISBN # 1596650-18-4

Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the following: ♦

To Mary Humphreys – for her proficiency in the editing of this book.

♦

To Jeremy Kropf – for his proficiency in the formatting of this book.

♦

To Rev. Joseph Cilluffo – for his creative artistry on the front cover.

Table of Contents Foreword

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Introduction

9

Israel Forfeits to the Church

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Summarizing the New Testament

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Hebrews – The Better Covenant

31

The Messenger of the Covenant

45

This is the New Covenant in My Blood

57

The Promise of the Spirit

69

Removing the Stony Heart

81

A New Heart Will I Give You

95

I Will Put My Laws In Their Inward Parts

105

The Ten Commandments (1-1V)

113

The Ten Commandments (V-X)

121

For They Shall All Know Me

129

Holy Communion

141

I Will Be Their God/They Shall Be My People

149

Epilogue

155

Appendix

157

The Ten Sins in the Garden

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Salvation to the Uttermost An exposition on the New Covenant Foreword For some time now, I have felt the Spirit of God impressing upon me the truths of the New Covenant – the new heart, the new spirit, and the laws of God written upon the living tables – all a part of the new covenant promises, and yet not readily understood by many.

It is with this intention that we set forth this commentary – that we might enable the reader to comprehend the New Testament promises with greater clarity. By no means is this dissertation exhaustive, yet, it provides a framework whereby the student may begin to see the purposes of God in a more congruous manner. As the apostle Paul said: “That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge…”

The Old Covenant (given at Mt Sinai) had many debilitating factors to it, and the Old Covenant was only age-lasting – it had an end! The New Covenant promises are eternal, “the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). They are eternal because they are sealed in the blood of the Divine. The promise of the New Covenant is full redemption – salvation to the uttermost. Because our first father sinned, man lost his place in God and he lost his inheritance. Yet, through the redemptive work of the “Second Adam” (Christ), man can

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Foreword

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actually come into a greater place in God, and into a greater paradise than the one he lost!

The New Covenant not only affords the power to perfect the seeker, but it also promises to give him an eternal inheritance. May we allow the Spirit of God to show us the greatness of what our Savior has wrought for us through His own blood!

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he secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.

(Psalm 25:14)

Introduction Throughout the Old Testament, there are many allusions as to what the New Covenant entailed. However, Jeremiah is the only prophet who actually uses the term “New Covenant.” At the time that Jeremiah wrote chapter thirty-one, a segment of Israel had already been carried into Babylon. Yet, the Lord was already giving Jeremiah a message of hope and restoration for Israel before their final demise. Jeremiah was so overwhelmed when he saw the abundant goodness and mercy restored to Israel at the end, that it was as though he were waking from a beautiful dream. It was at this moment that the Lord begins to speak to Jeremiah about the “New Covenant.”

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ehold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

(Jeremiah 31:31-34)

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Introduction

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Not according to the covenant they brake The Old Covenant had its many demands. There were the Ten Commandments that were inscribed upon stone. There was also the “book” of the covenant (Ex. 24:7). The book of the covenant entailed many things: there were ordinances, such as Sabbath laws and feast days; Levitical ordinances for the priests; various prescriptions for the offerings; and regulations for ceremonial uncleanness such as touching the dead, or leprosy. There were also civil laws – judgments between neighbor and neighbor, etc.

All of these regulations were a part of the Old Covenant, yet we could legitimately say that they are all represented (or summarized) by the Ten Commandments. Basically, the Law engraved upon stone symbolized the Old Covenant (Ex. 34:28) – “Which law they brake!” While Moses was ascending Mount Sinai to receive the “tables of the covenant,” the camp (in the mean time) was constructing a golden calf (Ex. 32). When Moses returned and saw the corruption of the people, in a holy rage he smashed the tables of the covenant – a very ominous sign that Israel would break this covenant!

Moses again ascended the mountain, and the Lord again wrote His law upon the tables of stone. When Moses descended the second time, he put the law within the ark: “And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark” (Deut. 10:2). The law that was put into the ark signifies the law that would be kept – only not by Israel. Israel would not keep it, because the ark would always be veiled throughout the Old Covenant era. In other words, it would be unattainable in the fullest sense.

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The ark symbolic of the New Covenant The Ark of the Covenant (in this instance) symbolizes the New Covenant because the law was resident there. When Christ died on the cross, the veil in the temple was rent – signifying that the New Covenant was now in force. The The Ark of the way had been opened, and it was an Covenant (in this attainable covenant. This scenario also instance) symbolizes helps us to understand what the aposthe New Covenant tle Paul was saying in Second Corinbecause the law was thians, chapter three, when he speaks resident there. of the veil still being over Israel’s eyes.

When Christ died Israel is still under the Old Covenant – on the cross, the veil even though it is no longer valid. Their in the temple was eyes are still veiled from the New rent – signifying that Covenant, and they cannot enter into the New Covenant the New Covenant (as a nation) until was now in force. they recognize the One who tore the veil away!

If we can appreciate the ark as being symbolic of the New Covenant, that will help us to understand many truths. For example, that helps us to understand David’s Tabernacle.

After David took Mt. Zion, he brought the ark to Jerusalem and put it in an unveiled tent. David, in a figure, experienced what New Testament worship was intended to be (Acts 15:15-16) – ministry in the presence of the Lord! He experienced (in a figure) the gift of righteousness that the New Covenant provides – that is, for those who seek it!

Israel enters the covenant in the millennium The vision of restoration that Jeremiah saw in chapter thirtyone, far transcends anything that Israel has ever experienced

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Introduction

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hitherto. It transcends the restoration of Ezra/Nehemiah.

The vision actually transcends the Church Age. It is not until the millennium that Israel (as a nation) will receive Christ. It is not until the millennium that Israel will be restored to grandeur (indeed, far beyond their former greatness). It is not until the millennium that Israel will enter the “New Covenant.” We certainly cannot apply Jeremiah 31:33-34 to Israel now! The law is not in their hearts; they are not forgiven from their sins; and they do not know Him. Their eyes are veiled from Him.

The apostle Paul claims the New Covenant In the book of Hebrews, the apostle claims the New Covenant for all that believe. Obviously, “Hebrews” was written to the believing Jews in Jerusalem. Although Israel as a nation would reject Christ, there were still a large number of Jews that did believe. In fact, St. Paul made this statement in 2 Corinthians 3:14: “But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ.”

For the Jews who received Christ, the veil of blindness was removed and now they could experience the reality of the New Covenant.

Even amongst the believing Jews there was a problem. Many of them were still attached to the Old Covenant, and some were going backward. The apostle has to straighten out some of their theology. Let us consider a few verses from the book of Hebrews: Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

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Hebrews 8:8

For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Hebrews 8:9

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

Hebrews 8:10

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

Hebrews 8:11

And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

Hebrews 8:12

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

As we shall see, the author of Hebrews is claiming the promises of Jeremiah 31:31-34, for those who believe. The believing Jews in Jerusalem were reverting into various rituals of the Old Covenant, and this was essentially the reason for the writing of this letter. (We will be considering some of these truths later in this study.) However, for the moment we need to clearly understand that the Church was entering the

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Introduction

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promises of the covenant given to Israel. Israel (as a nation) was being cut off from the promise of the covenant until the Second Coming (Rom. 11:25-27).

The apostle continues to show the Hebrew believers in the following verses, that the New Covenant is now: Hebrews 10:15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, Hebrews 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; Hebrews 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Hebrews 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, Hebrews 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; Clearly, Christ opened the veil through His crucifixion. Moreover, it is through the blood of Christ that we can apprehend the beautiful promises of the New Covenant: Sins forgiven, access to the throne of grace, and the prospects of having a new heart – one that loves the law of God! Does not the Holy Ghost bear witness? Again, we emphasis the

All of the provisions made available to us through the New Covenant, enable us to be the “Holy Nation” that Christ desires.

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fact that this New Covenant is one that shall be kept. We can apprehend its righteous demands through our Lord and Savior! Amen!

All of the provisions made available to us through the New Covenant, enable us to be the “Holy Nation” that Christ desires.

The sequence of some of the following chapters may not be in the order of Jeremiah chapter 31. Jeremiah begins the promise with “having the laws written upon the heart,” whereas, Ezekiel's version ends with “having the laws being written upon the heart.” At conversion, we are (theoretically) given a new heart and a new spirit. However, the actuality of this may take a considerable time!

There will be a certain repetition throughout this commentary. This is intentional, and it is key to retaining certain truths. To hear something three times is not redundancy, it is a fact that we must hear something at least three times in order to retain it.

Israel forfeits their privilege to the Church In the introduction of this book, we made mention of the fact that Israel was going to forfeit their New Covenant privilege to the Church. Indeed, Israel was destined to be cut off from the promised covenant for the whole of the Church Age (about 2000 years). In order for us to fully appreciate their predetermined fate, we must consider some of the Old Testament types or foreshadows.

The tabernacle scenario Firstly, let us consider the tabernacle of Moses, which was a shadow of spiritual truths (Heb. 8:5). There were three sections to this tabernacle, which speak of the three dispensations: the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Millennial age. (The word testament and covenant are the same word in Greek.) The dimensions of the three sections of the tabernacle are as follows: ♦

The Outer Court Fence – 1500 square cubits

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The Holy Place – 2000 cubic cubits

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The Holiest Place – 1000 cubic cubits

The Outer Court speaks of the Old Covenant, which was roughly 1500 years. It began at the giving of the covenant upon Mt Sinai, until the initiation of the New Covenant – at the cross (Heb. 9:16-17).

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Israel forfeits their privilege to the Church

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The Holy Place speaks of the Church Age, which is about 2000 years. The Church Age began with the death/ resurrection of Christ and continues until the Second Coming or the Millennium (Rom. 11:25-26).

The Holy of Holies speaks of the Millennial age, which features the 1000-year reign of Christ upon earth. It begins at the Second Coming and concludes at the great “White Throne” judgment (Rev. 20:6-15).

Reflecting upon the tabernacle scenario: Israel fits into the outer court, and the Church fits into the holy place. What divides the holy place from the holiest place is the veil.

(Remember that the ark was in the holiest place.) For those of us who are in the Church Age, the veil has been rent. We have access to the promises of this covenant through the Blood of Christ! For those in the outer court (Israel) there is a two thousand-year gap between them and the promised covenant.

The “2000” gap Consider yet another figure; when Israel was crossing into the Promised Land, they had to maintain a 2000 cubit gap between them and the ark:

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nd they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

(Joshua 3:3-4)

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Salvation to the Uttermost: An Exposition on the New Covenant

Tabernacle diagram

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Israel forfeits their privilege to the Church

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Notice how the last sentence is worded: “…That ye may know the way by which ye must go.” Here was another forecast that Israel would be cut off for the 2000-year dispensation of the Church. At the end of the (approximate) 2000-year Church Age, Israel is redeemed, and they enter the promised covenant given through Jeremiah.

St. Paul expounds on the subject The apostle Paul is very explicit as to Israel’s salvation as a nation. In the book of Romans, chapter 11:25-27, We read: “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

It really cannot be made much clearer than the above passages. Israel is blinded until the Church Age is over. When the Church Age (approx. 2000 years) is over, the Savior comes as Israel’s deliverer – He turns them from their ungodliness. Notice the last sentence: “For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” This is my covenant unto them, when I take away their sin. What covenant promises the removing of sins? The New Covenant!

Warning to the Church While we happen to be in Romans chapter eleven, I think it would be good to take note of the warning that is issued to the gentile Church. Paul has just expounded (from the beginning of the chapter) on why Israel was cut off (and the gentiles were grafted in). He likens the operation to an olive tree whose branches were cut off – down to the root. The natural

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branches represented Israel. The grafted in branches represent the other nations – the gentiles. Here is the warning:

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ell; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

(Romans 11:20-21) God did not just predestine Israel to be cut off without a cause. Israel’s whole history is laced with prophetic warnings. In fact, Moses himself (1500 years before Israel was cut off as a nation) foretold them that because they would move Him to jealousy with their idols, He would move them to jealousy by a foolish nation (Deut. 32:21). By the way, we (as gentiles) are the foolish nation being referred to.

Isaiah, said this concerning Israel’s forfeiture: “I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious One thing people, which walketh in a way that was that the New not good, after their own thoughts” Covenant does (Isa. 65:1-2). Because of Israel’s rebellion, not promise is God cut Israel off and made available to “eternal security!” us the beautiful provisions of the covenant that should have been theirs!

Coming back to our original point: “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” Israel fell because of sin and unbelief. One thing that the New Covenant does not promise is “eternal security!” Unrepentant sinners under the Old Covenant went to Hell! Unrepentant sinners under the New Covenant go to hell also! “But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing;

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whose end is to be burned” (Heb. 6:8). (We will address the subject of eternal security in a later chapter.)

God’s mercy brought us in The Church (in one sense) is the true Isaac. Isaac was the child born by an act of faith. However, the New Testament writers (who are Jews) make it abundantly clear that the reason we have been elected to be here is by grace. Paul has already made that point in the book of Romans. We are reminded that we are the outsiders, but God’s mercy brought us in. Let us note a few other passages.

Ephesians 2:11-12 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 1 Peter 2:9-10 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

The parables of Christ It is interesting to take note of the parables of Christ. Many of His parables were an allusion to Israel’s forfeiture of the kingdom promises. The following list is by no means complete, but it gives us a picture of what Jesus was saying to Israel.

Remember that Christ was the “Messenger” of the covenant.

He was the one that was prophesied of in Malachi 3:1.

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Salvation to the Uttermost: An Exposition on the New Covenant

Prodigal son

Parable of the two sons Parable of the vineyard

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The prodigal son squanders his inheriLuke 15:28-31 tance and forfeits to the other son. The prodigal (natural Israel) is restored at the end, but the other son (spiritual Israel) receives all.

Matthew The one son said: “I go” but did not 21:28-31 (Israel). The other son (spiritual Israel) said: “I go not,” but repented and went.

Matthew The keepers of the vineyard (Israel) do not 21:33-40 produce the fruit. The vineyard is taken from them, and given to others (spiritual Israel) who will produce the fruit.

The fig tree (symbol of Israel) is cursed.

The cursed Mark They shall no longer produce the fruit.

11:12-23 fig tree Matthew In the last day, the fig tree (Israel) is The restored.

24:32 restored fig tree The old wineskin (Israel) cannot take the Mark The new wine. The new wineskin (spiritual wineskin 2:22 Israel) receives…

The ones who were bidden (Israel) to the The great Luke 14:16-24 supper refused – they were replaced by supper others (spiritual Israel).

The wedding feast The Pharisee and the publican The Good Samaritan

Matthew The ones bidden (Israel) could not make 22:2-13 it – they were replace by others (spiritual Israel).

The Pharisee is Israel. He thought that Luke 18:10-14 his own righteousness was good enough.

The publican, (the one unacceptable to Israel) humbles himself and finds mercy.

Those who knew the law (Israel) broke the Luke 10:30-37 law as they passed by the wounded man.

The Samaritan (those outside the kingdom) fulfilled the law as he ministered to the victim on the road (Lev. 19:18).

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Israel forfeits their privilege to the Church

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The whole of scripture, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, verify the fact that Israel (because of theirs sins and unbelief) would forfeit their place to another nation (the gentile Church). Isaiah prophesies of the gentile Church in chapter 54:1: “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.” “Thou shalt produce more offspring than the married wife.”

The Lord was married to Israel. In fact, the Lord declared that in Jeremiah 3:14: “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you…” The Lord (in a figure) has to put away His wife for a long season. The prophet Hosea also establishes this point (Hos. 3:3-5). Now the Lord turns to those outside Israel, those outside the covenant of promise, and says: “Sing O barren, you who did not bear….” The gentiles would do what Israel did not do – they would bring forth the desired fruit!

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hou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

(Rev. 5:9-10)

Summarizing the New Testament What is the theme?

If someone were to ask us, “What is the theme of the New Testament?” Could we give an immediate answer? What is the theme of the New Testament? Actually, the theme is so obvious that it is somewhat hard to see. As I am getting older, I have to hold things farther and farther out to see them. There is a word for this: “farsighted.” As I search for my coffee cup on the table, I have trouble finding it because it is right in front of me. There is a saying: “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” In other words, we are standing in the forest looking for the forest.

The theme of the New Testament is “The New Testament.”

That is difficult, maybe I should reword it: The theme of the New Testament is “The New Covenant.” That sounds better!

The truth of the matter is, the word testament and covenant are both the same word in Greek.

Testament – (1242. diatheke) Covenant – (1242. diatheke)

Four words I found an old outline in my file that I thought summarized the New Covenant very well – with just four words. I do not know where they originated, but I am going to borrow them, and briefly elaborate on them:

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Summarizing the New Testament

♦

Manifestation

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Propagation

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Explanation

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Consummation

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The New Testament Manifestation

the four gospels

Propagation

the book of Acts

Explanation

the epistles

Consummation

the book of Revelation

Manifestation We are told in First Timothy 3:16, that God was manifested in the flesh. God was manifested in the person of Christ.

“His name shall be called “Emmanuel,” God with us (Matt.

1:23). The four gospels give us four aspects of the God/man.

They are a revelation of God (The Son) coming to earth through the means of a virgin. They all reveal the ministry of the Son of God. They all reveal the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ –ultimately to shed His blood and thus initiate the New Covenant. On the eve of the crucifixion, the Master passed the cup (emblematic of His own blood) and said: “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.”

The mission of our Lord was not only to become the “once for all” sacrifice for sin, but His brief 3 ½ year ministry was setting a precedent for the New Covenant standard. He is called the “Messenger” of the Covenant in Malachi 3:1:

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“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”

In this one little verse, we see both John the Baptist, and Christ. John was not the “messenger of the covenant.” He was the messenger that prepared the way for Christ – who was the Messenger of the Covenant. Christ was the Messenger who came to the temple, whip in hand! The subsequent verses in Malachi declare that none could stand before Him! “Who shall stand God spends years working when He appeareth?” on the man One truth that continually resounds He uses to throughout scripture is that the messenger exemplify is the message! Every prophet had to the message. experience his message – to become the message. God spends years working on the man He uses to exemplify the message. The point is – Christ did not just preach a new message to Israel; He was the embodiment of the New Covenant message. He was the New Covenant manifested. He was the prototype, the sample fruit of what the New Covenant was to produce.

We shall consider the “Messenger” in a later chapter, as we reflect upon the message that Jesus taught.

Propagation Now that Christ has initiated the New Covenant through His death and resurrection, the command is “Go ye” (Mat. 28:19)! Yes, go ye into every nation teaching them – that

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means to propagate the gospel! Here is where the book of Acts now activates. Part of the New Covenant promise is found in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36:27: “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk…” The command of Jesus after His resurrection was to wait for the promise of the Spirit. This is all a part of the New Covenant.

The book of Acts begins with the outpouring of God’s Spirit.

The outpouring of the Spirit not only empowered the disciples to propagate the gospel, but it enabled the Church to live its message – even through many persecutions. The book of Acts covers the first thirty years of missionary endeavor. The propagation of the gospel began first in Jerusalem, then in Judea, then in Samaria, and then spread to the ends of the known world.

We shall consider the Baptism in the Holy Spirit in a later chapter.

Explanation After the founding of the early Church, then came the need for the teacher – the theologian. The epistles were written, not only to stabilize the Churches, but also to “explain” the mysteries, to explain the unsearchable riches of Christ. Evangelism is wonderful; it rescues the perishing; it care for the dying. However, a Church cannot grow spiritually on the evangelistic message. The Church needs to be taught the deeper truths of the Word in order to mature into true sons and daughters. We have heard stories of great evangelistic crusades where hundreds of thousands of people attended, and responded (e.g. in India). Yet, after the crusades were over, the multitude dissipated into a little remnant because there was no one to establish them in the Word.

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Herein is an area that needs some clarification. The New Covenant has many aspects of truth; yet, many of God’s people are only acquainted with some of them. Obviously, anyone that is in the kingdom has embraced the fundamentals of salvation, and yet the New Covenant promises salvation unto the uttermost. That means that God wants to redeem every area of our lives. There are many within the kingdom; who still need deliverance. Many that have been saved have never experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Evan Roberts (the great revivalist of Wales – 1904) said: “You don’t have to be baptized in the Holy Spirit to be saved, but if you’re not, you miss a lot along the way!”

Truth sets free, and the more truth that we appropriate, the greater our place will be in the eternal kingdom. I like how the psalmist expresses this thought in Psalm 132:12: “If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.” If we fully appropriate the teachings of the New Covenant, they will set us upon a throne. There is an outworking of these truths. Also, note the last part of that verse; if we keep the covenant, that will affect our children (natural or spiritual) after us. The testimony of those reigning in the millennium is “Thou hast made us kings and priests…” It does not happen in the next life, it happens in this life!

The Corinthian Church had 10,000 teachers, but none of them could challenge the Church by their own example.

The epistles give us the deeper truths of the New Covenant, and yet these truths must be taught by somebody who understands them. Was this not one of the main concerns of Christ when He was upon earth – to raise up disciples who would exemplify the New Covenant message (Matt. 5:19)? The Church world today is destitute of teachers who can

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explain God’s law, because it is not reality in their own lives.

The Corinthian Church had their “10,000 teachers”, but none of them could challenge the Church by their own example. In fact, these “teachers” must have tolerated a lot of nonsense!

Although all of the epistles reveal certain aspects of the covenant, only the book of Hebrews focuses on the covenant itself. The book of Hebrews essentially was written to the Christian Jews in Jerusalem. The whole book contrasts the former covenant given by Moses with the New Covenant given by Christ. The author of Hebrews magnifies the greatness of the New Covenant, and for this cause, we are devoting the next chapter to the theme of Hebrews.

Consummation In the final part of our summary, we are looking at the book of Revelation. In the book of Revelation, we see the consummation, or the fulfillment of the promises to those who have fully assimilated the New Covenant message. They have followed the Lamb. They have overcome. Some have laid down their lives for the truths of the covenant. Now they are reigning as kings and as priests. They have inherited all things!

Moreover, as the Lord had said to Jeremiah: “And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:33).

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nd I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)

Hebrews: the better covenant The backdrop The theme of Hebrews is unquestionably the New Covenant. The word “covenant” (1242. diatheke) is used about twenty times throughout this epistle – almost twice as many time as it is used in the whole New Testament. However, in order to fully appreciate the message that is being conveyed here, we have to understand something about the background of this Church.

Paul is generally thought to be the author of this letter for several reasons: Firstly, nobody understood the laws and covenants as Paul did. Furthermore, not another theologian could measure to the spiritual content of this epistle. Secondly, the author makes mention of his “bonds” (Heb 10:34) as only the apostle could – definitely a Pauline flavor.

Paul is addressing the Jewish-Christian community in Jerusalem. Many of these dear saints had paid a great price for the truths of the Gospel. In fact, Paul makes mention of their suffering in chapter 10:32-33: “But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used…” The Jewish Christians had paid a great price: They

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had been ostracized, and ridiculed; they had been denied jobs or business; they had their goods confiscated, etc.

Yet, it seems that the years of trouble had made them somewhat resilient, or maybe even a little passive in their call to sainthood. Maybe they were just a little battle fatigued.

However we look at it, they had cooled off. There was not the former zeal. They were becoming dull spiritually! Paul makes that point at least a half a dozen times! In truth, they were losing their grip on the elementary doctrines (Heb. 5:12). Many were even reverting to some of the rituals of the Old Covenant.

It was at this juncture, that the theologian writes to Jerusalem; and his whole theme is on the superiority of the New Covenant. Through out the epistle, Paul contrasts the two covenants: how inferior the former one was, and how much greater the new is. He is provoking the Church to go on to perfection: “let us go on unto perfection” (Heb. 6:1). May we take advantage of the provisions of this covenant. This covenant offers full redemption: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25).

The Old Covenant provisions could never perfect the worshipper. This is stated in Hebrews 10:1: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”

Better things Throughout the remainder of this section, we are going to contrast the two covenants. Paul uses the word “better” thirteen times in the book of Hebrews – generally to express the

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advantage of the New Covenant. The following is a list of ten of the “better” advantages of the New Covenant: Hebrews 6:9

better things The New Covenant brings better things that accompany salvation.

Hebrews 7:19

a better hope

The New Covenant offers a better hope.

Hebrews 7:22

a better testament

Jesus was the guarantee of a better testament.

Hebrews 8:6

a better covenant

Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant.

Hebrews 8:6

better promises

The whole covenant was prefaced by better promises.

Hebrews 9:23

better sacrifice

The sacrifice of Christ is perfect.

Hebrews 10:34 better and All of the better “things an enduring hoped for” endure and substance continue throughout eternity.

Hebrews 11:16 a better country

A better country than the Promised Land is waiting for the faithful.

Hebrews 11:40 better thing

This is in reference to doing the greater works.

Hebrews 12:24 better things This is in reference to the blood than that of of sprinkling. The blood of Abel Christ pleads more for mercy, than the righteous blood of Abel pleads for vengeance!

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Although some of these promises of the better covenant may not mean that much to those who are not of Jewish extract, still, the New Covenant is an all-around promise of a better life to all of mankind! Our Savior takes man from the very gutter, washes him, clothes him, endows him with every good thing, and gives him the opportunity to inherit a throne in glory. As the psalmist said:

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

(Psalm 113:7-8)

Contrasting the covenants In order to fully elaborate on all of the contrasts found in the book of Hebrews, it would involve writing another volume.

It is rather our intention to give the reader a well-rounded and concise overview of the message being conveyed, and at the same time to give the reader a greater appreciation of all of the benefits that we have in Christ (our Mediator).

The following is a list of ten comparisons between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. There will be a brief commentary on each of them, and several of them shall be more fully expounded upon in later chapters: •

The two mediators: Moses and Christ

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The two mountains: Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion

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The two priesthoods: Aaron and Melchisedec

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The earthly priesthood versus the heavenly priesthood

•

The sacrifice of bulls versus the “once for all” sacrifice

•

The blood of the Old Covenant versus the blood of the New Covenant

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•

The “age-lasting” covenant versus the everlasting covenant

•

The greater acts of faith promised to the New Covenant

•

The closed veil versus the rent veil

•

The Law upon stone versus the Law upon the heart

The two mediators Moses and Christ are the central figures of these two covenants. Moses mediated the giving of the Law, or the Old Covenant. Christ was the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 8:6, 12:24). A mediator is the go-between, or the liaison between two parties. In this case, the mediation is between God and men. (See 1 Tim. 2:5.) The major difference between these two mediators is that one was mortal, and the other is immortal. It was the intention of Paul (by the Spirit) to show the Hebrews how much greater Christ was, than Moses.

Paul indeed affirms the greatness of Moses. There was not another prophet such as Moses. Moses was faithful in his commission; yet, the One that created Moses (Christ) was far greater (Heb. 3:3). The theologian proves that Christ is greater than the angels (Heb. 1:5-8). He also proves that Christ is greater than the father of Israel – Abraham. The figure of Melchisedec is used to ascertain that Christ was greater than Abraham, because Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec. Melchisedec was a type of Christ (Heb. 5:6 and 7:1-4).

The glory of Moses was awesome at the giving of the Law, but the glory of the resurrected Christ was far greater! The difference between the two mediators was that Moses was mortal – he had an end. The Old Covenant also had an end, But Christ has no end, and His covenant is everlasting!

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The two mountains In chapter twelve of Hebrews, the apostle contrasts Mt. Sinai and Mt Zion (12:18-24). Mt Sinai symbolizes the Old Covenant and Mt Zion symbolizes the New Covenant. Paul is exhorting the Hebrews to sever themselves from the old religion of Sinai: “Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched… but ye are come to Mount Zion.” He is calling them away from the physical mountain of unattainable religion, and unto a spiritual mountain, whose mediator can enable them to make it. “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant…” (Heb. 12:24).

Mt Zion upon earth was symbolic of the high calling in Christ. It was symbolic of the New Covenant, because the ark (which contained the law) sat upon Mt Zion in an unveiled tent. Mt Zion speaks of perfection – those perfected by His grace. When David set the ark upon Mt. Zion, he gave a number of qualifications as to who might ascend the holy hill. In other Mt Zion words, it was not just for any unsanctified represents Israelite that felt like coming. It was for the attainable pure in heart who kept the commandreligion, the ments! (See Psa. 15 & 24.) rent veil, and

access to These two mountains are excellent having the analogies of the two covenants. Mt Sinai New Covenant symbolizes the veiled ark. It symbolizes laws written unattainable religion. Moses quaked as he upon the heart. mediated this covenant. In fact, 3000 people died at the giving of this covenant.

The Old Covenant represented Law – without grace. It could show you your sin; it could condemn you; but it could not give you the victory over the nature of sin!

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Mt Zion represents attainable religion, the rent veil, and access to having the New Covenant laws written upon the heart. If we love the Savior, His laws are not grievous, but rather our delight. David said, “I delight to do thy will, yea, thy law is within my heart” (Psa. 40:8).

Aaron and Melchisedec In chapters 5-7 of Hebrews, Paul compares the priesthood of Aaron with the priesthood of Melchisedec. Aaron represents the Old Covenant; Melchisedec represents the New Covenant. Melchisedec was the king/priest of Jerusalem during the time of Abraham; he was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ: “For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Heb. 7:17). Actually, this verse is quoted eight times in scripture (not verbatim).

There are a number of major differences between these two orders, but the primary difference is the fact that Melchisedec was both a priest and a king. Christ represents the New Covenant priesthood of believers. We are called into a “regal” priesthood. The apostle Peter said this: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…”(1 Pet. 2:9). The New Covenant is appointed not only to fulfill the priestly function of worship, but to rule and reign. The Aaron priesthood of the Old Testament was not given the authority to bear rule.

Furthermore, the apostle accentuates the fact that Melchisedec had no record of beginning or ending. (Genealogy was an intricate part of Hebrew dogma.) Paul uses this detail to spiritualize on the eternal aspect of Christ: “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” The Aaron priesthood terminated at death, but the New Testament priesthood continues forever. Our High Priest ever lives to intercede for us!

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The earthly priesthood versus the heavenly priesthood

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eeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

(Hebrews 4:14-15) Throughout a number of chapters in Hebrews, Paul contrasts the Old Covenant priesthood with the New Covenant priesthood of Christ. The Old Testament priesthood was very fallible. It was prone to errors and human failures. The Israelite had to come to God through men who were subjected to the same weaknesses as themselves. In Hebrews 5:3, we read: “And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.”

The Old Testament priests had their own problems.

In life, when we really need help, or an answer, we try to find it from somebody who knows more than we do. We do not seek help from other chronic failures! The priesthood of Christ was infallible: “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself” (Heb. 7:27). He was tempted as we – yet without yielding. He understands temptation; He is always there for us; He never sleeps; He ever lives to intercede for us; and He has all power to help those who call upon Him. The difference between the two priesthoods is the difference between the earthy and the heavenly.

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The sacrifice of bulls versus the “once for all” sacrifice

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or the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

(Hebrews 10:1-3) Being a butcher (“meat-cutter”) by trade, I might have a little better visual concept of what these verses are saying. When you think of the fifteen centuries of prescribed animal sacrifices under the Old Covenant, you may do well to visit the Chicago stockyards. Virtually millions of head of cattle and sheep were slaughtered to atone for sins, and God accepted them for the time present. However, there was no power in those sacrifices to perfect the offerer – “make the comers perfect.” (That phrase in itself, is actually an inference that the New Covenant Sacrifice can perfect us!) The Old Covenant sacrifices could not deal with the sin nature. They were offered repeatedly for the same sins because they had no power to purge sin.

Someone once gave me some statistics on the Catholic confessional booth. Something like 95% of the confession is a repeat of the last confession. Why? Because their confession is mediated through a man that is out of touch with heaven; and his prescribed remedy, or penance, has no power to atone for sin. In other words, the sin still exists, and the sin still has dominion over his life. The New Covenant sacrifice

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of Christ is complete, and it is “once for all.” There is no need to come back the second time to ask forgiveness for sins that have already been forgiven. There is also grace not to repeat the offence!

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y the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

(Hebrews 10:10)

The blood of the Old Covenant versus the blood of the New Covenant

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or it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

(Hebrews 10:4)

The blood that was shed during the Old Covenant dispensation was as deficient as the sacrifice. It could not purge sin!

Yes, it could atone for sins (in other words it could provide a covering for sin), but it could never purge the sin away. The blood that flowed from the Lamb of Calvary was different; it was flowing from the spotless Son of God! The blood of Christ not only erases sin, but it purges the very conscience (Heb. 9:14). There is much to be said about the blood of the New Covenant, and for this reason, we have devoted a later chapter to the subject.

The “age-lasting” covenant versus the everlasting covenant As you will recall from the book of Jeremiah, the prophet foretells of a new covenant coming – not as the former one (Jer. 31:31-32). The former one had many debilitating factors

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to it. In truth, this was what the apostle said concerning it: “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Heb. 8:7-8).

The difference between these two covenants was that the Old Covenant would have an end. It was “age lasting,” or “enduring for an age or dispensation.” Jeremiah also prophesied in a later chapter that the new covenant would be eternal: “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jer. 32:40).

Also, notice how St. Paul closes the book of Hebrews: “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). The New Covenant is called the “everlasting covenant…” At the end of the Church Age, Israel/Judah enters this covenant, and it is forever. The New Covenant signifies the finished work – salvation to the uttermost, a transformed heart, and a heart that loves the ways of God!

The greater acts of faith promised to New Covenant Continue to bear in mind that the writer to the Hebrews is trying to arouse a Church that has fallen into a sort of stupor.

In chapter eleven, Paul challenges the Church by a long history of supernatural exploits. Indeed, some of the acts of faith that were wrought in the Old Testament have not been rivaled. Yet, it must be pointed out, that many of those miracles were just figures of things to come, and some of those

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miracles were only executed in part. In other words, it will take a future act of faith to complete the miracle. Consider a few verses:

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nd these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

(Hebrews 11:39-40) Many of the Old Testament acts of faith were only performed in “token” measure, because it will require the acts of the Church to complete them. As Jesus Himself declared: “Greater works than these shall ye do….” They without us should not be made perfect – or completed. Do we again see what Paul is saying to this Church? Some were resting in the laurels of the past religion, Paul said, yes, those acts of faith were great but the New Covenant has the promise of even greater things!

The closed veil versus the rent veil The purpose for the erection of the tabernacle (at Sinai) was twofold: firstly, that God might dwell amongst His people, and secondly, that God might teach His people how they could know Him. The whole Old Covenant was rather shrouded with religious functions that Israel never fully understood – that is, they did not understand the spiritual implications of them. The whole concept of God was veiled to them. The presence of God (symbolized by the ark) was behind curtains. The glory was veiled; the manna (symbolic of the deeper truths) was veiled from them. The law was veiled – unattainable in respect to the deeper spiritual understanding (Heb. 9:1-5).

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The scripture also says that their hearts were veiled, their minds were veiled, and their eyes were veiled. Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. There were a lot of righteous men and women in the Old Testament. They faithfully went through the religious motions of the Old Covenant – yet they never fully understood them.

What ended the Old Covenant and began the New Covenant was the rending of the veil. At the moment Christ died on the cross, the veil in the temple was rent (Mat. 27:50-51). Consider the following verses:

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There were a lot of righteous men and women in the Old Testament.

They faithfully went through the religious motions of the Old Covenant – yet they never fully understood them.

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh…”(Heb. 10:19-20). Christ opened the way to heaven through His crucifixion. He is the only way that we can come to God! It is only through Him that we can know God. “And they shall all know me.” Through Christ, the veil is removed!

The Law upon stone versus the law upon the heart

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or this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: (Hebrews 8:10) In the above passage, Paul reminds the Hebrews of the covenant that had been promised in Jeremiah 31:31-33. God

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promised Israel a covenant that would be kept – a law that would be transcribed upon the heart. Not as the former one, which they broke (Heb. 8:9). This is what make the New Covenant so glorious – the hopes of attaining, the hope of coming to the completeness that is available in Christ!

The Old Covenant was only attainable in the exterior form.

However, as we shall see in the next chapter, the New Covenant brings us to grips with the inner man. We might not have killed anyone physically, yet we could kill someone in our heart. This is part of what the New Covenant entails – the law of Christ written upon the heart!

Let us go on to perfection (Hebrews 6:1) As we conclude this chapter, I hope that we shall benefit from the message that is being conveyed. The Church in Jerusalem was digressing. The Church was becoming complacent and slacking off in the fight. Some were even reverting into a religion that was now dead, to sacrifices that could not purge sin, to laws that could not be attained, and to ceremonies that could only yield a lifeless experience. (Similar to the charismatic movement of a few decades past.) Many, who had experienced the new life in the Spirit, because they never severed from the old religion, eventually went back into bondage.

The apostle tries to jolt them back into reality. We have a High Priest who ever lives and who ever intercedes for us.

We have available grace to triumph over every foe! “Let us go on to perfection.” Amen!

The Messenger of the Covenant Christ the Messenger As we have previously noted, Christ was the Messenger of the covenant prophesied of in Malachi 3:1: “…And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.” This “Messenger” made His (sudden) grand debut in the temple during the Passover (recorded in John chapter two).

Becoming the message Charles Spurgeon once said: “God fits the man for the place.” In other words, God prepares the man for the place or for the people to whom he is being sent. There is an hour for the voice, and a voice prepared for the hour. A true “sent one” has a message that has been woven into his life. The Scripture says of John the Baptist: “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel” (Luke 1:80). John was hidden, John was dealt with by God, and the very character of John was being straightened before he could proclaim his message.

Before a man can proclaim (with fire), “Make the crooked places straight!” he himself must be made straight! John was hidden until the day of his showing unto Israel.

It is comforting to know that God works on us in the private sector. People do not see all of the humiliation that is entailed

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to produce “the messenger.” However, when the work is done, it is then presented to Israel. Somebody once used the illustration of a fine crafted chair. People do not see the entire procedure: the cutting, chiseling, and polishing that go into the chair. They just see the nice chair setting in the window.

John the Baptist was the man that God used in the preliminary revival. There had to be a revival just to prepare people for the greater revival that was coming (John 5:35-36). In the mean time, the greater Messenger was being prepared with another message. Of course, that Messenger was Christ, and His message was very different from John’s; yet the developing process of the messenger was the same (Luke 2:40). For one to grow strong in spirit, he must push against tremendous pressure!

Isaiah speaks prophetically of the hidden years of Christ: “And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me” (Isa. 49:2). In order to have a word that is so sharp that it pierces the motives and the intents of man’s heart, He must first have had the sword (of the Word) plunged through his own heart (Luke 2:35).

One can only imagine, or try to imagine the dealings, the mental suffering and the polishing that took place in the hidden life of Christ. We must remember that Christ became the “Son of Man” that He might acquaint Himself with the intents and the struggles of the human heart.

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hough he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

(Hebrews 5:8-9)

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The Sermon on the Mount When Christ introduced the New Covenant message to Israel (The Sermon on the Mount), He was giving Israel a picture of what having a new heart and a new spirit is all about. As we ascend to the mount where Jesus is now teaching, listen carefully to what is He saying. He is talking about attitudes of the heart, and motives – motives in giving, motives in The Law of Moses dealt prayer, fasting, and motives that challenge with the every intent of the heart. Christ was introexterior man, ducing a law to Israel that was much higher whereas the than that of Moses.

New Covenant The Law of Moses dealt with the exterior challenges man, whereas the New Covenant challenges the inner the inner man. After all, this was the focus of man. the promised New Covenant: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:33). Although, the Master was teaching His people the deeper implications of the New Covenant, the outworking of these truths would not become a reality until after the Spirit was given.

We become New Covenant people when we are saved; however, the materiality of this covenant is an ongoing process.

It takes a considerable time before the message becomes reality. The Corinthian Church serves as a good illustration.

They were obviously saved. They were sanctified (set apart for God’s purpose), and they were filled with the Spirit.

However, St. Paul labels them “carnal”! Essentially, they

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were breaking every precept of the teaching upon the Mount. It is one thing to hear a message and have it stored in our heads. It is another thing to get the truth of that message into our hearts so that it is displayed through our everyday words and actions!

Thy law is within my heart

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delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

(Psalm 40:8)

Although David actually penned these words, the apostle Paul attributes the spiritual import of this verse to Christ in Hebrews 10: 5-9. Somebody once said that there is something greater than doing the will of God. What could that be? Delighting to do the will of God! We can do many things out of simple duty, but it pleases God very much when we respond with delight. Such was the heart of Christ to His Father – even to the point of the supreme sacrifice.

What our Lord and Savior was about to teach upon the mount was not some theoretical or ethereal message. It was a message that He exemplified. He was the very embodiment of the New Covenant. The author Luke expresses this in the book of Acts 1:1: “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.”

Somebody once related how a preacher had boldly declared that he would proclaim the Word of God without compromise. I appreciate ministers who really follow through on that. However, when I asked the person if the minister lived his message, he could not answer.

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I believe that this was the goal of the Master Teacher: to raise up disciples who would do and teach. Let us consider one of the central statements that Jesus made during His sermon on the mount: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” There are many degrees in heaven, but the greatest degrees go to those who lived their message!

The higher law of the New Covenant

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nd seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

(Matthew 5:1-2) In a sense, the unveiled ark sitting upon Mount Zion parallels with Christ’s sitting upon the mount. The unveiled ark symbolizes the New Covenant, and Christ was the embodiment of that New Covenant. Although Mount Zion speaks of the higher standard, it also speaks of attainability, because the veil is removed. It was on Mount Zion that David gave his famous invitation: “Who shall abide in thy tabernacle?

Who shall dwell in thy holy hill” (Psa. 15:1)? The answer comes back, “He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart…” (Psa. 15: 2-4).

Essentially, it is for those who love the commandments.

In the context of this sermon setting, great multitudes were following Jesus from every province and from beyond Jordan. Thus, Jesus situates Himself upon the mountain.

Herein is a picture that the Church must imitate as it comes

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to completeness. The prophet Isaiah depicts the last-day Church when he declares: “It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains… and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD… and he will teach us of his ways… for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:2-3).

These verses will definitely have a literal fulfillment in the millennium. The house mentioned here is the millennial temple, and the nations shall flow unto it. However, the Church must preempt the promises given to Israel. It will be the “spiritual” house – the Church, which shall fulfill the great commission of the last days. In the scope of the greater things that Christ promised, the Lord will have a group of true disciples who will teach the nations the higher ways of the kingdom (Mat. 24:14).

There is a distinction between Jerusalem and Mt. Zion. Mt. Zion is a mountain within Jerusalem, and it speaks of the higher plane – the law from Zion. There are many Churches that preach the Word, but do not uphold God’s standard or law. A minister once told me that he only preaches the Word, and that he never uses the word “law.” In fact, many big Churches carefully avoid any subject that might offend the flock. One preacher said that he never uses the word “sin.” I personally endorse the saying that it is better to have a handful of wheat, than a bushel of chaff.

There are three groups within the kingdom. These three groups equate with the three divisions of the (Moses) Tabernacle. These three groups are distinct throughout scripture.

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Outer Court

Israel

Little Children

First Principles

Holy Place

Jerusalem

Young Men

Word becomes flesh (life experience)

Holy of Holies

Mt. Zion

Fathers

law upon heart (New Covenant)

What really was the message of the Messenger? The Messenger was bringing Israel from the law etched upon stone, to the higher law of the Spirit. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Mat. 5:17-18). The word fulfill (pleroo 4137) means to fill up, or to supply the deficiency. The law was deficient in the sense that it was exterior, concerning actions. It was a law written on a tablet. Jesus was transcribing the law from the exterior to the interior, from the physical to the spiritual – from the act, to the thought of the act!

Sins of the spirit versus sins of the flesh Jesus used a number of examples to show us the difference between a sin of the spirit, and the physical act. In Matthew 5:27-28 the example of adultery is used: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

There is a difference between the physical act, and the spiritual act that could take place in the mind or heart. To commit adultery is not the same as to think adultery. We are far more accountable for the act, than the thought of the act (Jas. 1: 15).

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Yet, Jesus is showing us that the “New Covenant” demands a greater righteousness than the “Old Covenant.” In fact, The whole sermon is bringing us to grips with heart issues. In Matthew 5: 21-22, Jesus parallels murder and anger. Most of us have never killed anyone, but having anger, or hatred is to have murder in our heart. Envy, or lust or hatred are all sins of the spirit, and they all testify to the fact that it was in my heart to do so.

This Divine Messenger was instructing His people into the higher ways of the kingdom. In no wise was Christ glossing over the physical actions, but He was exposing the root of the action – the heart. I emphasize this, because later, a sect sprang up within the Church, known as the Gnostics. These Gnostics taught that we were only accountable for the sins of the spirit.

The Lord desires us to be holy both in body and in spirit (1 Cor. 7:34). One of the early monks, Simeon Stylites became famous by chaining himself to the top of a pillar for thirty years. Well, certainly that kept him from committing certain physical sins, but the Lord wants to deal with the issues in our heart. We have to have a certain exposure to the world to reveal those issues. We can never be holy unless we have been tested, and we can never be holy unless our heart is holy!

The Old Covenant did not put major emphasis on the sins of the spirit because there was not a sacrifice sufficient to cleanse the soul and conscience. Had there been an emphasis on the sins of the spirit, that would only have brought the saints into greater condemnation. However, we in the New Testament have an “all” sufficient sacrifice. We have been provided with “all” sufficient grace, and we have been given the truths that will enable us to live a victorious life! The New Covenant promises the help of the Spirit to all who seek. (See Heb. 4:14-16.)

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Salvation to the Uttermost: An Exposition on the New Covenant

In the New Testament, we have been provided with all-sufficient grace, and we have been given the truths that will enable us to live a victorious life!

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“The fulfilling of the law” has often been misconstrued to mean that Christ came to eliminate the law. Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. Christ came “to magnify the law and make it honorable.” (See Isa. 42:21.) The Sermon on the Mount gives us vivid illustrations of what it means to fulfill the law. The (Old Covenant) law was deficient in that it could not supply the grace/power to live up to its higher (spiritual) implications. It stopped short of heart issues!

Matthew 5:21-22 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…

Matthew 5:27-28 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Matthew 5:31-32 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Matthew 5:33-34 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

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Matthew 5:38-39 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Matthew 5:43-44 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

But I say unto you As Jesus was teaching upon the mount, He would often reflect back to another mount, to another covenant, and to another messenger. He was (in most instances) quoting Moses when he said: “Ye have heard…” Yet, all that Moses had said was superceded with five words: “But I say unto you!”

This was the “I Am” that commissioned Moses at the burning bush – this was the Lord Himself! As the prophet Malachi said, “And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in…”

It is interesting how we tend to look back at the Old Covenant with disdain, and term it as harsh, unreasonable, and unlivable – and it certainly had some incapacitating features.

Yet, the New Covenant requires more. The New Covenant of Christ represents a higher standard. In the Old Covenant, there was provision for divorce (because of their hardened hearts). Not so in the New Covenant – “But I say unto you” (Mat. 5:32).

The Old Covenant (with its lesser standard) could not be kept, and yet The New Covenant with its higher standard

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shall be kept. That does not seem reasonable to human rationale; howbeit, the apostle John gives us the reason: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). So often grace has been misconstrued to mean “tolerance.” Does this sound rational – that Christ would give us a higher code to live by and then excuse our inability to live it? True grace is “Divine influence.”

In other words, grace is the power to do what we cannot do in our natural strength. Our Great High Priest – (our Mediator) is always standing by to minister grace and help in the time of stress, and duress.

The Sermon on the Mount is a message that never grows old.

For the mature saint, it mellows with age. The more that I understand the message, the more attainable it becomes.

Christ came with grace and truth. Truth liberates and sets free. When we know our privileges in Christ, it produces great faith and courage. May I say this from my own personal experience: the more that I know the Lord and the more that I understand His ways, the greater my faith becomes. He will enable me to accomplish everything that He has purposed for my life (Phil. 1:6).

To do and teach The teaching ministry is without doubt a premier ministry of the last days. As Daniel said, “They that understand among the people shall instruct many" (Dan 11:33). It is the Lord’s desire for His people to understand His ways. We are the New Covenant people. We are the people who should have the law written upon our hearts so that we, also, may teach the nations. May the Lord give us the grace to rightly divide and balance this beautiful message into our everyday lives!

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nd it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

(Matthew 7:28-28)

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or this is my blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

(Matthew 26:28) (See Psa. 116:13 for the cup of salvation.)

In the book of Hebrews, St. Paul draws a parallel between the initiation of the Old Covenant, and the initiation of the New Covenant. Let us hear his words: Hebrews 9:19-23 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. (Paul is quoting from Exodus 24:7-8).

Notice the italicized portions of the above passages. Moses said, “This is the blood of the testament (covenant) which is

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given for you.” The people were sprinkled with the blood, because without the shed blood there is no remission of sins.

Also, observe the last part of verse 23: “…But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” The blood of calves served as an “age-lasting” remedy for sin upon earth, and for the heavenly patterns revealed in the tabernacle. However, when the New Covenant was inaugurated, a more adequate sacrifice was necessary. The whole order of things was moving from the earthly sphere to the heavenly – heaven itself must be purified. The blood of animals could not purge the sin that was committed in heaven.

We may wonder – what sin was committed in heaven? The sins of pride, rebellion, and betrayal took place there by Lucifer and his followers.

The Testator must die The apostle also brings out another very important truth in chapter nine: “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” (Heb. 9:16-17). In order for a The One who testament to be put into force there must be co-authored a death. The word “testament” is the same this testament Greek word as covenant. However, in the had to give His sense that it is being used here, you have life in order to the thought of a “will.” We cannot cash in put it into on a will until the testator dies. Our force!

Testator was Christ. When He symbolically took the cup and passed it to His disciples, He was declaring a new day, “This is My blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” The One who co-authored this testament had to give His life in order to put it into force!

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On the eve of the crucifixion, whilst Jesus and the disciples were commemorating the Passover, Jesus took the symbolic cup and inaugurated the New Covenant: “This is My blood…” Israel had been celebrating this feast for about 1500 years, but this night was different because the Passover was about to be fulfilled. Christ is actually called “our Passover” in First Corinthians 5:7.

My mother was converted when she was about seventeen years old (1934). As the preacher was giving the invitation that morning, she saw the blood flowing from the cross, and she was never the same! The pattern has never changed. The act that delivered Israel from the power of Egypt was the lamb slain. Occasionally, we sing the old hymn that commemorates the event: When I See the Blood. “When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you!” Our salvation resides in the (invisible) covering of the blood of Christ. We are spared from the wrath of God’s judgment because of the blood of Jesus.

Only through the Blood (Ephesians 1:7) One point of doctrine that we must be very clear upon is that salvation is only through the blood of Christ. Saint Peter phrases it like this: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold… but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet 1:18-19). The initial act that translates us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, is a revelation of the crucified Lamb of God. The Blood of Christ is the point of entry for all men who believe. Because the nation of Israel rejected the blood of the New Covenant, the door was opened to “whosoever will.”

In fact, in the book of Revelation we see the nations who

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have fully appropriated the promises of the covenant. They are singing: “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Rev. 5:9).

Our salvation and, indeed, the ongoing redemption process reside in the blood of Christ. Man is initially saved through faith in the sacrificial act of Christ. The book of Romans substantiates this: “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (a pass-over) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past…” (Rom 3:25). We are completely forgiven for past sin, and as we continue to walk in the light, His blood continually cleanses us. His blood continually cleanses us, and shall be our covering in the day that the books are opened. The apostle also declares that the blood of Jesus saves us from the wrath to come. “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Rom 5:9).

When we come to Christ at salvation, we are given a clean slate. The Blood of Jesus blots out our past transgressions.

Christ was our substitute, He paid for our crimes, and thus we are set free. Notwithstanding, we must take careful note of the wording in Romans 3:25: “…To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past…” We are not absolved from future (unrepentant) crimes. The Blood of Christ is allpowerful. It is sufficient to cleanse the (compounded) sins of the whole world. It is sufficient to purify heaven itself! Yet, it does not cover unconfessed or unrepentant sin!

The ceremonial law of Leviticus teaches us spiritual truths.

It gives us the pattern of heavenly (spiritual) laws or principles. (See Hebrews 8: 5, 9: 8, and 9: 23.) The offender (under the law) had to come back to the altar, and make confession

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(or restitution if necessary). The sacrifice was then slain in the place of the offender, and he was then forgiven his sin (Lev. 5: 5-6: 7). Nothing has changed except the form of the sacrifice. We must continue to come back to our spiritual altar (Heb. 13: 10). We must still confess our sin – and make amends if possible (Matt. 5: 23-24) – and we must still appropriate the blood. Of course, we are referring to the Blood of Christ.

We are exhorted through much of scripture to make our calling and election sure.

The apostle John pens this so eloquently: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1: 9). There must be an “up to date” relationship with the Savior. We are exhorted through much of scripture to make our calling and election sure. In other words, we have a part to play in our own destiny. The Lord told Israel, “I will bring you into the land…” However, most of that generation did not get into the land, because of a flagrant disregard for the rules. “If ye be willing and obedient…” Israel did not believe; Israel rebelled!

Again, we take our bearings from the apostle John: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). John gives us the key to maintaining an up to date relationship – walk in the light.

In other words, walk in the light of His Word. Obey His voice; obey the quickening of His Word. As the psalmist also said: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psa. 119: 9). As we walk in obedience to Christ, His blood continually cleanses us from all sin.

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Eternal security There is a doctrine that has come to be known as “eternal security.” Essentially, what this doctrine teaches is that once you are saved, you cannot possibly lose your salvation. Often the supporters of this doctrine excuse the “backsliders” by saying that they were never really saved to begin with.

May I say from thirty years of ministerial experience, that I have known whole-hearted Christians who have served the Lord (even in the ministry), and later have gone back into the world. The scripture fully supports what I am saying.

Many, who were co-laborers with St. Paul later, became “enemies” of the cross (Phil. 3:18-19).

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or if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

(Hebrews 10:26-29) The covering of the Blood of Christ does not apply to flagrant disobedience. Unless the offender is reconciled to the Blood of Christ, there is no more covering for sin! If a transgressor died without mercy under the Law of Moses (which was a less demanding covenant), of how much sorer punishment shall it be for the transgressor who rejects the Spirit of grace? There is no manner in which these verses can be explained away. The man was sanctified by the blood of the New Covenant. He

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was in the kingdom. He willfully transgressed the commandments of Christ. He (in effect) trampled over the Son of God, despising His Blood, and despised the Spirit of grace (in other words, refuses God’s gift of repentance). This man will be blotted out of the book of life (Rev. 3: 5).

I will remember their sin no more

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here is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains - lose all their guilty stains, and sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains.

(William Cowper, 1732 – 1800)

Now here is a song that they could not sing in the Old Testament. In fact, none living in the years BC (before Christ) can sing that song. Guilt was something those under the Old Covenant had to live with. They even took it to the grave. There was a fear in death for this very reason – because of the guilty conscience. (Heb. 2: 15). Guilt has caused people to do strange things. Guilt has driven people to alcohol, to asylums, and even to suicide.

Pilate could not wash the guilt off his hands. In Mel Gibson’s portrayal of the passion, Pilate kept trying to wash his hands. Finally his attendant said: “Sir, you’ve washed your hands.” According to the historian Eusebius Pamphilius, Pilate later committed suicide on a mountain overlooking Lake Lucerne (Switzerland) – an appropriate ending for one whom condemned the most innocent man that ever lived.

Most betrayers in scripture committed suicide.

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or the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

(Hebrews 10:1-4) As we analyze the (above) verses, we can understand why the Old Testament saint could go to the grave feeling condemned. The blood of calves only served as a sin covering for the time then present. God accepted the atonement of animal blood, and the offender was forgiven. Notwithstanding, the offender still had to deal with a defiled conscience – although he was forgiven, his sin was not forgotten.

Consider King David who had fallen into such a terrible pit of sin. Although David had been forgiven, he was overcome with the sense of guilt and remorse. In Psalm 40: 12, David said, “For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up….” Now that is condemnation; that is loss of self-respect. David could not even hold his head up for the shame that he had incurred. It may have been well-deserved shame, but one thing is sure: when a person gets into a pit of despair like this, he is not of much good to man or God. David longed for the purging of his conscience. He says in another place: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean….” The hyssop branch was used ceremonially to sprinkle the sacrificial blood. David longed to be clean within.

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Part of the New Covenant promise given in Jeremiah is quoted by the Apostle Paul: “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Heb. 10: 17). The reason that those under the Old Covenant continued to offer (yearly) the same sacrifices for sin was that their conscience was still polluted. As the author of Hebrews had said, those offerings could not perfect the offerer – and especially concerning his conscience. We also have the thought that even God remembered the offenses. Animal blood did not totally satisfy the righteous demands of God.

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ut this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

(Hebrews 10:12-18) The “once for all” offering of Christ satisfied the judgment of God. The offender was not only declared to be justified, but the offenses were declared to be forgotten. When the Lord said that he would forget our transgression that is exactly what He meant – never to be remembered again! Moreover, this New Covenant has another benefit: not only does Our Lord promise to forget our transgressions, He promises to remove the guilt from our own heart!

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ow much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14) A minister was telling a story about a man who had committed a crime for which he deemed himself unworthy of salvation. Not only did he disqualify himself from salvation, but also, he daily tortured his conscience with reflections of yesteryear. During the Second World War, this man’s outfit had captured a number of prisoners – maybe around a hundred.

It seems that these prisoners were bogging them down and keeping them from any further action. Finally, he gave an order to have them all shot. As they were being lined up, they were begging this captain for mercy.

For many years, he could still hear them begging for mercy; and because he had not shown mercy, he could not accept mercy himself. I forgot exactly what the minister said that led him to salvation, but as I recall the story the captain walked away with a conscience that was at rest!

The blood of Jesus is so powerful that it can cleanse the stained conscience.

The Blood of Christ is sufficient for the sins of the whole world. If a man says, “I am too bad.” “I am too wicked, you do not know what I have done”, what he is really saying is, “The Blood of Christ is not sufficient for my sin.” The Blood of Christ sets our spirit free. It puts lightness in our step. It puts a song in our heart, and a testimony upon our lips. As King David said, “Many shall see this and trust in the Lord!”

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nd he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

(1 John 2:2)

A purged conscience in death The Old Testament saints went to the grave in fear, and in trepidation, because they were still conscious of the many sins committed over their lifetime. They were going to meet their Maker with a defiled conscience. How different it is for the New Covenant saint. The purged conscience takes the fear out of dying – at least in that respect. A pastor was recently telling me about the death of a saint. The man who was dying had been a part of a Gospel quartet for many years. In his final moments he was looking into glory and saying with ecstasy, “Wow, WOW!”

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s far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

(Psalm 103:12)

He is our Guarantee Not only did Christ co-author this covenant, He initiated it with His Own Blood – with His Own Life. However, it did not end there. He also rose again to guarantee the recipients of this covenant every necessary grace and privilege to inherit the “full” possession. Full salvation – redeemed from all iniquity (Titus 2: 14), that we might be His sons and daughters throughout the ages to come! (The word “surety” in Hebrews 7:22, means “guarantee”.)

He rose again to guarantee the recipients of this covenant every necessary grace to inherit the “full” possession.

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rise, my soul, arise, shake off the guilty fears; the bleeding Sacrifice in my behalf appears; before the throne my surety stands, before the throne my surety stands: My name is written on His hands.

(Arise My Soul Arise – Wesley)

See the appendix for “Divine Healing.”

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The promise of the Spirit I will put my Spirit within you As we have previously considered, the initiation of the New Covenant took place through the sacrificial death of Christ. Yet, that was only the inauguration of the covenant.

Christ also arose to guarantee the provisions of this covenant, one of which was the promise of the Spirit. (The promise of the Spirit would not take place until after the ascension of Christ.)

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nd I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk…

(Ezekiel 36:27)

Although Jeremiah is the only prophet that actually used the word “New Covenant,” there are other Old Testament allusions to the same promised covenant, for example, Ezekiel chapter 36:26-28. Ezekiel's version concludes in the same manner as Jeremiah: “And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Cf. Jer. 31:33.)

Ezekiel adds another dimension to this promised covenant when he speaks of the empowering of the Spirit – this is not in reference to our salvation. Although we receive God’s Spirit when we are saved, this is not the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise of the Spirit. (Some people confuse the two experiences.) We receive the Spirit of God at salvation. Paul makes that very clear in Romans 8:9: “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” When a

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man is born again, the Spirit of God is birthed within his soul. Yet, there is a further experience.

When Jesus appeared to His disciples after the resurrection, the disciples believed on Him. He then breathed on them, and said: “Receive ye the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). The disciples had just experienced salvation! But, was this the promise of the Father? No, because forty days later, just before His ascension, He charges His disciples to go into Jerusalem to wait for the promise of the Father:

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nd, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

(Acts 1:4-5)

What took place in Acts chapter two, is not what happens when people accept the Lord as their Savior. The seekers were suddenly baptized with fire from heaven. They spoke in other tongues; they prophesied; they had visions; and they preached with power. The Lord had promised them power to fulfill their commission – to be witnesses unto the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

This was a totally different experience from that of John 20, where Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into them. Had John 20, been the extent of the “promised” Spirit, then I seriously doubt that there would have been a book of Acts! In the order of the feasts of Israel, the Passover and the feast of Pentecost were two totally different celebrations, and they speak of two totally different experiences.

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Let us consider a few descriptions of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. Please note that we are incorporating two experiences here. The baptism of fire can be a totally separate experience – (it was a separate experience in my life).

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Likened unto a thresher separating the chaff from the grain

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Likened unto a baptism of fire

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Accompanied by great conviction and repentance

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Likened unto a rest or a refreshing

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Evidenced by speaking in other tongues

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Evidenced by supernatural gifts, such as healing and prophecy, etc.

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Evidenced by authority over demons

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Evidenced by a new power to witness

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Evidenced by a greater understanding and comprehension of the mysteries of God

Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?

When the apostle Paul came through Ephesus in Acts 19, he found certain believers there, to whom he asked this question: “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?

There response is quite interesting: “And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost” (Acts 19:2). Apparently, these believers had not been instructed in the ways of the Lord. They had never even been baptized into Christ, and they had never heard about the promised Holy Spirit.

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After they were baptized, the apostle Paul laid hands on them and imparted the Holy Spirit. It was evidenced by speaking in tongues and prophecy. Does this sound like a salvation experience?

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nd when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

(Acts 19:6) Please allow me to reiterate a comment that the famed Evan Roberts made: “You don’t have to be baptized in the Holy Spirit to make it to heaven, but you will miss a lot along the way if you are not!” The theme that we have been trying to promote throughout this study is “salvation to the uttermost.” We can never know the fullness of that promise if Suppose that we neglect a basic principle of the gospel Paul had said, such as the baptism in the Spirit.

“I don’t need the baptism in We can only be perfect as we fulfill the the Holy purpose that God has for our lives. The Spirit.” If Paul perfection that God demands from us is had said that, relative to growth. We can be perfect as there would long as we appropriate the present truth. never have been (Cf. Phil. 3:12-15.) Suppose that Paul had the “apostle” said, “I don’t need the baptism in the Paul – maybe a Holy Spirit.” If Paul had said that, there saved Paul, but that is all. would never have been the “apostle” Paul – maybe a saved Paul, but that is all. If we reject the means necessary to fulfill our course, we shall stand ashamed when we see Christ. By the way, I have had Christians tell me just that: “I don’t need it!”

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Listen to what the apostle said to the Hebrew believers: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment� (Heb. 6:1-2).

Paul lists the doctrine of baptisms as being fundamental. It we want to see this building (personal temple) come to completeness, then we must appropriate the foundational doctrines.

We cannot go on to perfection if we neglect some of the provisions that our Author and Provider has made available to us!

Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?

The training arena Personally, I had been saved for a few years before I was brought to grips with the need for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In my case, I had to pray for months before I received; and even my initial experience was not as dynamic as I had hoped. I spoke in tongues; I did not feel any lightning bolts, or anything terribly unusual. However, what I did experience over the next few months was quite dramatic. My whole life changed. I had a spiritual awakening that has affected me until this day.

It was as though I was ushered onto another path for my life.

I found myself being led into a sort of training camp that I could not have conjured up. I have since come to realize that the baptism in the Spirit not only opens us up to the spiritual realm, but it sets us on a course whereby God deals with us concerning many issues. John the Baptist likened the baptism to a thresher separating the wheat from the chaff (Mat. 3:11-12). When the Spirit came upon Christ, He was immediately driven into the wilderness to be tempted. The

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type is painfully obvious. The baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, is the means by which God purifies our temple. Salvation justifies us because of the Blood of Jesus, but then there is a nature to be reckoned with. We cannot know the full redemption plan unless we experience this baptism.

Even the apostle Paul disappeared from the scene for about ten years after his conversion/baptism experience. Where was he? He was in his training camp, he was being taught the ways of the Spirit – he was in his private wilderness.

There are extraordinary features that are associated with the giving of the Spirit: there is a supernatural empowering; and there are the nine spiritual gifts, mentioned in First Corinthians 12:8-10. Christians who do not embrace the baptism in the Spirit do not function in these beautiful gifts. The promised Spirit brings refreshing to our soul. The promised Spirit is called “the rest” in Isaiah 28:11-12. Praying in tongues brings relief to the soul. It touches the things for which we do not know how to “rationally” pray. Yet, in spite of all of the wonderful things associated with this experience, the reality of being led onto the path that is necessary to perfect our faith is the most important of all.

The giving of the law versus the giving of the Spirit In Second Corinthians 3:6-18, St. Paul contrasts the giving of the law (the Old Covenant) with the giving of the Spirit. Lets consider a few verses:

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ho also hath made us able ministers of the new (covenant); not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly

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behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

(2 Corinthians 3:6-8) Actually, this sounds like the kind of teaching that might be needed by the Hebrew believers; but in truth, Paul was really addressing a segment within the Corinthian Church that was being seduced by some Hebrew (pseudo) apostles. These “Hebrew” apostles were trying to bring the gentiles under the law of Moses. (See 2 Cor. 10-12, and especially 11:22.)

What really was the point that Paul wanted to impress? Paul wanted to show the Corinthians that the law written upon stone was death. The little phrase: “The letter killeth,” is in reference to the Old Covenant. This “letter” is also called the ministration of death, and it is called the ministration of condemnation. Why was it death? It was death because the purpose of the law was to expose sin. The law could show you your sin, it could condemn you, but it could not give you victory over the sin! There was no power (grace) in this covenant to triumph over sin! Therefore, at the giving of the law 3000 people died (Ex. 32:28).

I will cause you to walk…

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nd I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

(Ezekiel 36:27)

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How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious (2 Cor. 3:8)? The word “ministration” means assistant or servant. The purpose of the Spirit is to help us or enable us. The apostle is trying to show (those being seduced) how much greater this New Covenant is. He hath made us able ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. The Spirit giveth life! At the giving of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, 3000 were made alive – 3000 were converted (Acts 2:41).

The ministration of the Spirit is also called the “ministry of righteousness.” Whereas the law could only condemn you, those who walk in the Spirit can have victory over sin. This is affirmed in Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. The New Covenant promise is that the law would be kept: “And ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Cf. Romans 8:4.)

The ministration of the Spirit is declared to be of a greater glory than that of Moses at Sinai. At the giving of the Law there was a visible glory upon Moses. However, at the giving of the Spirit in Acts chapter two, there were 120 saints aglow with the Spirit. History records that the saints of the early Church had an aura about their faces. Yet, I believe that the final Church shall even possess a greater glory – a remaining glory!

The promise is unto you

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or the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

(Acts 2:39)

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Volumes could be written on the promised Holy Spirit.

However, our intention in presenting these few pages is to encourage those who are thirsty and who long for greater spiritual reality in their lives. The promise is to those who thirst, as Jesus said: “ ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’ (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)” (John 7:37).

How can I receive this gift?

In Scripture, we find two ways that people generally received the Holy Spirit: A. Waiting upon the Lord is often the best way. The disciples in the upper room were praying, fasting, and seeking for the fulfillment of the promise. There is something done in our spirit as we wait upon the Lord. Faith is developed, motives are often checked, and often times there are areas in our life that God wants us to bring into obedience! God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32).

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

(Luke 11:13) B. The laying on of hands by the ministry is another way people can receive this gift. The Apostle Paul himself was baptized in the Holy Spirit by a disciple who laid his hands upon him (Acts 9:17). Later, Paul imparted this gift

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by the laying on of hands. "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied" (Acts 19:6).

There are other instances where there was revival, and God just poured out His Spirit upon them all: “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word… For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God” (Acts 10:44-46). We must not limit God to some formula. Some would say that we must be holy before we can receive the gift. The Corinthian Church disproves that. We have known other instances, in which Christians happened into a service and were filled with the Spirit, in spite of their (previous) unbelief.

Is speaking in tongues the evidence?

Most ministers who teach against the baptism in the Holy Spirit (evidenced by tongues) have rejected the gift and have never been filled themselves.

Speaking in tongues is most assuredly the sign that accompanies the baptism of the Holy Spirit! In Scripture, every place where men were filled with the Spirit, they spoke in tongues! During the dark ages, the gift of the Holy Spirit had almost been pushed into extinction – although not entirely. However, during the early part of the twentieth century, there came a revival of the Holy Spirit.

In the country of Wales, there was a tremendous Pentecostal revival – they spoke in tongues, there were miracles, and the gifts began to function again. The effect of that revival not only transformed Wales, but it had an affect upon the whole century.

Most ministers who teach against the baptism in the Holy Spirit (evidenced by tongues) have rejected

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the gift and have never been filled themselves. A few years ago, I was preaching in a Church in South America. They had been taught that you can be filled with the Spirit without speaking in tongues. The Church was dead. I spoke on the receiving the Spirit, and the need to speak in tongues.

When I gave an invitation to be filled, most of the people came down because they knew they were not filled with the Spirit.

It may be helpful if I made a distinction between the gift of tongues, and tongues as a personal witness and prayer language. When I was baptized in the Spirit, I spoke in tongues.

I still speak in tongues every day. I pray in tongues. I worship in tongues. In fact, our whole Church often worships the Lord in other tongues during the worship service, and often, we all pray in the Spirit together, and there is no interpretation! Oh, is not that out of order? Not at all – because our prayer is unto God, and our worship is unto God, and no interpretation is necessary (1 Cor. 14:2).

The gift of tongues The gift of tongues are different. It is a gift to edify the Body of Christ. I have been very privileged to see some who genuinely possessed this gift. Let me share one example: There was a convention, and one of the ministers that came down for prayer was an Indian. There was another minister there, who began to pray for him in a most embarrassing tongue.

However, when the prayer ended, the Indian brother said; "You not only prayed for me in my language, but in my unique dialect. In the case where there is a message in tongues to the Church, then there needs to be an interpretation. That was one of the abuses of the gifts in Corinth; there was one tongue after another without any interpretation.

Paul said; let it be limited to three or until there is an inter-

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pretation before proceeding (1 Cor. 14:27-28).

The best way to be convinced in your own heart is to sincerely ask. Begin to set aside a time to seek for this gift, or better yet, seek the One who promises to baptize with His Spirit! Everyone that asketh shall surely receive! Do not be afraid that you may receive something that is evil. Jesus said, "…If he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?" (Luke 11:11) God does not allow people to receive an evil spirit when they are seeking Him for His Holy Spirit!

Thirst is the key As we have previously mentioned, thirst is the key to receiving the Spirit: “If any man thirst…” If we don’t have a spiritual thirst for the Living God, then the Lord is certainly not going to pour His Spirit upon us. (However, we can pray for a thirst.) The prophet Isaiah prophetically declared, “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring” (Isa. 44:3).

These are wonderful truths, and yet our purpose in relating these things is to draw our attention to the New Covenant.

These are all provisions of the New Covenant. The shed blood of Christ washes away our sin. The shed blood allows us to come through the door of salvation – but let us go to know Christ as our “Baptizer.” Lets go on to know the empowering of the Spirit, that we might be His witnesses unto the ends of the earth.

Amen!

Removing the stony heart Continuing in the promise The theme of this exposition has been from Hebrews 7:25, “Salvation to the uttermost.” The New Covenant promises a complete redemption to those who continue in the Word.

John 8:31-32 says: “… If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Many Christians stop short of the New Covenant promises, and rob themselves of the full purchased possession.

In First Corinthians 3:15, we find an example of the man who is saved – so as by fire. His labors for the kingdom were found unacceptable. In other words, they were identified as wood, hay, and stubble. This can speak of things such as books – books that were erroneous (books that legitimize second and third time marriages, books predicting the time of the Second Coming, etc.) They can also speak of ministries that took their reward here in this life (such as by receiving the acclaim of men, or perhaps by living opulently on the sacrifices of the people, etc.)

Compare the (above) passage with Second Peter 1:10-11. Peter describes the one who has an abundant entrance into the heavenly kingdom. He has applied the available truth and grace. He has appropriated the principles set forth by Peter, (verses 6-9) and he is assured a celebrated homecoming!

When the pilgrim (in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress) crossed the river at the end of life, the trumpets were blowing, and the bells of heaven were ringing. All of heaven came

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out to honor a faithful saint. They were all aware of his coming! This man had experienced the fullness of salvation, whereas the man in 1 Cor 3:15 only experienced an aspect of salvation. May I also caution some, not to interpret the “works” mentioned in First Corinthians 3:15, as sin. Unrepentant sinners have no part in the heavenly kingdom.

The stony heart Looking at the New Covenant from a progressive view, the next promise that is made available to us is the “renovation” of our hearts. The following passages relate to this experience: Ezekiel 11:19

And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

Ezekiel 36:26

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Jeremiah 24:7

And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

Again, these promises will have a literal fulfillment for Israel when they “see” Christ. For the Church, the veil has been rent, and now is the time to experience the working out of the “broken” heart. What we are calling a broken heart, is a heart that is receptive to the still, small voice – a heart that no longer repels the will of God, but rather longs to fulfill it!

The kingdom parables in Matthew 13 give us a picture of where we are going with this. The kingdom parables relate

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spiritual truths for those who are in the kingdom – the Church. The parable of the sower represents the sowing of “good” seed upon the ground of men’s hearts. When Jesus interprets this parable, He discloses the fact that much of the good seed was not productive – not that the seed was not good, but the problem was in the condition of the hearts that received the seed (Mat. 13:3-9 and 18-23). Some fell on stony ground, some on weeds, etc.

In the end, only one-quarter of the seed was received on good ground, and only one-third of the good ground was fully productive. Some was thirty-fold, some was sixty-fold, and some was one hundredfold. These three figures could relate to the three positions in the kingdom: Thirty-fold Outer Court Sixty-fold Holy Place One hundredfold Holiest Place The parable of the sower becomes very real to me as I reflect upon a certain country where I once was preaching. I was confident in my message, I knew that it was good seed, but it was falling on unresponsive hearts. God’s people can never come to perfection (completion) unless they hear and respond to the message that the Lord is speaking today.

“Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Heb 4:7). God promises salvation to the uttermost, but it is to those who follow on – it is to those who continually cry out for His grace!

Take the stony heart and turn it into flesh A new believer must come into the revelation of the necessity for a new heart. When we come to Jesus at salvation we

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are forgiven, we are declared righteous on the grounds of His righteousness. We are declared to be “a new creation” – a new creation in the sense that the new day has dawned, the light has shined upon our hearts for the first time, and there is a new beginning. The old life is beginning to fade out; the new life is blooming. When we are born again, we are spiritual infants and we are just beginning to grow into the things of God. Good ground is not something that happens at salvation. In fact, much of the stony At salvation, ground is still there – the old nature that reour heart pels the things of God. At salvation, our heart becomes a becomes the garden that must be tended. garden that Even in the paradise, Adam had to tend the must be garden. However, when Adam fell, the tended. ground was cursed. The ground became stony and was choked with thistles, etc. The fall of Adam in the garden gives us a little picture of what we are born with – a heart that is stony by nature.

It does not require a lot of study in the scripture to prove the point. Christians have problems with the old nature. Spirit filled Christians have even more problems. Spiritual problems can lie dormant in the hearts of people unless they are meddled with. The baptism in the Spirit seems to bring those problems to the surface (Mat. 3:12). If we have an honest heart, we will soon admit that there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Yet, this is where we can take comfort from the New Covenant promise: “I will take away the stony heart.” That almost has to be our heart cry!

We often sing the little chorus: “Take the stony heart – turn it into flesh; write your laws upon the living tables; make us your people and be thou our God.” Is that your song today?

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Without a doubt, we play a part in cultivating the soil of our heart. We can keep our hearts broken through prayer and meditation of the Word. We can keep our hearts soft by thanksgiving and praise. There are scriptural ways and means to develop the ground that is responsive to our Lord.

The prophet Hosea said this:

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ow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

(Hosea 10:12)

I will take away the stony heart We can definitely prepare the ground, but the real work of regeneration is Divine: “I will take away the stony heart…”

It is Divine, and still we play a part in the “election” process.

That means that there is a certain submission that must be rendered on our part. Being led of the Spirit simply means to obey. The Spirit of God leads us into circumstances and situations that deal with the old nature – the stony heart.

Our part is to submit to the situation.

Jeremiah emphatically gave Israel the key to their redemption. It was to submit to the captivity: “Serve the king of Babylon, and live…” (Jer. 27:17). In fact, both Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied of the New Covenant whilst Israel was being carried into Babylon, and during their captivity there.

It is worthy to consider that God never made these wonderful promises to Israel during the glory days of David or Solomon, but rather during the cruel experience of exile.

In Jeremiah chapter 24, the prophet is given a vision of two baskets of figs. One basket had very good figs in it, and the

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other basket had very despicable figs. These two baskets of figs represented two groups within the kingdom. Listen carefully to the words of Jeremiah:

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hus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

(Jeremiah 24:5-7) Here is one of the kingdom paradoxes. The good fruit (the ones that are the most diligent about their stand with the Lord) suffer. The choice ones of the flock submit to the dealings of Christ – they are chastened – whilst the ill-favored fruit seems to escape. However, the ones that submitted to the captivity had the promise of a new heart. “They shall return to me with their whole heart!”

The treasures of darkness There is a process in this heavenly walk. The more we follow on to know the Lord, the more exclusive the way becomes and the less obvious it becomes from scripture. I realize that I am diverting a little from the immediate subject, but I must make a point on this. It is like the kingdom parable of the treasure hidden in the field (Mat. 13:44): The man sees a treasure, which is obscured to others. He then sells every-

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thing he has – he sells out, to buy the field. In the kingdom treasury, there are the obvious treasures, and they are made available to all that are in the kingdom. Then, there are the hidden treasures that are only made known to those who are willing to pay the price.

There was a prophecy recently given in our Church, and it went something along this line: “I the Lord, dwell in the thick darkness. Therefore, fear not the darkness that I shall bring you into; for it is in the darkness that you shall find the gems, it is in the darkness that you shall discover the dark sayings of My Book. Yet, thou shalt proclaim them in the light. Thou shalt proclaim them with blazing light, bringing great illumination to the people to whom thou art sent.” (This is not verbatim.) There is a cost to following on to know the Lord, yet the reward far exceeds the cost.

What is the process?

Before we can have God’s laws written upon our hearts (the crux of the New Covenant message), we must first have the old heart broken up, or rendered inactive. Let us consider another statement that was proclaimed

by Jeremiah: “For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns” (Jer. 4:3). Jeremiah is not addressing an agricultural issue, but he is addressing a spiritual issue. The old ground of our heart must be thoroughly worked before the real planting can take place. Are we beginning to see the message here? God is not going implant His divine nature into a garden that is full of stones, weeds, and other

God is not going implant His divine nature into a garden that is full of stones, weeds, and other loves that exalt themselves above Christ.

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loves that exalt themselves above Christ.

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ee, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

(Jeremiah 1:10) Herein is a capsulation of Jeremiah’s message to Israel: first, to root out and pull down and destroy, then, to build and to plant. In other words, the stony heart has to go before the new heart comes. Consider this from Matthew’s view:

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o all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

(Matthew 1:17)

Abraham to David A time of wandering until they became established under David.

David to Babylon A time of idolatry until they were finally cleansed at Babylon Babylon to Christ The restoration period (the real work being accomplished) unto Christ.

In this one verse we are looking at three unique time periods of Israel’s history:

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Matthew gives us another encapsulation of the process that God’s people go through. Our early experience is generally a time of wandering, and trying to find God’s will for our lives. In the second stage of the process, we are established and God begins to deal with the idolatries in our heart. In the third stage, the cleansing has been accomplished, and now the real work is done – unto Christ.

How does it happen?

Since we are looking at the second stage of the process, and since we are using Israel as a figure, let us consider the spiritual condition of Israel at the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, two prophets who were contemporary. Jerusalem was filled with idolatry; in fact, there were altars to other gods in every major street in Jerusalem. Not only were the idols in the streets, but they were in the hearts of the people. Ezekiel uses the expression: “idols in the heart” about six times in chapter fourteen. “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart.” We are talking about stony hearts; Israel had idols of stone within their hearts.

What was the remedy? The Lord sentenced Israel to a seventy-year captivity in Babylon. Jerusalem was supposed to represent the holy city, and Babylon is the antithesis of that.

Babylon symbolizes the seat of Satan’s kingdom. It was the seat of idolatry, confusion, and darkness. Here was the place that God was going to cleanse His people from their idols. In Babylon, they were forced to worship other gods (Jer. 16:13).

God sent His people into captivity to cleanse them from their idolatry. O, the irony of the kingdom! They were forced to worship idols; they were forced to worship the very thing that God wanted to cleanse them from. We all remember the classic story of Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel chapter

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three; everyone was forced to worship the image. The affect that this captivity had on God’s people was amazing. One of the captives describes his feelings in Psalm 137:1-4.

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y the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

Historically, Israel was never guilty of idolatry from Babylon until this day.

There had to be the rooting up, and pulling down, and the destruction of the idols in their hearts before they could return with a new heart – “with their whole heart” – a heart that would love God’s law. Historically, Israel was never guilty of idolatry from Babylon until this day.

As the Apostle Paul said: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

Some may ask the question: “Are these principles still applicable to us in the New Covenant?” They certainly are. Man still needs to have a revelation of his own heart before there can be an enlargement. The Corinthian Church was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, but their hearts were not the “good” ground that would produce the desired fruit. Man still needs to have a conversion, even after salvation. St. Paul said that to the Romans: “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds…” The word transformed from the Greek means “metamorphosis.” In other words, we need the kind of renewing that the worm has as it develops into a beautiful butterfly.

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The Church needs to come into the revelation of the atonement message. A certain suffering is necessary in our lives to produce the image of Christ; there has to be a certain death before the “new” can come. Consider the parable of the pearl: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it” (Mat. 13:44-45).

The pearl is Christ. The man is a seeker, and he catches a glimpse of “winning Christ.” He wants to possess this pearl, but there is a price. He must sell all; he must sell out to win this prize!

The pearl Consider the formation of the pearl. It is formed through great suffering. A pearl starts when a grain of sand gets inside the oyster and irritates the tender meat of the oyster (rather like a grain of sand getting into your eye.) The oyster then begins to fester, and in order to protect itself; it forms a sort of mucus around the grain of sand. This process continues, with layer after layer of mucus being formed around the grain of sand, until the pearl appears. This pearl did not come about without suffering. The life of Christ is not developed in us without suffering!

Our conference president pointed out another important feature about the pearl: not all oysters have pearls. The reason they do not is that some oysters are “content” to stay where they are. The oysters that move on stir the bed, thus agitating the sand, which finds its way into the oyster. The lesson is clear: those who move on from the present experience shall suffer. Notwithstanding, that suffering will produce the life of Christ, and the world will see an imitation of Christ.

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True sons Romans 8:14: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” There are the true sons and there are the illegitimate sons. The illegitimate sons refuse God’s dealings in their lives and ever remain the same. The true sons walk in the spirit, and allow God to bring them into the circumstances that will deal with their hearts. Every son whom the Lord receiveth must be chastened:

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or whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

(Hebrews 12:6-8) Even the Son of God (in His earthly form) learned obedience through the things that He suffered (Heb. 5:8). If the Son of God submitted to the disciplines of the Father to learn obedience, how much more do we need to be brought into order. Peter said: “…For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin” (1 Pet. 4:1). It takes a particular suffering in our lives to expose sin. It took a particular suffering in the life of Job to expose the sin that God wanted to cleanse. Even naturally speaking, when people suffer for their errors, they are not prone to repeat them.

The Divine nature is likened to gold in the scripture. Gold is produced through intense heat. It is in the intense heat that the alloy separates!

If we desire to follow the Lord, then He will confront the areas in our hearts that are still resistant to His will. There

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are times in our life when God is dealing with us, and then there are times in our life when we know we are on trial. As I reflect back upon my pilgrimage, I shall never forget a unique 4-5 year period of time when I was acutely aware that I was on trial. It involved almost every aspect of my life. It involved my work, my Church, and my family. It was a captivity, and yet I had a choice whether to accept it or dismiss it. I was almost constantly aware that if I made the wrong move, I would miss God. To say the least, many issues of the heart came to the surface.

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We can walk away from the very situation that God is using to expose our heart.

What was also unique about this trial, was that I was also acutely aware of its completion. It ended on a particular day, and then the Lord spoke in a very sovereign way – “You passed!” In reflection of that “captivity,” I have come to realize how fragile some of God’s dealings are. By that, I mean that we can lightly blow away the work that God is doing in our lives. We can walk away from the very situation that God is using to expose our heart. I am afraid that many saints miss God repeatedly because they refuse to serve the king of Babylon.

Captivities The scripture is full of examples of those who suffered to be right. Joseph went to prison because he wanted to have a pure heart. I cannot predict the way or the means God (will) choose to perfect your walk. A man once frustrated by the nature of his trial was comforted from a passage from Second Kings 5:10-14. In this account, the great captain from Syria (who was a leper) came to the prophet Elisha for heal-

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ing. The prophet told him to wash seven times in the Jordan River. The captain went away in a rage, saying, “Why should I wash in this filthy river? There are a lot cleaner rivers in Syria.” Notwithstanding, his servants talked him into washing in the Jordan, and he was healed! Remember where God sent Israel to cleanse them from their idols – into the seat of idolatry!

It seems that the Master works in one area of our garden at a time, and when that work is done, then there can be a certain planting and fruitfulness. However, let us not settle for a partially fruitful garden. May we continually echo the cry of the Shulamite (Song of Songs 8:6), for the fire of God’s jealousy to be upon our lives! When the Lord is jealous for us, He will not allow us to go our own way, but will prescribe

the measures necessary to produce a “new” heart and a “new” spirit.

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went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.

(Proverbs 24:30-32)

A New Heart will I give you

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new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you…

(Ezekiel 36:26)

Preface Before we actually examine this promise from Ezekiel 36, I would like to consider another verse from Ezekiel 18:31.

“Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” These two streams of thought seem a bit contradictory. The New Covenant promises a new heart and a new spirit, yet the prophet is exhorting God’s people to make themselves a new heart and a new spirit.

Herein is another principle that is consistent throughout the Word: God gives to those who have. God seals people in the path that they have chosen. The Lord said: “While you are seeking me, I will be found.” God gives the gift of righteousness to those who hunger for it. God gives wisdom to the wise – to those who apply it! After a season, God destines people on the path that they have consistently walked. The book of Revelation says: “He that is unjust, let him (continue to be) unjust still: and he which is

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filthy, let him [continue to be] filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him [continue to be] righteous still: and he that is holy, let him [continue to be] holy still” (22:11).

At conversion, God gives us a new outlook upon life – a new heart. However, as Christians, we are to apply the teachings of Christ and His holy apostles. We must apply the commandments given in the Word. When this becomes our heart, to yield our members unto righteousness; God will work in our lives to make us righteous indeed. God will insure that we inherit the promise of the “new heart,” a heart that longs for God’s laws! There are times during this pilgrimage when we have a real meeting with God. It is during these times that our whole attitude, our whole nature, seems to change. The Scripture says of Saul, that God gave him another heart (1 Sam. 10:9). In spite of this, Saul did not maintain that heart; in fact, Saul became quite depraved. God gives us a new heart, but we must seek to maintain that heart and even to deepen the experience.

The new heart/new spirit The “crux” of the New Covenant is the new heart, expressed as: the new spirit, the whole heart, the heart of flesh, and the law written upon the heart. The prophets brought forth the message in many ways, but one thing is sure: here is the heart that longs to fulfill the commandments. Here is a heart that is sensitized to the ways of God. Flesh can be, O, so sensitive! The slightest prick, the slightest annoyance can be, O, such aggravation! God wants us to have a heart that is, O, so sensitive to His Word and to His Spirit!

Once the ground has been broken and the weeds and thorns have been removed, we now have a heart that can be sown with the seed that will produce eternal fruit. As we have

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learned from the previous chapter, if we follow on to be a disciple, then God is going to deal with the stony places of the heart. This can include any number trials or situations that give us a revelation of ourselves. It is only when the Lord reveals the “old” nature to us that we can truly despise our own ways, and long for God’s laws to be written upon our heart.

In life, we learn a much keener lesson from our mistakes than from our triumphs. The patriarch Jacob was notoriously deceitful at the beginning. It took the painful experience of working on Uncle Laban’s farm for twenty years to fully get a good look at himself. Uncle Laban was ten times more deceitful than Jacob was. He maneuvered Jacob repeatedly over those twenty years, until Jacob despised the character that Laban represented.

As Jacob finally plots his escape from Uncle Laban’s farm, he relates to his family his anxiety: “Your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me” (Gen. 31:7). After Jacob made his break from Laban, he had a meeting with God and his very nature was changed. The work of righteousness involves hating the wrong as much as loving the right.

David had to learn a bitter lesson in his life because he had seriously neglected an area of his garden. The unchecked carnal appetite has destroyed many a man, and it was only God’s mercy that saved David (Rom. 2:4). Success destroys numerous Christian because they feel that they are above the law – that their success justifies their misdemeanors. Although, in one sense, it was lawful during the Old Testament dispensation to have more than one wife, David was breaking the rules for kings by multiplying wives (Deut. 17:17).

The good King David had becoming careless to the point of abusing his position, and committing adultery and murder.

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Many agonizing psalms were written consequential to David’s fall. Let us consider several.

Psalm 38:2-4

For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

Psalm 39:10-11 Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.

When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.

Yes, David was forgiven; however, the punishments did not go away! Had not the Lord given David a penitent heart, he would not have been restored. Here was a man who accepted his judgments, and allowed those judgments to work within him a new heart. David longed for a new heart and a new spirit. In the most famous of his penitential psalms he writes; “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psa. 51:10).

David was a man who accepted his judgments, and allowed those judgments to work within him a new heart.

I am certain that we have all experienced (at least to some degree) what it means to be broken. Yet, when we consider what this “new heart/new spirit” is all about, we are basically looking at a heart that is no longer contesting for his own, but has surrendered to his master. In other words, the two are synonymous – a new heart/ a broken heart (at least in this case).

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True repentance paves the way for our King to visit us! “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psa. 51:17).

In my younger years, I had some friends who had horse stables. Occasionally, I would take a ride on one of their horses.

On one such occasion, I rode into a little village about five miles away and on my return trip, I discovered that I was on a horse that was not thoroughly broken. When we came within two miles of the barn, this fine looking steed broke into a gallop. If you have ever been on a macadam road with a horse, you realize that it is a slippery situation. This horse could not be turned or stopped. I literally wrenched its neck with the bridle, but the horse never slowed. Here was a fine looking animal that could not be trusted. His spirit was not submissive to the master; this horse had its own agenda.

In Psalm 131:1-2, David conveys the heart of a man that has been greatly humbled. It is only when our heart becomes like that of a child that we can receive the kingdom. Consider the message:

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ord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.

Throughout this Christian journey, we must experience a few breakings. These experiences help us to stay focused on God’s will for our lives. A man once shared a story about his youth. It seems that he was quite a defiant lad. One day his mother took him in hand, and thoroughly gave him a good beating. After she was through, she said, “Do you apologize?” He defiantly replied, “No!” She picked up her

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rod and continued to thrash him. “Do you now repent?” He defiantly responded again, “No!” The mother continued; she knew that it was now or never. After about twenty minutes of this repeat performance, the lad broke. She said, “Are you sorry for what you did?” He responded, “Yes!” Moreover, by his own testimony, he said; “And, I really was sorry for what I did. In fact, that one incident had a bearing upon the rest of my life.”

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ow no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

(Hebrews 12:11)

The new heart hates evil Herein, was the problem with Solomon – he loved righteousness, but he did not hate evil. Solomon loved the Lord, but he had other loves in his heart; and the other loves finally won. Psalm 97:10 says: “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil.”

Solomon had good teaching, but he did not have to suffer for truth. When a person has to “buy” the truth – when he has learned a lesson through great pain, it leaves an indelible mark upon his inner man. In other words, he hates the sin, and he is not going to readily return to it!

Pain does not always have to be of the physical nature. I think that we all have suffered psychologically from personal failures. We suffer the consequences in our minds and spirit, and this type of suffering can be just as distressing as a thorn in the flesh. It is during times like these that we hate our careless ways, and cry out with fresh resolve to walk more circumspectly. I can honestly say that it has been in

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times like these that I have cried out for God’s laws to be written upon my heart!

The return from Babylon

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nd I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

(Jeremiah 24:7) In the previous chapter, we saw the necessity of the Babylonian captivity. It was the antidote for Israel’s idolatry.

Jeremiah had prophesied that Babylon would be Israel’s hope of redemption, and that those who were exercised through this means would return with a new heart. Israel partially fulfilled this promise when they returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel. There had been a cleansing of the idolatry, and now they were returning to build and to plant.

In a figure, we are able to get a picture of what it means to experience the New Covenant – the new heart.

As previously explained, the greater fulfillment of this will take place after the great tribulation. Israel will suffer very much before they recognize Christ.

The Lord will give Israel a new heart at His return.

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Ezra – the great teacher

or Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

(Ezra 7:10)

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Notice the wording in the (above) verse: “To do it, and to teach…” This is exactly what is said of Christ in Acts 1:1.

This was also the message that Jesus promoted on the Mount of Beatitudes: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and Ezra was not just a good teach them, the same shall be called great in teacher, he had the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 5:19). prepared his heart to seek Herein is a truth that bears repetition. Ezra (to understand) was not just a good teacher, he had prepared the laws of the his heart to seek (to understand) the laws of Lord and do the Lord and do them. He was a doer of the them.

Word; the Law was in his heart. Although, we may picture Ezra sitting in his quiet little study meditating upon the Word, Ezra lived in very daunting times; he dwelt in a very hostile environment. In fact, it was in his days that the decree went forth from King Ahasuerus to slay all the Jews in the kingdom (Est. 3).

Surely, this great man was continually tried by his own conscience, and by his own convictions. As is true of all great men of God, their convictions upon the Word meant more than life.

Ezra is undoubtedly the greatest example of one who returns from the captivity with the Law written upon his heart. He was the principal teacher during the restoration revival recorded in Nehemiah 8-10. He was the greatest teacher in the Old Testament next to Moses. Ezra fulfills the description given by Isaiah: “A restorer of paths to dwell in (Isa. 58:12).

There is a principle that harmonizes throughout scripture.

We can only reproduce what we are. One can only be a restorer, if one has experienced restoration. Every restorer had to come out of Babylon. Before they could rebuild, they had to experience demolition and reconstruction in their own lives.

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Ezra fulfills his holy desire During the great revival at the “Water Gate,” Ezra and his team of teachers taught Israel from morning until mid-day.

(There must have been an unusual anointing upon this teaching.) When the young and old can stand in the street (attentively) for hours to hear God’s Law, that is revival! The word was spoken with such (spiritual) clarity, that the people wept because they understood it!

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nd the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, which is the (governor), and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.”

Nehemiah 8:7-9

Ezra had purposed to come back and teach God’s people the true ways. This is also a fulfillment of the word that Ezekiel gave to the sons of Zadok. (The sons of Zadok were the righteous priests who did not compromise the standard as Israel was backsliding. Ezra happened to be in that family line.) Observe the promise: “And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths” (Ezk. 44:23-24).

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The Lord is still looking for those like Ezra I hope that we can appreciate the greatness of this whole scenario. Here is a man who has had the work done in his own heart. He has the law written upon his heart; and consequently, he can make clear judgments. He can say with authority, “This is right – that is wrong; this is clean – that is unclean!” Herein, is one of the problems with the twentyfirst century Church (at this present time): There is a general attitude of winning the lost without condemning sin, saying “Come to Jesus just as you are, and do not worry about changing your lifestyle.” Consequently, today’s Church is a total mixture. The Church is filled with worldly music, worldly dating practices, worldly dress, a worldly mentality, divorce, and young people that are unclean. Yet, very few ministers can stand up with conviction and say: “This is clean, and that is unclean; this is holy and that is profane!”

The burden of our Lord when He was on earth was to raise up disciples (men and women in whom He could implant a new heart) – disciples who would do and teach! Actually, nothing has changed. Christ still seeks out the seeker – those like Ezra, who desire to understand the (higher) law of Christ, and do it, and teach it! The world is waiting for the manifestation of the true sons – the true imitators of Christ, as the prophet Isaiah said, “Those who take hold of my covenant.”

I will put my law in their inward parts

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ut this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts…

(Jeremiah 31:33)

The achievable law As we weigh the entire context in which the above verse was written (Jer. 31:31-34); the Lord had just said, I am giving you a New Covenant, not according to the one that you continually broke. In other words, I am giving you a covenant that you can keep. It is attainable. This is what makes the New Covenant so beautiful; (forgive me for being redundant on the point) – it is achievable! The Law is within reach.

Christ has rent the veil; He has everything you need to carry out its goals. He has the abundance of grace and help for those who desire it (Rom. 5:17).

We live in anarchic times, times when even some of the Church disdains the standard of Christ. When Christ introduced the New Covenant to Israel, He emphasized the fact that He had not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it, in other words, to keep it – to do it (Mat. 5:17)! In His Sermon on the Mount, Christ upgraded the Law from the physical observance of it, to the spiritual observance. He was taking

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the Law written upon stone (the physical aspects of them) and rendering them down to issues of the heart. In essence, Christ was saying, “You may not have murdered anyone literally, but you may have murdered someone in your heart.

You may not have physically committed adultery, but you may have committed it in your heart.”

The New Testament is about the inner man – “the kingdom is within you.” Would it be reasonable for our Lord to say, “You have not kept the physical aspects of the law, and now I want you to keep the spiritual implications as well”?

Would it be reasonable for our Lord to demand something that He knew we could not keep? No, the cross is not greater than His grace; and as we have previously learned, the New Covenant affords the empowerment to perform its demands.

The New Covenant is about walking in the Spirit. The Spirit of God leads us into situations that deal with the sin nature, and if we submit to that situation, we will emerge hating the sin. Then, the Lord instills His laws into our heart. As the apostle John said: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). We now love Him and delight to obey Him! (Cf. Rom. 13:8-10.)

We are not under the law In defense of the true Gospel, please allow me to give a brief definition of the Law, and especially to touch upon some misconceptions about not being under the law. I have often heard Christians quote this verse when somebody made them feel uncomfortable about the way they were living.

The purpose of the Law is to expose sin and make sin exceedingly sinful (Rom. 7:7-13). One lady said, “O, I feel so condemned when I go to that Church.” Actually, in her life it was a well-deserved condemnation because she was

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practicing sin. St. Paul said; “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1).

One would almost have to be a Jew to fully appreciate what it means to be “under the Law.” The Gentiles were never under the regimentation of the Law. Paul states this very clearly in First Corinthians 9:20-21: “And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.” (Here Paul speaks of those “without law” in reference to the Gentiles.)

One would almost have to be a Jew to fully appreciate what it means to be “under the Law.”

Some would tell us that the Law was nailed to the cross, quoting Colossians 2:14. Yes, there was an aspect of the Law that was nailed to the cross; but before we examine this verse, let us think about the three divisions of the (Old Covenant) Law:

The three divisions of the law The moral law

The ceremonial law

The civil law

This included These were the This covered the the Ten religious ordinances, laws that pertain Commandments instructions about to responsibility and all that what was clean/ between would fall under unclean, regulations neighbors, civil this heading. concerning holy days, judgments, circumcision, etc. lawsuits etc.

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The three divisions of the law The law that was nailed to the cross was the law of ordinances (the law of ceremony): (Col. 2:14) “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” Notice also verse 16: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.”

The Gentile was never under these ordinances, but these are the very ordinances that separated the Jews from the Gentiles! Notice also what Paul says in Ephesians 2:14-15, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” Moral laws and civil laws did not separate the Jews and gentiles – ceremonial laws did! The abolishing of the law of ceremony removed the barrier between the Jewish Christian and the Gentile Christian! The only ceremonial law imposed upon the Gentiles was relative to the paganistic worship practices of the gentiles (Acts 15:20). The moral laws were never abolished, nor were the precepts of the civil law; they were only magnified! Those who walk in the Spirit fulfill the higher law of the New Testament!

The law of ceremony It was the physical aspect of these ordinances that ended.

There is much to be gained from the spiritual understanding and fulfillment of these ordinances – for example, the feasts.

The feasts are no longer to be fulfilled physically, but they are to be fulfilled spiritually!

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Sowing and reaping It costs something to have the soil of our heart prepared, and it costs something to plant in our heart as well. The psalmist speaks of the investment cost as “sowing with tears.” There is a cost to sowing in righteousness; but there are also the benefits of reaping with joy, and reaping in mercy. Throughout much of our experience, we keep the commandments because we know that we should, and we fear the consequences if we do not (which is It will be our good)! Furthermore, we do not seem to see many of the benefits earlier on in life. In fact, instinct to it almost looks as though others are rewarded please for doing evil. We suffer to be right; they are the Father! blessed by doing wrong! Asaph penned Then you words to this effect in Psalm 73:1-14. will see the blessing of Yet, be encouraged, because there will surely staying the come the turning point in your life. That course. which you have nourished within your heart will now stand. It is no longer a question of thinking about whether this is right or wrong, but you will know instinctively in your heart: “This is the way.” It will be our instinct to please the Father! Then you will see the blessing of staying the course, and your profiting shall appear to all.

Reflecting back to my early school days, there was a classmate of mine who literally “carved” his girlfriend’s name on his arm – big bold letters! The scars of her name surely must remain to this day. May I be bold enough to say that if the Spirit of God decided to transcribe a particular law upon the fleshly table of our heart – it would hurt! Maybe not physically, but it would make such an impression upon us that we would not want to break it for any price.

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The central theme of the Bible In the previous chapter, we briefly considered Ezra the scribe. Ezra pictures one who returned from the captivity with a new heart, one who has had the law transcribed upon his heart. Most theologians credit Ezra as being the author of psalm 119. Perowne, one of the most distinguished expositors on the psalms, conjectures that because of some of the language in this psalm, it had to be a later psalm (restoration era). Aside from the analytical placement of this psalm, Psalm 119 is a picture of the New Covenant.

It has been determined that Psalm 119 cuts dead center in the Bible. That is interesting, because Psalm 119 is a picture of the Law written upon the heart. This is, without a doubt, the central theme of the whole Bible. Jesus Himself reduced the whole of the Law and the prophets into two commandments – to love God with your whole heart, and to love your neighbor as yourself. The author of this psalm loves God’s statutes and precepts; he loves God’s laws; he loves God’s way; and his only desire is for a greater realization of truth.

We must also observe that the psalmist hates evil as much as he loves righteousness. We do not develop a hatred for evil unless our persecutors personify that evil. As another psalmist said:

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eliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue… My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

(Psalm 120) We never would leave our present (spiritual) position unless we have a few persecutors in our lives. Another point worthy of mention is that at least 1/3 of Psalm 119, (60 verses)

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reflects upon the distressing conditions under which the Law was written upon the heart. Truly, part of the New Covenant package is to have the Law written upon the heart, and yet the promise is only fulfilled in those who are willing to follow on!

The following verses depict the heart of the author of Psalm 119. He not only loves God’s laws, but he hates every false way. Surely, in the captivity one comes to hate the evil!

Psalm 119:9

O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

Psalm 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

Psalm 119:113 I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love Psalm 119:127 Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.

Psalm 119:128 Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.

Psalm 119:132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

Psalm 119:159 Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.

Psalm 119:163 I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.

Psalm 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

Psalm 119:167 My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.

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The apostle Paul, quotes Jeremiah 31:33, several times in the book of Hebrews, although his wording is slightly different.

Consider this verse: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” (Heb. 8:10).

Instead of the “inward parts,” Paul uses the word “mind.” Our heavenly Father wants His Law to be in both our mind and our heart. That means that we are to both study the Word, and meditate upon it.

Those who do this will be the people who reflect their God, and God shall claim them as His people. The benefits of keeping the Law have a much greater effect than we might imagine. Keeping the Ten Commandments saves us from the house of bondage, and brings great blessing upon our lives. We shall consider the Ten Commandments in the next chapter.

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Our heavenly Father wants His Law to be in both our mind and our heart.

That means that we are to both study the Word, and meditate upon it.

hy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

(Psalm 119:11)

The Ten Commandments (Commandments I-IV)

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lessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

(Psalm 1:1-2)

The standard When the Lord brought Israel out of the land of bondage, He gave them the Ten Commandments. These commandments summarize the moral code by which Israel was to live. In Exodus 20:2-3, we read: “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me…”

If we went no further than these two verses, I think that we could interpret this to mean: “I brought you out of the house of bondage, and I am giving you these commandments to keep you from returning thence!” This is not a difficult study from Scripture. Every bondage and curse can be traced back to a people who flagrantly transgressed the commandment, and eventually found themselves captives, or in some form of bondage.

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When Joshua brought the people into the Promised Land, he read all of the blessings and the curses of the law to Israel. The real intention of the Old Covenant (and the New Covenant) was to save people from ruining their lives, and make them candidates for great blessing! In Psalm 119:1, we read: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” Israel went into a seventy-year captivity to make amends for all of the Sabbaths that she had broken. Israel was also forced to serve other gods in Babylon for all of her idolatries.

Whilst some may say, “That was Old Testament,” I have been in the ministry long enough to see that the idolatries of God’s people still turn into bondage. Keeping the commandments is actually a protective armor against our archenemy. The enemy is likened unto a lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is always looking for an open door, an unguarded area of our life – some unsanctified area of our life where he is unchallenged. When God’s people walk in obedience, there is a covering of the Divine Blood, and the devil fears the Blood. On the other hand, those who disregard the commandments, lose the protective covering.

Let us now consider the Ten Commandments with a new sense of appreciation and a fresh desire for them to be reality in our lives. After all, Christ Himself fulfilled the Law. He brought a greater clarity and definition to the Law. He traced the keeping of the commandments to the motives and intents of the heart.

Whether we really keep the commandments or not stems from the work of grace that has been done in our heart.

I. No other gods Exodus 20:3

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Here is a commandment that is not hard to spiritualize. People can make gods out of anything. Sports for example,

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could take the preeminence over a Church service. One man testified (remorsefully) that attending his son’s football games had taken his heart away from the things of God. When our time, thought, and devotion to something else take preeminence over our duty to our God and Savior, then it becomes a god. Sometimes even legitimate things, such as devotion to family, can put God in second place.

This commandment can be quite literal as well. I have traveled around the world enough to see that even Christians can worship other gods. I once was preaching in a country that had formerly been evangelized by Jesuits. What I did not know about the Jesuits (and other Catholic missionaries) was that they allowed their converts to keep their other gods. Catholicism is a tremendous mixture of pagan religions. However, I happened to be preaching in a Pentecostal Church that was largely of Indian background. At the conclusion of the service, I felt impressed to ask the congregation if they were free from other gods. I was amazed at what happened; most of the Church came forward, tearfully renouncing their ancestral gods. It seems that when they had converted to Pentecostalism, they still kept their gods.

Other gods can keep us from the fullness of salvation. They can hold people in bondage, and they could even damn a person’s soul. Let us give Christ first place in our lives!

II. No graven image Exodus 20:4

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…

Whilst the second commandment appears quite similar to the first, it seems to fall into a more tangible sphere – things that people bow to and idolize. I used to know a man who literally made an idol of his Corvette (sports car). He could

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not have idolized that car any more had it been a graven image under a grove of trees on some hilltop. I once had a deacon who was doing some work in the recreation hall of another Church. He said that it looked like the “rock hall of fame.” The room was plastered with posters of strange looking (so-called) Christian rock singers. It was nothing but idolatry. When Christians idolize people who try to imitate and act like the world, it tells you where their heart really is – in the world.

Idolatry was a problem in the early gentile Church. Paul especially warns the Corinthians in his second epistle (6:16-17): “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” Remember that it was for the worship of other gods, and idolatry, that Israel was brought into captivity. Idolatry kept Rachel from inheriting with the other matriarchs!

III. The Lord’s Name Exodus 20:7

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…

In the Lord’s prayer, the Lord taught us that the name of God was to be hallowed. We generally confine this verse to mean using the Lord’s name in profanity – which I can hardly imagine, any Christian doing. Howbeit, there are many less explicit ways that Christians take the name of the Lord in vain. For example, when a man becomes a Christian he now bears the Lord’s name. If that Christian then commits some improper deed, the name of Christ is reproached. The

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casual observer may then say, “Well, if this is what Christianity is about, we don’t need it!” Some people are such poor representatives of the kingdom, that it would be better for them never to tell anyone that they are a Christian.

The apostle Paul said this concerning the Jews: “For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written” (Rom. 2:24). The name of God was blasphemed because of the hypocritical lifestyle of the Jews.

When God’s people sin, it is a reflection upon His name. The apostle also said this concerning some who claim to know Him: “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). Let us (as those who claim His name) live as true representatives of the kingdom. “…Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim. 2:19).

IV. Remember the Sabbath day Exodus 20:8

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

The word “Sabbath” means “cessation.” The Sabbath was instituted for several reasons: firstly, to teach man to set aside a day to honor His Creator; and secondly, to give His creation a day to recover from the week’s labor. Even work animals need a day of rest. In fact, the Lord even ordained a rest for the soil (every seventh year). This was to allow the nutrients of the soil to rebuild.

Although, the Sabbath Day (seventh day) with all of its regulations ended with the Old Covenant, Christ re-instituted the Sabbath concept on the first day of the week. (This was because He rose from the dead on the first day of the week.)

The first day of the week is now called “the Lord’s Day.” For

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example, in Revelation 1:10, John said: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” The concept is still the same; the early Church gathered to honor their Savior on the first day of the week.

The Lord’s Day is also to be a day of rest. The Lord ordained certain natural laws that still apply – man still needs a day of rest. The president of our fellowship has often referred to the ten-day workweek, established during the French Revolution. It was a fiasco; the people were worn out, and they discovered that they could actually accomplish more in six days than in ten.

Much can be said on the subject of rest. I have seen the difference between people I would (even Christians) who rested on the Lord’s maintain that Day, and those who did not. I would really the people be interested in some statistics here; but I who honor would maintain that the people who honor the Lord’s the Lord’s day are healthier and that they day are live at least ten years longer. I once was healthier and preaching in a seminar where I made a point that they live that even ministers need a day of rest. (It obat least ten viously is not Sunday.) After the meeting, a years longer. minister came up to me and said, “I have meetings seven days a week. Is that wrong?”

If you could have seen this man, the answer was obvious. He looked old and haggard, and he was falling asleep on his feet. Remember that Israel spent seventy years in captivity to amend for all the Sabbaths that she had broken.

The Sabbath also teaches us a few spiritual laws. It teaches us about the spiritual rest that God wants His people to enter into. (See Hebrews 4:4-11.) The Sabbath also teaches us about the cessation from the works of the flesh – the cessation from human endeavor – with God doing the work through us.

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The “rest� is about being in synchronization with heaven.

Heaven is doing the work; we are just the instruments through which it happens.

Please note: Because of the amount of content contained in this section, we are dividing the Ten Commandments into two chapters. The first four commands (basically) deal with our responsibility towards God, whereas the last six commandments (basically) deal with our responsibility toward men.

The Ten Commandments (Commandments V-X) V. Honor thy father and thy mother Exodus 20:12

Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long…

This is called “The first commandment with promise” (Eph. 6:2). Long life is promised to those who honor their parents. If a child is taught to respect his parents, he will also have a general respect for authority and for the Father God Himself. In the book of Colossians we read: “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord” (Col. 3:20). Children who obey their parents please the Lord, and when the Lord is pleased with someone, He keeps him from many a disaster. There is a blessing upon those who keep the commandments, even if they are not in the kingdom.

The opposite is also true. Young people who are enslaved by drugs have generally broken the fifth commandment. Most bad marriage also stem from the same reason. (There are always exceptions.) Spiritual delusion and other curses often take young people that disregard the fifth commandment.

Listen to what Solomon said: “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it” (Pro. 30:17). I have seen young people that have rebelled against their parents totally lose all spiritual vision, becoming totally confused.

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VI. Thou shalt not kill Exodus 20:13

Thou shalt not kill.

Aside from the literal interpretation of “murder” (which can include abortion), there are higher spiritual implications to this commandment. Jesus made that clear from His teaching upon the mount, when He compared murder to unprovoked anger (Mat. 5:21-22). “But whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…”

Jesus was bringing His people to grips with the higher New Covenant standard, that we are accountable for the sins of the spirit as well as the sins of the flesh. Although we have probably heard someone say, “Well, I thought it, so I might as well have done it.” This is not true! There is a difference between a sin of the mind and heart, and the willful act. Even in our own penal system, we do not send people to jail for thinking murder, but we do for committing the act.

James said, “When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (Jas. 1:15). Sin begins in the heart and in our spirit, but it does not bring forth death until it is committed. O yes, it is a sin whilst it is in our heart, but it is not a first-degree sin until it is executed. Jesus was making us aware of the fact that we are responsible for the sins of the heart. The Levitical offerings help to substantiate this. There was a “trespass” offering, which was offered to atone for a willful transgression. There was also a “sin” offering, which was associated more with the nature of sin. However, Christ fulfilled all of the offerings, showing us that there can be victory over the nature of sin as well as the act.

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VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery Exodus 20:14

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Again, the Master brings His people to the realization that the sin of adultery can be a sin of the spirit, as well as a sin of the flesh. “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Mat. 5:28). Even though the physical act was not committed, the thought, the meditation, and the desire were there.

The same precept holds true on all of the commandments of Christ. That is, we are accountable for the sins of the spirit as well as the sins of the flesh. Although there is forgiveness for them, there is also victory over them through the work of the atonement. As mentioned earlier, all of the offerings reveal an aspect of the work accomplished for us at the cross.

The Lord is there to help us through the temptation. However, the reason the temptation is there is because the drawing toward that sin is still in our heart (Jas. 1:14). People sometimes struggle with these kinds of temptations for years, and sometimes deliverance is necessary. Nevertheless, God gives a pure heart to those who seek after one, and to those who shun the things that stimulate the wrong desires. There is no way that we can expect to be pure in our hearts if we feed upon the impurities of the world – and especially, on Hollywood. The sin of adultery brings people into numerous bondages, and if not repented of, it takes people to hell. Spiritual adultery can also take away the heart from seeking after the Lord. Divorce/remarriage is also called adultery (Mark 10:11-12). May we adapt the formula of the psalmist, whose meditation was upon heavenly things: “My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD” (Psa. 104:34).

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VIII. Thou shalt not steal Exodus 20:15

Thou shalt not steal.

Stealing is basically taking something that is not yours.

There are many forms of stealing such as, stealing time on the job, stealing words (plagiarism), stealing material from the Internet (for example, copyrighted music), etc. People can also steal from God by not paying their tithes (Mal. 3:8). I heard a minister once enumerating from scripture the many forms of theft. There were virtually dozens of examples of what it means to steal.

One of the big problems that we encounter on the mission field is theft – especially in the Spanish world. What is interesting about this is that most of the Spanish world is Catholic.

People steal, make confession and then continue to steal. If the Church condemned their stealing, and told them to make restitution, it might end. I was once preaching in the Philippine Islands, and happened to touch on stealing and lying.

Afterward, the minister who organized the seminars confessed that he had stolen from his organization. He wanted my advice. I told him to make confession to his board, and ask leniency to pay everything back. He said, “I don’t know if I can do that.” He was hoping that we might bail him out.

What people often do not understand about breaking a commandment such as this, is that there are penalties in the spirit. The prophet Zechariah said that there was a curse upon the house of a thief (Zec. 5:3-4). This is why some people can never prosper; this is why some households are always “jinxed” – they have never come clean of their thefts.

Satan is called a thief. Judas was called a thief. The scripture is abundantly clear concerning those who steal: they shall not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10).

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Many times, Christians are guilty of less obvious forms of sin, and it takes God’s merciful dealings to help them to see clearly. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14).

IX. Bearing false witness Exodus 20:16

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Bearing false witness means “to lie, to prevaricate, or to distort the truth.” As we have been studying the commandments, I think we are getting a fresh sense of why God so vehemently hates these sins. They all represent our ancient foe (the evil one). He was a deceiver, a slanderer, and a liar. Jesus called him “The father of lies.” If we were to do a study of our archenemy, we would see that he is also called a thief and a murderer. He is the classic picture of adulteration and infidelity. He is the embodiment of covetousness and every lust. He wanted the throne that was reserved for the Son of God. Listen to what Jesus said to the Pharisees of His day: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). Satan is called the father of lies; he is the antithesis of Christ, who is the embodiment of truth.

Looking over my past thirty years behind the pulpit, I can see why lying (or deceit) is one of the most despicable of all sins. In a sense, it is worse than adultery or murder. I have known adulterers; they have been remorseful and

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owned up to the fact of their adultery. I have even known murderers who have been remorseful, owning up to the crime and being willing to take their punishment. However, people whom I have known to be liars are the last people to come clean. Christians who do not love the truth generally end up believing a lie (2 Thes. 2:10-13). Matthew Henry once said: “There is something of a lie in every sin.” I believe that is a fair analysis. Some people live in denial, pretending that it is not there. May the Lord give us a desire for truth in the inward parts. As the psalmist declared, “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts” (Psa. 51:6).

X. Thou shalt not covet Exodus 20:17

Thou shalt not covet…

Covetousness is an illicit love, or an excessive desire, for anything – material or human. St. Paul labels covetousness as a form of idolatry: “…And covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5). Covetousness is spiritual idolatry. These objects could be the things that we idolize in our minds and in our hearts, things that we just have to have. This is often the ploy of the prosperity preacher. His message frequently evolves around the acquisition of things, implying “You can get what you want from God.” Let us rather heed the words of St. Paul to Timothy:

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ut godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many

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foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

(1 Timothy 6:6-9) Remember that there is life and liberty in the keeping of the commandments, and contrariwise, when these commandments are not heeded, they bring bondages and snares upon our lives. We can never be candidates for the fullness of salvation until we have the commandments written upon our heart.

Blessed is the man The commandments were given not only to save man from the house of bondage, but that he might inherit great blessing. Our conference president once gave a message on the “House of Obededom” (2 Sam. 6:10-12).

The great revival that came to Zion first began in a man’s house. After David’s Obededom’s disastrous attempt to have revival, the house was Ark of the Covenant was diverted into blessed by the custody of a Levite by the name of virtue of Obededom. The ark spent about three the fact months in Obededom’s house, and his that God’s house was so blessed that all of Israel heard commandments of it. The essence of the story is that the ark were being contained the “Ten Commandments.” This kept there. man’s house was blessed by virtue of the fact that God’s commandments were being kept there. Of course, David himself heard of the great blessing upon this man’s house, corrected his previous errors, and brought the ark to Zion, where they experienced a great revival!

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Upon Mt. Zion in heaven, we see a group of saints playing upon their 10-stringed harps. Josephus interprets the word harp (kithara) as a “ten stringed instrument.” This speaks of those who have fulfilled the Law – the Ten Commandments.

In these anarchic times when even much of the Church resents the Ten Commandments, let us embrace them! Let us magnify them, and allow The Spirit of God to write them deeply upon the fleshly table of our hearts! Amen! *See the appendix for: “The ten sins in the garden.”

For they shall all know me

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nd they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: Jeremiah 31:34

Israel shall know Him For Israel, this verse will have a literal fulfillment when they see Christ at His return. The nation of Israel shall almost be at the point of annihilation when our Lord returns; and they shall say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isa. 25:9). The whole world will recognize Israel’s awaited Messiah. The scripture says that every eye shall see Him (Rev. 1:7).

Although, Israel is ecstatic at the coming of their King, their elation turns to shock when they discover that He is the One that they rejected 2000 years ago. Envision Israel as they ask their Messiah, “What are these wounds in thine hands?” He responds, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zec. 13:6). Envision Israel again, when they realize that they were the ones who had pierced Him. It is at that moment that Christ bestows great grace upon Israel and the whole nation bitterly mourns for what they had done.

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“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem…” (Zec. 12:10-11).

Yes, Israel shall all know Him. They shall not have to explain to their neighbor who the Christ is. They shall all know Him; the whole world will have to acknowledge Him as Lord. He shall literally sit upon His throne in Jerusalem. People will literally go to Jerusalem to pray before Him in His temple (Zec. 8:21-22).

That I might know Him Israel enters their promised New Covenant when they see Christ. But what about us – the ones who are already “New Covenant people?” What application does this promise have for us? Well, let us consider some of the things that we have learned in this study: Salvation is ongoing; there is a progression in this walk. Do we really know the Lord in the Outer Court? Undoubtedly, we know Him as our Savior, or perhaps we also know Him as our Baptizer, or our Healer, etc. We know Him by faith. We know about Him and perhaps we have experienced His deliverance in some way. Perhaps, we have even had dreams or visions of Him. Yet, do we really know Him? The blueprint of the tabernacle teaches man how that he can come to God. We can know aspects of God in the Outer Court, and we can even know greater aspects of God in the Holy Place. Notwithstanding, it was the Holy of Holies where the presence of God (symbolically) dwelt. Whilst any

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Israelite (child of the kingdom) had the privilege of coming into the first court, not just anybody could proceed into the next court, much less into the inner court. Do you get the point? Desire certainly has a lot to do with it, but God only gives those kinds of desires to those who please Him. Listen to the words of the psalmist; “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple” (Psa. 65:4).

It is God who chooses us, and it is God who draws us onward from our present position. Much of the Church world is content with their present position. Perhaps that is the extent of their vision; but if we look at the people who really knew Christ, their lives were consumed with “following on to know Him.” They had a taste of that communion, but they wanted more!

Hosea said: “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth” (Hosea 6:3). Doesn’t this verse say something to us? “If we follow on to know the LORD…” It is only the followers of the Lamb that really can know Him. O, let us not be distant followers, but may we be like the bride in the “Song of Songs” who cried out, “Draw me, we will run after thee” (Song 1:4).

Outer little children Court

sins forgiven (1 John 2:12)

Holy young men Place

strong in the Word (1 John 2:14)

Holy of fathers Holies

ye have known Him (1 John 2:14)

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The apostle’s desire “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Phil. 3:10). What is so interesting about this desire of Paul, is that he is writing this about 25 years after claiming third heaven revelations (2 Cor. 12:1-4). Very few people who have ever lived have had the revelation that Paul had. In fact, Paul had to be given a thorn in the flesh, (an infirmity) not only to keep Paul humble, but also to keep him from being magnified (by others) above measure.

Paul had been (as it were) in the Holy of Holies in heaven.

He had partaken of the hidden manna – the hidden manna is a prize that is given to the overcomer, and it is reserved for those who enter within the veil (Rev. 2:17). Still, the apostle’s quest has not been satisfied. Let us consider the implications of this pursuit, and especially the connotation that it has for us. The veil has been rent, but will we enter in? The apostle Paul posed the same question to the Hebrews. There is a rest for us; there is a Beulah Land for us, but will we enter in (Heb. 4:5-11)? The rent veil simply tells us that we have an access made available for us. Our forerunner has already entered, showing us the way – but this is not a “given.” It requires a certain exercise on our part, a certain compulsion!

What Paul was talking about was not just having more visions and more revelations of the eternal; but to know Him – not to know more about Him, but to know Him as Moses did – face to face. Furthermore, Christ desires that kind of fellowship with us, intimate fellowship. The Lord Himself said: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). “The Song of

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Songs,” a little book written by King Solomon, is all about communion with the King.

It is an allegory of Christ and His Church.

The King reveals just enough of Himself to entice the seeker, then He withdraws, and she desperately seeks to find Him. Toward the end of the book, it become difficult to separate who is who. She has become so much like the One that she worships that she resembles Him in every way! The more that we know Him, the more we become like Him; and as St John said: “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3).

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The King reveals just enough of Himself to entice the seeker, then He withdraws, and she desperately seeks to find Him.

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ut we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

(2 Corinthians 3:18)

They that do know their God “But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Dan. 11:32). So what is the advantage of knowing God? (Again, we are talking about knowing Him as a friend – John 15:14-15). Actually, the list of benefits would take another volume. In the day of trouble, they are delivered; when they ask, He answers. However, to stay within the context of our opening verse, the people that do know their God shall be those who do the greater works in these last days. The greatest revival of all the ages is going to climax the Church Age. In fact, Jesus promised that the greater works would be done through those who love Him – those who keep His commandments.

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Were the greater works accomplished by the early Church?

There is no denying the wonderful works that were demonstrated throughout the book of Acts. However, you will not find anything that supercedes the miracles of Christ. In fact, there are miracles in the Old Testament that have yet to be rivaled. When the apostle Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, the book of Acts was (basically) over. (The book of Acts covered about 30 years.) Yet, Paul is telling his audience that the Church must complete the acts of faith. All of the great miracles of the Old Testament (listed in Hebrews chapter 11) were only done in part, or in a figure. The Church must finish the acts of faith, and with greater magnitude – of course, we are looking at the end of the Church Age. Christ always reserves the best wine for last! Consider the following verses:

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nd these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

(Hebrews 11:39-40) The point that we are trying to establish is that these “wonderful works” are to be demonstrated through those that know their God. Paul said, that I might know Him, and the power of His resurrection. Symbolically, the “rod that budded” (which was kept in the ark) served as an example of “resurrection power.” The ark was in the Holy of Holies (Heb 9:4). As we have previously stated, we can know Him in limited measure. We can know Him in the Outer Court through the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We could know Him through the greater anointing of the Holy Place (seven candlesticks). However, the greatest anointing is to be found within the veil, “to know Him and the power of His resurrection.” Resurrection power is power to raise the dead.

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Evan Roberts, the man credited for birthing the Welsh revival, describes in his own diary how he had been seeking the Lord for many months. There was not an inkling that anything was happening. Then early one morning (about 1:30 in the morning), the Lord Jesus Christ walked into his room and communed with him, face to face, for about two to three hours. This went on every morning for months. He describes how that the Lord took the fear of people out of his heart, and how the Lord even healed a speech impediment. This man had entered into something. Later, when Evan Roberts asked the Lord for 100,000 souls, he saw the Lord Jesus hand the Father a check with the number 100,000 on it. He said, “I cashed in that check within the next year.”

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When Evan Roberts asked the Lord for 100,000 souls, he saw the Lord Jesus hand the Father a check with the number 100,000 on it. He said, “I cashed in that check within the next year.”

Just recently, the father of one of my elders passed away.

The man had never lived for God, nor had he responded to the salvation message shared with him by his son. Nevertheless, the son continued to ask for his father’s life. His father died on a New Years Eve, after spending his final months in excruciating pain. That night, the Lord gave the son a dream. He dreamed that his father died in his lap, and the Lord said unto him; “See, I have given you your father.”

So often, we see this in scripture, that God showed mercy to the succeeding generations simply because of the righteousness of the fathers, or because of the relationship that the fathers had with Him. The Lord used David as an excuse not to destroy Jerusalem – centuries after David – “for David’s sake.” These are all good reasons for intimately knowing the Lord! Yet, I think the purest intention for

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wanting to know Him is because we want to be like Him. The apostle John undoubtedly knew Christ better than any other, and that is why he is called the apostle of love; and that is why he had the greatest revelation of all!

Conforming to His suffering In the last part of the Apostle Paul’s aspiration in Philippians 3:10, he says: “…And the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” Paul truly wanted to identify with Christ in every manner, even to suffering and dying as a martyr. I believe that the Scripture is quite clear on the fact that there are levels of fellowship. Even naturally speaking, we can only have fellowship with one another by virtue of a common denominator. For example, two men that were both on the same battlefield have a certain bonding and communion. This truth carries over into many fields: education; business; domestic life, etc. However, in the context of the Apostle’s desire, Paul knew that the higher degree of fellowship was to be realized through an identification with Christ’s sufferings. When we think of Jesus in His boyhood years, we must imagine a very solitary figure. How many boys could young Jesus possibly share the revelations of His heart with?

Jesus sat in Herod’s Judgment hall – Paul sat in Herod’s Judgment hall. That was just one aspect of the sufferings of Christ, and yet, not an aspect that many could identify with.

Years ago, a very good Christian friend of mine had to go to court over a small amount of insurance that he had received when he was hurt on a job. The court wanted him to pay everything back. They said he was just trying to take advantage of the system. As this brother was sitting in the hall outside of the judges chambers, he could hear them mocking

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As the man sat on the bench with sweat beading upon his forehead, he felt somebody else sit down next to him on the bench — somebody that had been there centuries ago.

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him in the office (they had forgotten to close the door). They were saying that he was just using religion for a crutch, and was looking for a free meal ticket, etc. As the man sat on the bench with sweat beading upon his forehead, he felt somebody else sit down next to him on the bench – somebody that had been there centuries ago. Just then, one of the counselors realized that the door was opened and they looked rather embarrassed as they closed the door. “That I might know Him… and the fellowship of His suffering.”

Conforming to His death

There is one thing that we must understand about martyrdom: it is a calling, and God does not give this calling to just anyone. As we peer into the near future, we observe a little scene from Revelation 6:10-11: Those who have given their lives for Christ, are crying out for vindication. The Lord responds to their cry, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should offer up their lives.

There are situations where martyrdom is a choice. For example, in Hebrews 11:35: “…Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.”

Some have rejected the privilege of escape because they sought a better resurrection. One thing is certain, if the Lord’s stamp of approval is not upon the offering, it would be for nothing. Peter was called to be a martyr, but had he gone before his time, it would not have been an acceptable offering.

Peter claimed he was ready 36 years beforehand. Actually,

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there was no grace for Peter to die with Jesus 36 years before the time. Had Peter laid down his life in Gethsemane, the Father in Heaven would have said: “Peter, what are you doing here? I had 36 years of work for you to do on earth; and, Peter; you have a lot of un-mended flaws in your character, and, Peter, that was a terrible departure, flailing and kicking. That was a bad representation of the ‘lamb’ nature!”

That is why one must know the Lord (to become like Him).

That is why one must first experience the power of His resurrection – which is power to endure suffering! The wrong desire to be a martyr can just be an ego trip. Some would like to go to jail for Jesus, as long as the TV camera is there to film their noble stand. Some years ago, a dear sister was with a group in Russia. (This was before Russia was opened to the Gospel.) There was also a certain man in the group who had (wrong) martyr tendencies. Their mission was to make contact with an underground group, deliver Bibles, and encourage the underground Church. Judiciously, they waited until the brother was not looking and they left him behind. (He would have foiled the mission.) It was a very difficult connection; they had to evade the Russian SS as well. To make a long story short, they met with the Church; they delivered the goods; and they had a wonderful time in the Lord. When they returned, the other brother was fuming! He had so much wanted to be a martyr! Paul’s desire was God given!

How can we know Him? Well, that has been the question that we have been exploring throughout this exposition. Continuing from the gate of salvation: from the initial forgiveness of sins, continuing in the Word, continuing to walk in the Spirit…. The promise of the New Covenant is complete salvation, a new spirit, and a new

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heart – a heart that desires the commandments of Christ and delights greatly in them. All of this is accomplished as we find grace, and continue! The walk in the Spirit is a lifetime experience, with many responses to His voice, and many dealings that render the “old man” inactive!

How do we know we are on the right trail?

Maybe we have not seen the manifested We can be Christ; maybe we have not experienced the spectators of mighty power flowing out to the oppressed. the great The apostle John expresses in very simple things that terms how we can know that we know Him: God will do, “And hereby we do know that we know him, or we can be if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). participators Let not your heart be troubled about all of the in it. ways that you would desire to express Christ.

He sees that desire, He hears those who speak often of Him; and when our Lord moves afresh He will empower you to tread down the works of the enemy!

Yes, Israel shall know the Lord when the veil is taken away at the Second Coming, but for us, the time is now! The veil has been rent, and our Lord desires to bring many sons (and daughters) to glory. We can be spectators of the great things that God will do, or we can be participators in it (part of the mechanism). The psalmist put it like this: we can know His ways, or we can merely see the effect of them. Let us cry out to know Him; and if we know Him we will know His ways:

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e made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

(Psalm 103:7)

Holy Communion I have purposely reserved this theme for one of the closing chapters of the book, and because it flows somewhat with the previous chapter. In my opinion, communion best symbolizes the truths of the New Covenant – not just in the emblems that we partake of, but in the “Man” that displayed them. Jesus was the personification of the New Covenant, and as He served those emblems on that last night, He was telling His disciples so. “This is my body… this is my blood – the blood of the covenant which is shed for you.” The communion table is the only ordinance or ritual that was to be kept (ceremoniously) by the Church. Moreover, it is to be kept until He returns:

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or as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.

(1 Corinthians 11:26)

Notice the little underlined word “show.” That word (in Greek) has the sense of promulgation. That means that you are declaring a message at the communion table. You are declaring (in effect) that you want to emulate the life of the One that you are partaking of. Jesus was the embodiment of the New Covenant; and as He was about to give His life as a sacrifice, He was showing us the kind of life that is acceptable and pleasing to the Father. Christ was sinless; the Law was within His heart. He walked in perfect unity with the Father.

He was the only One who could say, “If you know Me, then you have known the Father.”

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e that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

(John 14:9)

Communion reminds us of several things. First, it reminds us how much God loves us – it was Divine Blood that redeemed us. Communion also reminds us that we must love one another. Was not this one of the central themes of the Last Supper? “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34). The Body of Christ was broken that we might be one bread (unified)!

When we take communion, we are further stating that we are in right relationship with God and men. As we partake of the cup, we are saying that everything has been justified with heaven. When we partake of the bread, we are saying that everything has been made right with our neighbor. This was the message of the One who initiated the New Covenant: to love God and to love one another. “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt 22:40). What two commandments? To love God with all of our heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

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The cup symbolizes the blood, and thus the vertical relationship of the cross. His Blood has justified us with heaven.

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The bread symbolizes the body of Christ (the Church).

Here we can see the horizontal work of the cross – right relationship with one another.

The communion service should bear witness to the beautiful work that God has done in our lives. Furthermore, if our testimony is true, the world will be convinced that Christianity

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works! “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). There is tremendous blessing as we partake of the cup. Often, the emphasis is upon taking the cup unworthily. Judas serves as a good example of one who partook of the cup unworthily. Nevertheless, there is blessing and impartation (even healing) for those whose lives please the Father (1 Cor. 10:16).

There is tremendous blessing as we partake of

Revival at the communion table One of the great revivals during the Reformation Era took place in a little Moravian community called “Herrnhut” (in Southern Germany). The whole Reformation Era had been wracked with religious wars: wars between the Catholics and the Protestants, wars between various Protestant sects – hacking each other to pieces over doctrinal issues, etc. It was during this era, (early 1700s) that a nobleman, Count Von Zinzendorf, opened a tract of land for the persecuted Christians of any persuasion. He had no doctrinal agenda to promote; his only concern was for God’s people, and his main emphasis was on the “love of the brethren.”

One night as these interdenominational brethren were sharing communion together, the Holy Spirit fell with such intensity that it was as though they staggered with intoxication. The theme of the Spirit that night was love! The participants were bursting with the love of God, and intense unity.

A prayer meeting began that night that went on for 100 years non-stop. The prayer room was never empty, and it was out of that communion that a missionary endeavor began that touched many lands.

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One heart and one way O, the power of love and unity! This was another aspect of the New Covenant promise from Jeremiah 32:39-40: “And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever… And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good….” This verse relates to the future unification of Israel; and yet, for us (the Church) it must be a reality that precedes the restoration of Israel. When we consider the thought of “one heart, and one way,” we are describing unity. That was a picture of the early Church; they were all of one heart, and there was tremendous unity amongst them (Acts 2:44-46).

This was also one of the main themes of Jesus as they were walking from the communion table to Gethsemane:

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hat they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

(John 17:21-23) There will be unity in the Church because the prayers of Christ are always answered, and because this was the purpose of His coming: to unite (reunite) man with God, and bring unity amongst His brethren. In the final analysis, (at the Second Coming) Judah and Ephraim are also united.

(Ephraim incorporates the ten northern tribes of Israel.) The divided nation of Israel now becomes one again as they enter the New Covenant, and it is for eternity.

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or there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God. (Jeremiah 31:6)

True unity Let us consider for a moment what constitutes true unity.

The prophet Amos said this concerning unity: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3) The idea being put forth here is that if we are going to walk with God, then we must be in total agreement with Him! It is not the idea of trying to be ecumenical by accepting or tolerating everyone’s religious beliefs. Somebody was sharing recently, from a book that he had read called “Breakfast Without Jesus.”

It was basically about a prayer breakfast that was becoming more and more ecumenical. They had various religious leaders pray to their gods and even the Christian minister did not use the name of Jesus because he did not want to offend.

The keynote speaker then spoke on the need to accept one another: the Moslems, the Hindus, the Buddhists, etc.

As the lecture ended, there was a standing ovation. (By the way, the guest speaker was supposed to be a Christian.) The author of the book did not join in the applause. This story is a good example of man’s version of unity. However, the true Church will be a body of believers who agree with Christ.

That is what unifies them – their coherence to the doctrine of Christ. They square to the Cornerstone of the Church, Jesus Christ! The last day Church will mature into the unity of the faith (Eph 4:13)! The Bride has made herself ready: she exemplifies Him; she looks like Him, smells like Him, talks like Him, and walks with Him!

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hy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.

(Isaiah 52:8)

Martyrdom As we conclude this chapter, I would like to reflect once again upon the Man who was serving the emblems. The emblems were just that, emblematic of the life that was about to be offered. The life of Christ could be described in one word – “selfless!” His life was broken and poured out for others, and lest we should fear that we too might have to be a martyr, be assured of this: martyrdom is a lifestyle. It is a continual offering up of self. The call to be a martyr is a very high calling, and God does not call a person to be a martyr at the end of his life unless he has been one throughout his life!

Richard Wurmbrandt (a Romanian) was a man who suffered greatly for his faith under the communist regime (during the cold-war era). He ended up in prison; and while he was there, one of his chief antagonists ended up in the same prison. Apparently, his adversary had lost favor with the party and was exiled.

During his stay at the prison, the former official became very sick. Wurmbrandt ministered to this man’s needs; he shared his meager rations; and he shared his meager means of warmth with his old enemy. One day when Wurmbrandt was sharing Christ with his old enemy, the man said: “What is he like?”

Wurmbrandt replied, “He’s like me.” The man responded, “If he is like you then I love Him!”

The call to be a martyr is a very high calling, and God does not call a person to be a martyr at the end of his life unless he has been one throughout his life!

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Yes, Jesus revealed the Father at the communion table; He was the expression of the Father in every way. Yet, this is the same desire of Christ concerning us! This is the New Covenant, that “They shall all know Me…” How? Through us – through the living Church which is His body.

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hat they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me… Amen!

I Will Be Their God They Shall Be My People

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ut this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(Jeremiah 31:33)

For His pleasure The phrase, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” could probably be found at least a dozen times in scripture. This was the very purpose for the creation of man. Man was created for communion, and to bring pleasure to the Father (Rev. 4:11). The picture of man in Eden reflects, somewhat, the heart of God. Man was in the midst of a paradise, but he had no one with whom to share his vast estate. Therefore, the Lord created a bride for Adam.

If we move to a later “cameo,” the Lord again seeks to reestablish communion with Israel through the means of the tabernacle. When Moses brought Israel out of Egypt, Moses was instructed by God to build a tabernacle. “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle…” (Ex. 25:8-9). It was through the pattern of the tabernacle, that God was showing Israel how they could be His

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people – people whom the Lord could delight in, and not be ashamed to call “brethren.” (We recommend a study of The Tabernacle of Moses by Dr. Brian J. Bailey.)

Israel finally enters the promise As we have consistently pointed out, Israel never inherited the promise of Jeremiah 31:33. In fact, the Lord withdrew from Israel, and made Himself known to another nation (the Church). Yet, this “putting away” of Israel was only until the fullness of the gentile nations was come in. In other words, they would be reinstated. When the Lord returns, He grants great repentance to Israel, and they turn to Him with all of their hearts. It is at this moment that the literal fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:33 take place. The Lord will literally dwell among them; they will be His people, and He will be their God. The Lord will literally be enthroned in the “Millennial” temple, which will be established above Jerusalem. The very name of Jerusalem shall be called “The Lord is there” (Ezk. 48:35).

Just prior to Jeremiah’s prophetic word concerning the New Covenant, Jeremiah was in a trance, looking at the time of Israel’s reclamation (Jer. 31:1-30). Jeremiah is overwhelmed with the vision. Israel is returning to Zion from the Four Corners of the earth. They are weeping, enraptured by God’s goodness. They are singing and dancing – the young and the old. Their days of mourning are over; Jeremiah sees Israel singing in the heights of Zion. The blessing of God is upon them, and their prominence has again been restored in the earth – in fact, much greater than in the days of Solomon.

The vision was so great that Jeremiah awakens in a state of ecstasy: “Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me” (Jer. 31:26).

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Spiritual Israel What is so beautiful about Jeremiah’s vision is that it also gives us a picture of the last-day revival in the Church. There is a revival of repentance coming, but that revival will usher us into the fullness of blessing that God has reserved for the Church of His Coming. There must be a cleansing that precedes the feast of glory (the Feast of Tabernacles). Let us consider what the apostle Paul said to the “carnal” Corinthians:

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nd what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

(2 Corinthians 6:16-18)

The apostle is exhorting the Corinthians to sanctify themselves, that the Lord might (indeed) dwell in the midst of them; and that they might reflect the nature of God’s children! The Church has never seen the fullness of what our Heavenly Father has in store. O yes, there have been glimpses of various aspects of God’s glory through out the ages – but never really the fullness! It is the desire of Christ to glorify His Church and His people, and indeed, to dwell in the midst of them. It is an historical fact, that the saints in the early Church actually possessed an aura about them.

They had been in His presence, and there was a glow of light and glory upon them.

Jeremiah’s vision illustrates the great restoration of the Church in the last days. The backsliders will come, young and

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old. There will be singing and rejoicing in the midst of the Church as never before. They shall ascend new heights spiritually – the heights of Zion. They shall rejoice for “the wheat, the wine, and the oil, and for the increase of the herds.”

Wheat the Word Wine fruit of Spirit (joy) Oil peace (or anointing) Flocks many converts There have been a few visions shared concerning the lastday Church; and one of the common denominators that seems to ring true in every vision is the “youthful/joyful” Church. The last-day Church is youthful. There has been a renewing of youth, and I think we could attribute that to the “joy of the Lord.” The prophet Joel tells us that it is the lack of joy that shrivels up the Church (Joel 1:12). Another interesting illustration comes from the book of Zephaniah.

Zephaniah is also prophesying of the Lord again dwelling in the midst of His people:

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ing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more…. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, He will joy over thee with singing.

(Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17) There it is: the Lord not only is dwelling in the midst of His people, but also notice the underlined words “joy.” That

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word in Hebrew has the sense of great exuberance, the sense of spinning around with joy. What a depiction of how much Christ loves His people. He is rejoicing over them in the dance. He is renewing His love to them, and He is mighty in the midst of His Church!

The Church in eternity Although, the Church (spiritually) preempts all of the New Covenant promises made to Israel, there is also a literal fulfillment of these promises. Indeed, what a beautiful picture we see of the “overcoming” Church in the Millennium. They have experiThey have enced full redemption – salvation to the utterexperimost. They have allowed the fiery breath of the enced full redemption Holy Spirit to burn away the infirmity of the fallen nature. They have gotten the dominion – salvation over sin and the wicked one, and now they are to the reigning upon the earth! Revelation 20:6 says, uttermost.

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

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e that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

(Revelation 21:7)

The millennial reign is by no means the end; in fact, it is just the beginning for the saints. It is followed by the “new heavens, and the new earth” – and this is just the beginning. As the apostle Paul said, “That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). O, it is

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worth paying the price for. Let us not be content to be “Outer Court” Christians, but let us follow on to know the fullness of salvation – salvation to the uttermost, because He ever lives to intercede for us. Amen!

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nd I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)

Epilogue

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herefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

(Hebrews 7:25)

As I was traveling In Central America a short while ago, the Lord began to impress upon me the need to be a preacher of hope: To encourage people to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us (Heb. 6:18-19). This hope, which the author of Hebrews is talking about, is personified in the One who sits within the veil. He is described as an anchor. We are anchored in Jesus (as the chorus goes) and throughout this life, no matter how tempestuous the storm, our anchor still holds. He is always there for us! He is always interceding for us! He is always faithful; He will bring us through, and what He has said, He will do.

Often times, we become discouraged with ourselves. It just seems that no matter what we do ever seems to affect anything. Sometimes we cry out in prayer; we respond to the altar calls; and we lift our hands in response to the invitation. Sometimes, we struggle for years in some area of our life. We want to change; we seemingly have applied every spiritual measure that we know; yet, our problem seems as strong as ever.

Then one day something happens, we get out of bed the same as we always do, but something is different. Our

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plague has gone. It is like a fever that has broken in the night; all of a sudden, we are breathing comfortably again.

The fact is; it has been so completely removed that we have to let a few days roll by to see if we are not imagining things.

This is what is so awesome about the New Covenant. It really works; Christ really does forgive sins. The Blood of Christ really does purge the conscience. Christ really does enable us to live the life. He really does deal with the stony heart (if we let Him); and He can really put His laws within our hearts so that we desire to keep them.

The pilgrim in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress carried his burden for a considerable distance after he had come through the wicket gate (salvation). Then one day as he was ascending a hill, he saw a cross there; and as he gazed upon it, the burden broke from off his back and rolled down the hill into an empty grave. He never saw it again.

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et us lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; (Hebrews 6:18-19)

Appendix Divine Healing Although we have not specifically addressed the subject of divine healing, it would only seem appropriate that we endorse divine healing as a part of the New Covenant plan.

Our Mediator, Jesus Christ, paid the price for our healing in His atonement, and it is a part of the great commission: “…

They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:18).

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ho his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

(1 Peter 2:24) I have heard ministers spend a great deal of time to trying to disprove the literal application of the above verse. I personally believe that healing is as much a part of the atonement as cleansing for sin. There are reasons why some people receive healing and some do not – that subject would require another volume. The Lord Jesus Christ is as much concerned for the sick and oppressed as He was 2000 years ago. When the Master observed the woman who had been bowed down for the past eighteen years of her life, He said: “Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?” (Luke 13:16)

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I just recently returned from an overseas trip, where I heard the testimony of a woman who had a tumor on her brain. She was showing the x-rays of this tumor to the church, and how the tumor had progressively worsened.

The doctors had told her that there was no hope. In fact, the woman had reached the stage where she was going into convulsions. The final x-ray that she showed to us was minus the tumor – she had been perfectly restored. I am well acquainted with the people of this church. These are the kind of people that pray through, and they see miracles!

Faith cometh by hearing the Word. If a church does not preach divine healing, rest assured; they will have plenty of congregants to prove the point!

The Ten Sins in the Garden When we reflect upon the sin that took place in the Garden of Eden, we generally think of the one particular commandment that was broken. Yes, the one tree that Adam was forbidden to eat of brought a curse upon the entire human race. Yet, as we analyze the whole scene relating to the “fall,” we realize that all of the Ten Commandments (which were given later) were broken there as well. I would like to recall a statement made by the great theologian Matthew Henry: “There is something of a lie in every sin.” Our archenemy is called a liar and the “father of lies.” He is also called: “The old serpent, the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Rev. 12:9).

The entry of the serpent into Eden, was a test to the whole human race. The whole human race was in Adam when the tempter came, and when we realize that all the Ten Commandments were broken in the beginning; we then realize why God gave us the commandments. Satan is an anarchist; (anti-law) and as subtle as it is, the deceiver was teaching man to despise God’s law.

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No other gods

The fallen angel was “another god.” He got man to believe him rather than the only true God. II.

No graven image

The angel also deceived man into bowing to his image of falsehood: “Ye shall be as gods…” Jeremiah likens the graven image to a lie: “His molten image is falsehood…” (Jer. 51:17).

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Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name…

The Lord’s name was taken in vain in the garden: “Yea, hath God said…”

IV.

Remember the Sabbath

The Sabbath was broken there. Adam and Eve were in the “Rest” – they were in the Beulah Land, and the deceiver got them to move in the flesh.

V.

Honor thy father…

The evil one got our first parents to disobey their Heavenly Father.

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Thou shat not kill

Murder was committed in the garden. The Lord had said, “In the day that ye eat of the fruit ye shall surely die.” Satan is also called a murderer (John 10:10).

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery Eve was corrupted in the garden while she was alone (2 Cor. 11:2-3).

VIII. Thou shalt not steal Satan is called a thief (John 8:44). He stole the inheritance from our first parents.

IX.

Bearing false witness

Satan is also called a liar, and everything that was said in the garden was a lie or a distortion of the truth.

X.

Thou shalt not covet

Satan likewise promoted covetousness. He instigated the eating of the forbidden fruit, and he is called the father of lusts (John 8:44).

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As we consider these Ten Commandments, we can see that they were all broken (in some form) in the Garden of Eden.

We can also understand from this, why there is an emphasis in Scripture to keep the commandments – that we might have the right to eat of the tree of life in heaven. Lastly, this helps us to understand why there has been such a blatant attack upon the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are like the cornerstone of morality. When you throw out the cornerstone, there is nothing to measure to anymore.

Our last presidential election (2004) proved this. The media was shocked when they learned that morality was an issue.

The liberal press then inquires… “What constitutes morality?” Of course, no one can say because he might have to refer to the Ten Commandments.

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lessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

(Revelation 22:14)