Let's turn to the scriptures, beloved, shall we?
I'm nearly in a panic, in that we've
only got one more night left, and I
haven't said half that I ought to stay.
I'm rather thinking I ought to say tomorrow
night to be continued in August or something
like that.
But the Lord may have other plans.
In that we're on this great theme of
the Covenant, and last night we spent a
while, well, somebody told me it was two
hours.
Well, it was only a while.
Looking at our blessed Lord as he wants
us to look at him.
One of the thrilling things about the Lord
Jesus is his glorious identification with us.
He just loves us, and that's the end
of it.
And there's nobody can do much about that
except respond to it.
If the devil doesn't like it, that's up
to him.
And if people don't want to believe it,
well, that's simply up to them.
But oh, glory to God, for those of
us who believe it and receive it, it's
heaven on earth.
And that's what God wants.
And tonight I want to read with you
just somewhere to make a start on this
great line that's in our hearts.
Let's go to the Hebrews letter, shall we?
Even as I suppose we all know that
this is really the letter that contrasts the
Covenants.
Let's look into chapter 12.
I love reading this anyway.
It says in verse 18 of the 12th
chapter, that you are not come unto the
mount that might be touched and that burned
with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and
tempest.
And the sound of a trumpet and the
voice of words, which voice they that heard
entreated that the word should not be spoken
to them any more.
It's sad, isn't it?
Don't speak to me any more.
You think men saying that to God.
You ever sit there?
And the reasons given in the next verse,
for they couldn't endure that which was commanded.
That's why they said it.
They could not endure what God was saying.
And think of this.
When this was all going on, so much
as a beast touched the mountain, it had
to be stoned or thrust through with a
dart.
So terrible was the sight.
Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake.
Bless God that the covenant of terror is
over.
God himself said he did terrible things.
It wasn't the nicest thing that he did
to all the first born in Egypt.
It was a terrible thing.
You wouldn't have liked to have had your
first born son slain, would you?
But God did there terrible things.
Such a tremendous thing is it for people
to play around with God like the Egyptians
did.
God does do terrible things.
He says he does.
But oh, praise God, he also does some
wonderful things.
Let's make no mistake about it, hell is
a terrible place.
It's a terrible thing he's going to do
to turn all nations into hell and forget
God.
Think of that.
God doesn't gloss it over in the Bible.
He doesn't want you to think of him
only one-sidedly.
It's all according to your attitude and relationship
to him that either makes God a terrible
God or a wonderful lover.
Perhaps if we were to write psalms which
say Selah after that.
Pause and think.
Hallelujah.
Now look at verse 22.
You are come unto Mount Sinai and unto
the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels
to the general assembly and church of the
firstborn which are written in heaven and to
God, the judge of all and to the
spirits of just men made perfect and to
Jesus who himself we are told in this
epistle was made perfect through suffering the mediator
of the new covenant and to the blood
of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that
of Abel See that you refuse not him
that speaketh.
Don't say, Lord, don't talk to me anymore.
Will you?
I want then, I, you know, I'm almost
bound to expound this chapter if I'm not
careful but I want to keep on my
theme that God has given us for these
days.
And here we have the great contrast made
between the old and the new.
And I don't suppose anybody, I hope nobody
for instance that was gathered together last night
in Westcourt would think that God is doing
and moving in a terrible covenant toward us
in these days but that he is actually
indulging himself.
He loves to love and he's letting himself
go.
He let his son go.
He let his blood go.
He's let the Holy Ghost come.
God's really giving himself to it with his
uttermost and eternal and infinite grace to love
us to his heart's content and I trust
to yours also.
So may the Lord then lead us on
into this fullness that he has for us.
We took as our reading last evening sorry
if you weren't there but I make these
comments only we took as our reading the
31st chapter of Jeremiah last evening when we
read God as saying that the days come
that he's going to make a new covenant
with the house of Israel is recorded for
us again in the 8th chapter of this
book.
We'll read it, shall we?
It says this, verse 8 of chapter 8
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 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 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 that's the
sort of thing that God does masterful, purposeful,
miraculous Hallelujah he's altering human nature now he's
altering human beings he's altering heart states he's
altering lives he's altering mental conditions do you
need yours altering?
this is God really being God Amen I
will be to them a God and they
shall be to me a people and they
shall not teach every man his neighbor and
every man his brother saying know the Lord
for all shall know me he's going to
alter the knowing faculties of you he's really
dealing in what we would call abstract personalities
he's dealing with untouchables things that drugs don't
touch and shocks can't reach and philosophies can't
do anything about and psychology can only guess
at he says this is what I'm going
to do I will be merciful they shall
all know me from the least to the
greatest and I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will
I remember no more in that he saith
now remember when he said it in Jeremiah
this is when he made the first covenant
old in that he saith a new covenant
he made the first old he was talking
about a new covenant through his prophet Jeremiah
hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born
or the first writer of the New Testament
took up his pen by the urge of
the spirit and under the power and guidance
of the Holy Ghost started to write the
great sacred canon of the New Testament think
of it he made the Old Testament old
whilst the Old Testament was still in being
they did not know it was the old
covenant then they just knew it was the
covenant that God has made with them he
made it the old covenant by his pronouncement
in Jeremiah Amen now let's go back into
the Old Testament shall we to catch up
our thinking we will go back into the
book of Malachi I am not thinking that
to many of you I am going to
say anything new tonight in that I know
that some of us have been into these
great scriptures before but I hope you get
as much thrill out of re-looking at
them and listening to them as I do
with reading them and thinking about them for
this great covenant as we read last night
that God makes with us as David said
he says this covenant that God has made
with me ordered in all things sure he
says it's all my delight he keeps thinking
in this great covenant he says it's all
my delight I love it it's like a
cloudless morning it's like the dewy grass when
the sun shines on it it's always fresh
hallelujah it's an eternal covenant never weary of
going back over what God has said pledged
owed to do on his behalf never weary
of it and here we are then in
Malachi and you know that Malachi was the
last book of the Old Testament and we're
going to read in the third chapter and
God is speaking behold I send my messenger
and he shall prepare the way before me
saith the Lord now you know this is
John Baptist who and the Lord you seek
he whom you seek shall suddenly come to
his temple that's Jesus even the messenger of
the covenant whom ye delight in behold he
shall come saith Jehovah Sebaoth the Lord of
hosts but who may abide the day of
his coming and who shall stand when he
appeareth for if you want to know what
he's like he tells his old people he's
like a refiner's fire and he's like fuller's
soap you know what fuller's soap is don't
you perhaps if you ran a laundry on
the cleaners you might know something about it
they don't call it today and he shall
sit as a refiner and purifier of silver
and he shall purify the sons of Levi
and purge them as gold and silver that
they may offer unto the Lord an offering
in righteousness by the way I better say
now I'm not aiming to be finished at
half past nine so keep your eye on
the clock if I'm still going in an
hour's time I'm aiming to finish when I'm
finished so I'll say goodnight to you now
if you'll have to go hallelujah praise the
Lord you ask your neighbour that sits up
and looks at the late television play whether
they worry when it gets to half past
nine or half past ten or half past
eleven and we who have the word of
God we who have the better things we
who have the eternal things should we not
indulge ourselves occasionally we have a bad head
in the morning sometimes amen alright so you
see that we're introduced by the great prophet
of the Lord to the Lord Jesus Christ
there are two messengers here John Baptist the
messenger of the Lord and the Lord himself
who is called here the messenger of the
covenant praise the Lord what a name for
him really you know if you look right
through your Bibles you will discover an abundant
wealth of ideas suggested in the names of
the Lord Jesus Christ he is just about
everything and the Lord has got a name
for him to cover everything that he does
it's all comprehended in the one name Jesus
and when you say Jesus it's the all
inclusive great comprehensive name for this one in
whom God has vested everything to do for
us and he has done it praise his
name and he comes and he is the
messenger of the covenant now you will know
that he never he doesn't say he is
going to preach the message of the covenant
it says he is the messenger of the
covenant and you are not surprised I suppose
when you turn to your New Testament and
you take John's gospel that he starts back
by saying that Jesus is the word in
the beginning was the word the message the
message that Greek word logos can quite truly
be translated word, message, sentence it's so profound
that you could write a book about that
one word he is the message in the
beginning was the word and when you say
that the word became flesh and the word
dwelt among us and the word was called
Jesus then Jesus is the all inclusive word
his life from its inception or from its
recognition on the earth and way back before
that because it says that in the beginning
was the word the word was God the
word was with God it's always been like
that with God so we go right back
before his birth we go right back into
eternity and we look at his life and
we read the stories of him we hear
his parables we listen to his wisdom we
take his statements and his charges and we
see Calvary we see the empty tomb we
go to the hill of ascension we come
with him onto his throne and we see
all that's happening up there in heaven and
we say that is the word all that
in fact this is the way John speaks
in his epistle you will remember somebody that
doesn't know anything at all about it said
that the one that wrote the gospel of
John didn't write the epistles of John I
mean he discovered that, poor chap I don't
know what devil led him to discover it
but it's amazing how you can John wrote
that epistle and he says this that which
we've seen which we've heard that which was
with the father the word of life there
you are, talking about Jesus it's so comprehensive
it's so gloriously all inclusive to say Jesus
because we're so used to hearing names like
Bill, Joe, Jack, Mary, Joan and all this
you see it doesn't really mean anything to
us at all it's connected automatically in our
mind with a personality and some things we
may know and some things we don't know
but this tremendous word Jesus it is all
everything so the Lord wants us to take
this into our heart and he comes and
he is the messenger of the covenant he
comes and God's got a great covenant to
make with us in this precious, precious person
if you look at Luke's gospel for instance
let's go into the first chapter of Luke
just a while to get our bearings back
with the old and you will know that
in the first chapter of Luke we have
the story among other things of the birth
of John Baptist and this is what John
Baptist's father who had been dumb Zacharias because
he didn't believe the word that the angel
had spoken to him and was dumb all
the while John was coming through his mother's
womb into the world and until this boy
was born and Zacharias moved into the purpose
of God for that boy's life and for
the world, praise God he was kept dumb
and at last when he consented to what
God wanted his mouth was opened and he
starts off by saying in verse 68 Blessed
be the Lord hallelujah it's a good way
to start when you've been dumb it's a
good way to start Blessed be the Lord
he said oh glory amen isn't this wonderful
and he goes down and he says all
sorts of things and he says verse 72
this has all happened that God should perform
the mercy promised to our fathers and to
remember his holy covenant the oath which he
swore to our father Abraham not what he
gave Moses at Mount Sinai notice that wasn't
the covenant there's only really one covenant as
we shall see there's only one of everything
really in fundamental things as we read in
the Ephesian letter but you see as some
of us who were together on Saturday night
saw that that covenant came in by the
way God was moving on from Abraham and
he was going to go right the way
through but because of sin in the hearts
of his people he gave a covenant called
the Mosaic or the legal covenant to contain
them in sin and we're told in their
sin they were contained we're told this in
Galatians 3 we shall be going into that
chapter presently I trust that until faith came
that is the faith of Jesus Christ came
says this writer to the Galatians himself a
Jew Paul he'd been a Jew he wasn't
a Jew any longer he'd been born again
and of course you lose your nationality once
you've been born again and he was not
a Jew anymore he was a Christian and
so he says before faith came we were
kept under the law shut up God kept
them shut up he contained them shut up
unto the faith which should afterward be revealed
says the law it was only our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ that's all to
keep us going along the way it's the
Greek word pedagogos we get the word pedagogue
from it when we talk about we won't
say who we're talking about when we talk
about the pedagogues but it was the slave
that was used in the household of those
days to take the children along to school
that's who he was and he was only
the master of people going along to school
he was never the real teacher it's really
a mistranslation that word and that's all the
law was never a teacher just the one
that conducted us all in our infancy as
we were being taken along through time to
the moment when Jesus Christ should come that's
right that never was the thing that God
intended you see God had to do that
because of the sin in the hearts of
his people it was a terrible, terrible thing
and it was this oath this covenant this
thing that God had promised unto Abraham this
is what he was acting on all the
time no legal code there God just came
in grace Abraham didn't know anything about God
at all he was just a devil worshipper
probably a snake worshipper in Ur of the
Chaldees that's what they used to do then
as so they tell us these that dig
up the past these so on and so
on these scientists that used to go on
there and God just came to him he
just came to him out of the blue
came and said now look Abraham you do
this and art no, no, no you see
out came the whole covenant out of God's
heart and he was going to move in
this free way he just wanted to keep
coming to people and revealing himself to people
he wanted to keep coming and talking to
them he didn't really want to give them
two tablets of stone with laws written into
them and they're non-existent now those tablets
of stone are missing and a good job
too I mean if people that's right if
people would pay a million pounds for a
footballer to kick a bladder of wind round
the field what would they do?
what would they pay for two tablets of
stone written by God sell the world for
it wouldn't they?
surely it must be so unless we're all
mad they're gone amen like the cross it's
gone like the grave we don't know where
the grave is let them all quarrel about
it we think it's here Gordon says it's
here somebody else says it's here what does
it matter?
you're the grave beloved amen and
it's a tremendous thing for us to understand
that God is really wanting to teach us
something and he's back on this great oath
that he made to Abraham praise his wonderful
name when God could move in the freedom
of his heart and give God's love to
men and women and be God to people
as he wanted to be he never could
be God to his ancient people as he
wanted to be he never could really let
them know who he was and what he
was like never could he wanted to he
did oh so many tremendous things but he
was limited and now he's moved already he's
sown the seed in Mary's womb already and
just three months before Jesus was born John
Baptist was born and this dumb unbeliever Zacharias
a priest you know it's about the sons
of Levi didn't you now hold this very
closely on your heart from Malachi this son
of Levi this Zacharias this unbelieving priest this
blind leader of the blind when at last
he agrees to talk God's language and go
God's way his mouth is open and he
says Lord I see it he's speaking by
the Holy Ghost look at verse 67 he
was filled with the Holy Ghost unprophesied but
he wasn't born again temporarily filled with the
Spirit for the ministration of a gift Amen
keep that very clear you'll understand a lot
if you'll read your Bible properly you'll understand
a lot not that we don't need to
be filled with the Spirit but I must
get in front of myself but here then
is the tremendous thing beloved he still belonged
to the old covenant he didn't belong to
the new the distinctive message of the New
Testament is regeneration put that down in your
book if you're writing the distinctive message of
the New Covenant is regeneration praise the name
of the Lord and they never had it
in the Old Testament at all and God
is moving on then and so Jesus is
born into this earth and it's a precious
thing to follow the great life of our
Lord Jesus Christ I want just at the
moment to look say into the 22nd chapter
of Luke we mentioned this last night those
of us that were together may remember this
that in the 22nd chapter of Luke the
Lord Jesus Christ says this He's gathered them
together in the upper room and they're keeping
the last Passover and they're keeping the first
commemoration service of the New and He says
in verse 15 of Luke 22 with desire
I have desired to eat this Passover with
you before I suffer but I say unto
you I will not any more eat thereof
until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of
God and He took the cup and gave
thanks and said take this and divide it
among yourselves for I say unto you I
will not drink of the fruit of the
vine until the kingdom of God shall come
and that finished the Passover now He institutes
the memorial feast and He took bread and
gave thanks and break it and gave unto
them saying this is my body which is
given for you this do in remembrance of
me likewise also the cup after the supper
you see the Passover supper is over He
takes the cup after the supper and this
is really a breakfast don't call it the
Lord's supper any more the supper's over this
is the next meal it's breakfast yeah so
you come to breakfast next Sunday morning you
know how the old nonsense talking traditionalism read
your Bibles beloved read your Bibles people don't
read their Bibles it's breakfast you see it
always begins in the new day the Lord's
table the Lord's supper it's a breakfast beloved
He's anticipated the day Hallelujah Hallelujah you don't
have two suppers in one night do you
you see how quickly the night passed ah
but no you think I'm being funny the
night's passed it's over He's instituted the breakfast
in a tick the darkness is gone this
is what He's teaching you the suffering's over
I don't want you to mourn and moan
about me just a tick in eternity that's
all you hang on the cross it's all
over and you see He did this as
from His life but it never took effect
until after His death put that down if
you're writing put that down for He wanted
you to understand that this only comes from
the living Christ you see let me repeat
that He instituted it whilst still alive He
was still alive and He's saying here's my
blood you're drinking it He's saying here's my
body you're eating it you say we could
only do that after He's dead I mean
we only eat the body of dead animals
don't we you had mutton or beef perhaps
for today you've been slain I'm not being
coarse or vulgar this is right but He
was alive He said eat my body eat
the body of the living Christ that's what
He's saying drink the blood of the living
Christ ooh that alters it all doesn't it
you think you sort of drink the blood
of the dead Christ that was shed at
Calvary He said no drink it I haven't
got there yet drink the blood of the
living Christ that's what He's saying you say
that's new isn't it yes it's a new
kind it's breakfast time it's breakfast time it's
the new day glory it's so glorious but
this is what I want you to see
He says this cup is the new testament
in my blood which He shed for you
and I want you to notice this word
given in verse 19 do you see this
twice He says He gave it unto them
and then He said this is my body
which is given likewise that means exactly the
same the blood is given keep your finger
there although you needn't because you can memorize
that now go back into Leviticus chapter 17
brother I don't think we're going to get
very far I don't think we are I
believe God's going to talk to all our
hearts in a very wonderful way it's best
we learn truth and merely follow a feed
and in Luke chapter 17 this is what
God is saying oh sorry Leviticus chapter 17
you will remember that God is saying this
the blood He's talking about He says the
life of the flesh is in the blood
verse 11 and in verse 10 He says
if anybody eats any manner of blood I
will even set my face against that soul
that eateth blood I will cut him off
from among his people the life of the
flesh is in the blood and I have
given it to you there it is that's
the word given but see where He's given
it on the altar that isn't where He
gives it He gives it in the cup
it's very clear I've given it under the
old covenant it was the blood of death
in the new it's the blood of life
He doesn't say the blood at Calvary is
the testament He says it's this cup got
that?
of course it was meaning the blood that
He was going to shed at Calvary but
He was meaning this blood as it's running
now coursing through me this living Christ I'm
personified I'm brought down into the flesh for
you but all I want you to know
that I'm living, living, living, living they stamped
the red plasma down into the ground along
with all the other blood that had been
shed on Calvary's mountain for He wasn't the
one only one that was slain on Calvary
it was the public execution spot but He
says I caught it in this cup the
new covenant is this cup why did He
catch it in a cup pray for you
to drink it that's what a cup's for
isn't it to drink out of not to
pour it out on the ground Hallelujah Hallelujah
I say isn't the Bible an amazing book
when you really read it now this is
what God wants us to understand He's really
teaching us a marvelous thing He says they're
going to shed my blood I'm going to
give it it's for the life of the
world but listen I want you to know
that that's why of old I set my
face against people that drank blood now I'm
setting my face against everybody that won't drink
it that's right setting my face against everybody
that won't drink the blood but it has
to come to the want it has to
come to the stubborn refusal He's prepared to
look upon all made with favor to invite
them to it praise God and He calls
and leads to this precious place where in
the spirit you know what He was saying
don't you that all the spiritual value of
His life and blood was caught up into
a cup that God would give us all
to drink there it was red wine in
a chalice if it was a chalice I
reckon it was an old earthenware pot not
myself but you please yourself you might want
to get very nice and delicate about it
but Jesus Christ was very common beautifully common
wonderful play no silvered cups for Him He
was a man of our manner praise God
and it was caught there all the blessed
spiritual intent and content and meaning of Jesus
oh it's all in the spirit beloved the
wine will only ever be wine you'll sip
it and it will pass on and all
sorts of things but unless my beloved when
you come together and drink that cup and
drink and eat that bread if you don't
publish abroad the fact that you're a partaker
of the cup the new covenant in that
cup the life of the Lord Jesus Christ
you're blighting your soul and damning yourself for
eternity that's what you're doing don't you touch
it unless you're doing that don't you go
anywhere near it you shall be guilty of
the body and the blood of Jesus Christ
for when you come there you're either on
one side or the other concerning Calvary one
side or the other it was in His
blood this precious and marvelous covenant and we
know that it had to be shed shed
for many for the remission of sins this
is my blood of the new covenant oh
don't you see beloved the whole difference God
wrote the new covenant into flesh and blood
that's right God wrote it out for us
plain large as life in the Son of
His love spelled it out for us the
great ABC yes He said He was both
the Alpha and the Omega the complete alphabet
and if you know how to put letters
together you'll make up every word that it's
possible to make in this tremendous thing He
spelled it all out for us in simplicity
and in love and in carefulness in detail
and in fullness in time and in eternity
in natural terms and in infinity He's written
it out for us beloved for us to
understand the terms of the new covenant the
terms are the life of Jesus the word
is the life of Jesus Amen the commandment,
the charge is the life of Jesus Amen
praise God is that sinking in?
Amen it's not a book containing four gospels
the acts of the apostles and some other
letters and the revelation bless God we have
them praise God but that's not the new
covenant the new covenant is the life of
God made manifest in the flesh the new
covenant is Christ entirely the new covenant is
Him He's the word He brought the message
of the covenant and He had the blood
of the covenant in Him and He died
on the cross to shed the blood of
that covenant and He went back home to
ratify it in heaven Amen that's what it's
all about beloved the new covenant is Jesus
it's Christ it's Him it's God and man
in one it's God achieving His ambition coming
to His ultimate it's God fulfilling His promise
made to Abraham oh praise the name of
the Lord this new covenant and He's made
it with us ah this is the thing
for us to understand beloved once we come
here why?
oh let's go into Galatian shall we we'll
have a look in this Galatian letter chapter
three oh hallelujah hallelujah in this third
chapter we find some wonderful things and we
can read where shall we start it says
in verse eight it says the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith
preach the gospel unto Abraham did you know
that there are three he preached the gospel
to Abraham what do you think of that?
did you know that was in the bible?
that God preached the gospel to Abraham hallelujah
marvellous and he said in thee shall all
nations be blessed glory be to the name
of the Lord it's a gospel of blessing
but you see it's all brought down to
its basic things it's marvellous how things are
brought down to basic things for instance if
I said to you I want you to
repeat I want you to repeat the old
covenant go on the basis of it what
would you do?
what would you do?
you'd start in Exodus 20 wouldn't you say?
hey?
no you wouldn't but you can simplify it
I tell you instead of going through all
Exodus 20 start in Deuteronomy chapter 6 hear
O Israel the Lord our God is one
Lord thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart and with all thy
soul and all thy strength and all in
thine and the second commandment is like unto
it thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself
that's the whole of the old covenant there
you are that's the ten commandments see how
they can be simplified did you realise that?
why it's precious isn't it?
isn't it true?
you sum up the first half of the
Decalogue and it means love God with all
your heart sum up the second half you
know thou shalt not steal thou shalt not
commit adultery thou shalt not do this thou
shalt not it's love your neighbour as yourself
then you don't do it that's all it
is everything can be simplified in this precious
thing so God simplified, simplified, simplified everything he
had to say and said I'll send Jesus
that simplifies the new covenant it's as simple
as that it was in his blood it
was the very basic elemental coursing red stream
of his being it was the reason for
his living it was his ability to love
blood flowing round his veins into his arteries
the new covenant was Jesus Christ's ability medium
basic fundament of life what do you think
of that?
everything came from that blood everything built up
into flesh first in his mother's womb and
then it was born and then it grew
it was lovely, glorious so simple this wonderful
covenant I hope you're seeing this I hope
your eyes are open wide and your hearts
really reaching out into all the truth for
this is what God wants us to grasp
and it's precisely because these things have not
been grasped and understood that we have all
kind of manufactured theories and ideas angles and
emphases instead of the Lord being able in
simplicity to come to our hearts and just
start to move on us and that's what
it's all about beloved he cannot do it
as he wants to do because we've got
our head just about chock full of notions
and Jesus Christ came and lived and died
and they thought that's the end of him
and they sealed up the tomb and he
beat them all he'd come out without breaking
the seals their stupid minds thought he'd have
to come out that way but he came
out that way God always does the unexpected
but he'll never get that stone out of
the way he had it rolled away afterwards
so that you and I could go in
and see that he wasn't there but this
is the marvel of it all and so
he just lived his glorious life and we
know lots of things that went on in
between I hope we do and then there
came the day when they followed him out
to the mountain where he had appointed to
meet them and whilst they watched him as
he was blessing them and he'd said to
them now look whatever else you do you're
to tarry in Jerusalem until you be endued
with power from on high and don't you
go away and then they saw him go
up into heaven he said I'm going to
send the promise of the father upon you
that's what I'm going to do now listen
the promise of the father the father went
and made a promise to Abraham keep that
very clear he went and made a promise
to Abraham I'm going to send the promise
of the father to you Galatians chapter 3
we're still in it we're not going to
read all the verses but this is what
we're going to see verse 13 Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law
being made a curse for us for it
is written cursed is everyone that hangeth on
a tree that the blessing of Abraham might
come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ the
blessing of Abraham as you can read in
verse 6 is that he believed God and
righteousness was imputed to him in other words
he knew justification by faith now the blessing
of justification by faith could come on the
Gentiles in order that verse 14 we might
receive the promise of the spirit through faith
Hallelujah justification by faith imputed righteousness is in
order that we might receive the Holy Spirit
Amen now let's go on shall we brethren
I speak after the manner of men though
it be but a man's covenant see he's
brought this word covenant in now yet if
it be confirmed no man disannulleth or addeth
thereto now to Abraham and his seed where
the promise is made he saith not and
to seeds as of many but as of
one and to thy seed which is Christ
and this I say that the covenant that
was confirmed before of God in Christ the
law which was four hundred and thirty years
after cannot disannul with it should make the
promise none effect if the inheritance be of
the law it's no more a promise but
God gave it to Abraham by promise wherefore
then serveth the law it was added it
was added because of transgressions till the seed
should come to whom the promise was made
and it was ordained by angels in the
hands of a mediator now a mediator is
not a mediator of one but God is
one and so the thought of mediation is
introduced and we will go into the Hebrews
letter and you will remember that it said
in the Hebrews letter in chapter twelve that
we've come to new Jerusalem to Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant the new covenant
had to be mediated oh it was in
his blood but it has to be mediated
and we're told in Galatians quite rightly that
a mediator is not a mediator of one
if there's only one there's nothing to mediate
if there are three if there are two
there's no need for mediation either it's just
a straight passing alright I give you this
you give me that so you see but
when there are three you need a mediator
and when there are millions and millions and
millions you need a mediator a mediator cannot
be a mediator of one and there's another
thought about it that Jesus Christ didn't just
come to be a mediator from man to
God it says this in Timothy you remember
there's one God and one mediator between man
and God men and God sorry plural men
and God the man singular very important like
seeds and seed the man he can mediate
to God there's one great mediator and this
is the precious truth beloved that Jesus Christ
when he went back to heaven he went
back and he showed himself to his father
for me for me that God at last
got a man up there who'd atoned for
sin a man that represented me to him
I can't atone for sin I couldn't atone
for one sin that I've ever committed I
could never justify my actions to God I
could never I don't know where to find
him anyway do you?
I mean I know now it's since I've
become born again but before that I didn't
know couldn't find him in a communion I
didn't find him in church what's a church
anyway?
I didn't know until I was born again
did you?
do you now know what a true church
is?
couldn't find him in the Bible I ought
to know I've brought up to believe it
from infancy I didn't find him there I
found him ultimately here knocking at my heart's
door that's where I found him is that
where you found him?
I found him here speaking to me knocking
here he knocked a long time but at
last he came in and I knew him
but you see I couldn't get to find
him I didn't know what to do for
him but there went up a man with
scars on him furrows down his back hole
in his side in his hands and his
feet went back and says that's that chap
Northfather this is plain sense written in the
Hebrews letter did you know that?
isn't the Bible a wonderful book?
it tells us everything in the ninth chapter
we read this verse 24 Hebrews 9 and
24 Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands which are the figures
of the truth but into heaven itself now
to appear in the presence of God for
us just a minute you know on the
day of ascension up he went and he
went straight I didn't put that chair there
it helped stop me wandering around he appeared
there for me father looked on him there's
a man here who's made an atonement for
sin it's Jesus he says father I've come
that's that man North it's
unbelievable not expected to believe it unless the
Holy Ghost convinces you only the Holy Ghost
can convince you of this that's what Jesus
said I've got to come I've got to
get out of the way the Holy Ghost's
got to come he's got to convince the
world he didn't come to convince the world
Jesus didn't Jesus came to atone for the
sin of the world the Holy Ghost has
come to convince the world that's what he's
come for told you that in the Old
Testament the Holy Ghost convinces me I'm sure
of it as I'm standing in your presence
tonight and I haven't got a mark on
me I don't think I have anyway if
you could see on my face that I'm
appearing in the presence of God tonight as
him and he appears as me my Jesus
and he is mediating me to God amen
but a mediator is not a mediator of
one he's mediating from God to me and
you know what he's mediating from God to
me don't you the Holy Ghost he's mediating
the Holy Ghost from God to me that's
why I said don't you go away from
Jerusalem don't you go there you think you've
got all the facts and you've got it
all at your fingertips but I want to
tell you I've got to mediate God the
Holy Ghost to you or my task is
not complete it did not end with blood
shedding certain amount of things ended with the
blood shedding it did not end with him
lying in the tomb it did not end
with the resurrection it did not end with
the ascension and enthronement it ended this phase
of it when he mediated the Holy Ghost
oh no that's not ended yet praise God
we're still moving he's coming back again sometime
but we're not going to reach there tonight
the whole thing is there well you know
what I mean it may reach us the
whole position beloved is here laid at our
hearts door he is mediating the third person
of the Trinity to me that's what it's
all about he's not just giving me forgiveness
I've got justification the blessing of Abraham Abraham
had that but he never had the baptism
in the spirit he never had that he
got forgiven all his sins he'll be there
glory be to God he never once took
the communion he'll be there but hallelujah he
glory he did that that I should receive
the promise of the spirit and it's a
covenant listen we'll read again in this ninth
chapter of Hebrews it's a very important chapter
it says this that we'd
better have it all I suppose really as
much as we can anyway let's start in
verse 13 if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of an heifer
sprinkling the unclean sanctified for the purifying of
the flesh how 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
and for this cause he is the mediator
of the new covenant that by means of
death for the redemption of the transgressions that
were under the first testament they which are
called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance
for where a testament or covenant is there
must also of necessity be the death of
the testator or covenant victim for a covenant
or a testament is a force after men
are dead or in the force of the
Greek here it is stable over the dead
otherwise it has no strength it's of no
strength at all while the testator liveth the
new covenant was of no strength at all
while Jesus was alive on the earth before
his death it's only of force since his
death I was in a house the other
day let me illustrate this I was in
a house somewhere a lady that's a good
bit older than I am I've known her
for a long time and one of her
worries that day when I called was that
she was making a will and she asked
me if I would sign on the dotted
line for her and become one of these
witnesses of the signature which I did in
the end but I learned in process of
being with her for some time that she
was always making wills she made a will
and then she thought of something else so
she added a bit then she made another
one and she took something away from someone
and gave it to someone else you see
the will, the testament, the covenant was not
in force all the time she was alive
because it could be added to or disannulled
once she dies, she's headed, she can't that's
right you see now this is exactly what
we're being told in the bible a covenant
is only stable over the dead all the
time a person's alive they can change their
mind an alteration not that Jesus Christ intended
to alter his promises but what we're being
told is this that the new covenant was
not in force whilst Jesus was living on
the earth the blood of the covenant had
to be shed first amen for part of
that great covenant beloved of God is shown
us in the tenth chapter where we are
told in verse 16 this is the covenant
that I will make with them after those
days I will set the Lord I will
put my laws into their hearts and in
their minds will I write them and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no
more and God couldn't help remember them if
he hadn't shed the blood of Jesus to
block them out amen shed the
blood of Jesus to expunge purge eradicate the
memory of them glory be to God and
purge your conscience from them too give you
a nature like the nature of the sinless
one who never knew sin Jesus which of
you convinces me of sin he said yet
if I tell you the truth you won't
believe me an old pilot had said I
can't find any fault in him I'll let
him go amen is that right?
yeah do you know he's going to bring
me into faultness this one day he's going
to present me faultless but at this moment
I can be void of sin and of
the memory of it and of the conscience
of it because it's the blood of Jesus
amen it's the covenant the covenant arranged in
God not with a man God became man
in order to ratify it but it was
arranged in God and the holy ghost is
the spirit of the covenant the holy spirit
of the covenant amen Jesus shed the holy
blood of the covenant to show us what
the holy man of the covenant is and
bring us into that manhood and life unless
we're not alive we're dead but the holy
ghost is the spirit of the covenant gets
down into that subconscious mind of yours that
exists in spirit to purge your conscience from
dead things works, words, ideas, doctrines and I
don't know what prayers and genuflections and I
don't know what all the love of them
purge you of it, purge you of it
purge you of it Jesus Christ was rid
of it all he only ever went in
the temple so we know to purge it
he never went in there to smell the
incense or burn the candles or even offer
a sacrifice he had no sin for which
to sacrifice none at all he left it,
knocked it down out of it what are
you doing?
messing around in candle smoke and incenses what's
that got to do with it?
Jesus Christ left it smashed it poured it
into the reality not into the smoke of
it poured it into the light not the
candle of it not the artificial, the real
not the typical, the actual oh, this is
the reality beloved into which we've been brought
in this great covenant of love and grace
oh, it's so wonderful this great love of
Jesus and he's up there representing me to
God he says I'm that man north and
he ministered the Holy Ghost to me down
here that I might be the man Jesus
to men that's right, that's what it's all
about that's the covenant that I might be
as the man Jesus unto my fellow man
oh, and I'm so little and I'm so
poor he says, never mind, blessed are the
poor in spirit and I'm so broken, he
says, blessed are the brokenhearted that's right, that's
what he meant he says, this is the
thing he comes he comes, you see he
has to make us poverty stricken in spirit
we have to recognize our absolute poverty we
have to recognize our impurity of heart he
says, blessed are the pure in heart we
have to recognize that we're not peacemakers but
warmongers, all a lot of us always kicking
up rows and troubles and fights in our
natural that's what we're doing, always now, come
on, stand up, anybody who's never done that
that's what we are, all a lot of
us he's got us all in that great
statement of Matthew 5 let's go there we're
all there he's come to make us new
men I'll tell you how he does it
by taking the laws off the tablets of
stone and writing them in your heart now,
beloved now, beloved, this is how it all
works because Jesus Christ was the end of
the law and that he fulfilled it this
is the word he uses in Matthew chapter
5 he says in the 17th verse of
Matthew 5 don't you think I've come to
destroy the law or the prophets I have
not come to destroy but to fulfill now,
who could fulfill it save the one from
whose heart and mind those laws came all
right, now you've got to fulfill it too
so this is what he says then he
starts to take up the law he says,
like this you've heard, verse 21 that it
was said by them of old time thou
shalt not kill whosoever shall kill shall be
in danger of the judgment now, you see,
that was the law but now he shows
you the spirit from which it came you've
got to have this kind of heart in
you now here it is I say unto
you if you're angry with your brother without
a cause you're in danger of the judgment
and whosoever shall say to his brother Raker
shall be in danger of the Sanhedrin or
the council but whosoever shall say thou fool
shall be in danger of Gehemah hell fire
but you see he's not saying thou shalt
not kill now he's in the heart from
which it came he's interpreting it from God's
heart now that was put out there on
the circumference of things chipped in stone thou
shalt not kill that's at the extreme this
is how he contained them he contained them
kept them under the law but they were
still in sin and sin in their heart
he's telling you now look, look at the
next thing he says therefore if you come
with your gift to the altar and you
remember that your brother's got altar gates due
leave your gift don't come here waving your
hymn book and saying hallelujah go and get
right with your brother that's it don't you
come here saying amen and giving prophecies and
talking in tongues until you've got right with
your brother do you understand?
that's right praise God leave your gifts he
said go and get grace that's right no
of course we don't bring gifts to altars
now like sheep and rams and that but
we bring what we call the gifts of
the spirit well leave them leave, don't worry
about those go and get on with the
heart of God will you leave your gifts
he doesn't say come back and get your
gift again he says come up and pick
up your gift again that's what he says
that's right, read it I put it colloquially
I've interpreted it into the new covenant terms
see this is what he's saying all this
thing he said you're not even to think
you're never even to think of ever calling
anybody a fool I'm not killing anybody do
you know where murder starts?
from thinking in your heart that somebody's a
fool say never, never I thought insomany people
were fools you were an incipient murderer a
murderess it was there oh now you see
he's interpreting the spirit of the Lord the
heart of God this was what was in
his blood you say you've been washed in
it you say you've drunk it you say
you believe in it do you?
his life was lived from this look how
it goes right down to this and he
says you've heard in verse 27 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 he's already done it
see in other words his lust started and
in his imagination it was all done and
then he went and gave the lustful look
afterwards that's right that's what Jesus is saying
and it's a tremendous thing and he said
and he said look it's so important I
want to tell you that if it's your
eye that do it he said take them
eye and pluck them out or your right
hand that did offensive things well have it
cut off that's Jesus this is Brooklyn I
tell you this new covenant it's absolute fire
fire he gives the spiritual interpretation of what
God could only write on stone of old
time he was the covenant him the seed
had come to whom the promise was made
Jesus blessed God and what a seed he
was what a seed oh when you go
all the way down through these these precious
things that Jesus said you know well I
won't I won't tarry with you through them
all our time is not too limited as
we know we only have one more evening
together but the Lord is saying this precious
thing the covenant beloved the mediator the mediatorial
work of the Lord Jesus Christ is that
the promise of Abraham should come unto me
the seed came the life was lived in
the flesh to know the kind of life
that I could never be for me to
know it until God my blessed Savior on
the ground of his own blood shed went
back to heaven and received of the Father
the promise of the Spirit there's the promise
it's all there the great promise of the
Spirit this was in God's mind when he
made the promise he was promising Abraham Jesus
he was promising Abraham the Holy Ghost he
was promising Abraham God he said I want
to be a God dear you may read
it I'll be a God dear I don't
want him merely if I may say this
to be a God to me in history
I just don't want him to be a
God to me on the cross I just
don't want him to be a God to
me in heaven I need him to be
a God to me in here and he
knows it and I cannot live the life
he wants me to live if he denies
me this if he gives me just a
Bible to stick to better than ten commandments
on stone to try to stick to as
well as the words of the covenant I
have no stickability and God knows I haven't
it will be my crushing it will be
like rock on my head it will deal
the death blow to all my best hopes
and intentions but I cannot be what I
read in that book blessed are the pure
in heart they shall see God blessed are
the peacemakers when I have such a quarrelsome
rotten nature that I've inherited that I make
trouble wherever I go or if I don't
people make trouble for me he has to
come blessed one he's come and he's written
these laws in my heart amen I'm here
to fulfill the law but not by trying
to I forget about it I forget about
it and all I do is to live
in the knowledge of the presence of the
glory of God in me by the Holy
Ghost living in me and he's put his
thoughts in my mind he says I'm writing
them in your mind in your heart my
heart is the great passionate motivating driving force
of me my mind well it's not quite
sawdust but it's there all written there my
thoughts now have power it's all right heart
and mind are pure glory be to God
he's written his laws there and you know
what these laws are?
the laws of his own eternal being and
life soul and life if his laws of
eternal being and life aren't in you you
haven't got eternal life because this is how
God lives eternally pure wonderful righteous glorious hallelujah
I'm left with fragmentary hopes of attainment without
this reaching forward hoping hoping hoping
ere the darkness flows in and extinguish the
faint light but if he comes and he
baptizes me as he wants to baptize me
into Jesus Christ then I partake of his
life simple isn't it?
simple there's nothing complicated about this God wants
us to understand what it's all about he
said now you tarry there you tarry there
I've got to mediate the spirit to it
yet you stay there so they stayed there
and Jesus went up and he did this
glorious work you know it's just as I
said there my father looked here he is
of course he can be filled with the
spirit now, can't he?
he suffered he suffered for his sin I've
done it for him he's paid the price
I've done it for him he's made me
atonement I've done it for him you see
that's what he said all the time of
course he can have the Holy Spirit of
course he can be filled it's quite natural
logical proper that I might receive the promise
of the spirit through faith amen and if
you haven't received the promise of the spirit
through faith your faith has let you down
whatever it is for faith is a through
thing faith is like a like a a
great big water pipe laid up to heaven
for the water to flow through that's all
it is you see God is wanting to
minister to us in all his fullness of
grace and love this is the covenant this
is the covenant oh I've said this before
I don't want it to be a cliche
but it's absolutely so right it impresses in
my being there was an arrangement in God
diatheke covenant testament means a thorough arrangement that's
what your word means in the Greek a
thorough arrangement for those of you that are
studying Greek or want to know it that
preposition dia means through thoroughly through it's a
thorough complete eternal logical proper arrangement and the
arrangement was this that if Jesus would come
down on this earth and die to put
away my sin and remove the reasons why
God could not do it God would give
me the Holy Ghost that was the arrangement
and the Holy Ghost would come direct from
Father's heart through Jesus Christ into me first
hand personal actual I'm not catching anything that's
floating about in the air like some people
you see them reaching about there's something out
here you know it's here glory directly I
am directly linked with God and he poured
straight into me through my other self my
man my Jesus God's Jesus the real life
he says I'm complete in him amen he's
the complete me man is not complete if
he isn't in Jesus alright and Jesus was
man the man he came as me I
wasn't man there's no man here is man
no man unless he's been born again a
new man in Jesus Christ Jesus Christ was
the man hallelujah he was the man who
lived on earth by all the laws of
eternal being he that were in God in
the beginning and ever shall be and this
local arrangement of universe and heaven and earth
and everything else passed away amen when all
the scientists have scratched their last bald heads
and not discovered what it's all about amen
it's all passed away I should be there
with the same life that God was in
the beginning and ever shall be oh hallelujah
that's what it's all about that's what it's
all about this is the covenant the promise
is made to the seed I'm the seed
I'm one of the seed I'm one of
the seed glory ha ha ha praise God
it's as simple as that the seed had
to come to whom the promise was made
no it's a marvelous thing and you know
this is your privilege every one of you
in this room tonight I don't know whether
this has ever taken place in your life
your privilege is to see the utter destruction
of your old self and sin on that
cross this is your privilege you are dead
that's what the bible keeps on telling you
that you won't believe it you are dead
you are dead you're not to try and
get dead we don't want any suicides in
heaven you are dead slain done away with
hateful rotten unwanted that's what Jesus came to
do he came to take on the ugly
task but he's done it done it amen
you are dead but you won't believe it
and because you won't believe it you go
through hellish struggles you're trying to stop this
and you're trying to be that and you're
trying to be something else as though God
wants cheap imitations stop the nonsense he's got
his man all ready he's up there that
blessed, true, simple, sweet personality the Holy Ghost
is pouring through him bringing his virtues bringing
the glory not the blood of his life
now that's sprinkled there for us it's been
caught in the spirit in the cup to
commemorate it but he's pouring through the actual
risen Jesus Christ bringing the virtues the last
abstract wonders of him so concrete and real
in the spirit only abstract to us in
our poor limited thinking bringing them all in
the sweetnesses and the so indescribable lovelinesses pouring
them into me pouring them into me wants
to pour them out through me wants everybody
to see Jesus wants everybody to know Jesus
wants everybody to know the miracle wants everybody
to see what God can do in me
needing me what can I say who was
so horrible and ugly and rotten and vile
and desired to be buried buried and forgotten
about for all eternity or else be tortured
in hell for the rottenness of me to
me here to me to me, the real
me oh how can you describe it this
is what it's all about it isn't me
struggling after holiness it's me living Jesus that's
right it's as simple as that it's not
me struggling after power it's me living Jesus
see it's not me trying to be a
prophet yes it's living Jesus that's
what it is it's not me trying to
get a ministry or make my mark on
the earth it's living Jesus Jesus made no
mark on the earth it's this temple and
you can't find hell no, no, no not
a mark but oh, he's come to fill
us he's come to be us he's come
to make the change it's so simple and
you know all you've got to do is
to receive the Holy Ghost this is the
covenant you've got to receive the Holy Ghost
don't fix your mind on anything don't get
ending like this, that or the other hope
not, receive the Holy Ghost if you believe
God's going to betray you now you'd better
not have any more to do with it
if you believe God's going to let you
down now and he's only a Judas really
don't have anything more to do with it
if you believe he's you if you believe
that you're not really alive you're non-existent
you're just going to eke out a few
more years and drop into a grave and
now if you believe he's the real you
and you were only born and allowed to
draw God's good breath into your lungs on
this earth for this purpose you'll stop all
your other nonsense and die die right here
in this room forever die, finish that's the
end of me how many of you just
revolve around yourself nobody wants me, nobody loves
me you sniveling, whining do you really want
all the angels and God and all the
churches in the world to dance around you
do you?
when we can't even remember the place where
Jesus was born we'll find the spot where
he died and who are you?
die we'll have a mighty feast when you
die we'll have a wonderful time no funerals
here it was a breakfast that Jesus is
into a breakfast the beginning of a new
day food of a new life wonder of
the ages hallelujah all glory let him fill
you with the Holy Ghost let him enter
into the covenant stop all this sneaking around
the back way stop making out you do
it when you know you haven't really done
it don't try and impress anybody just collapse
and die and fade away God's good he
loves you amen he's just waiting to do
it praise the name of the Lord and
if you'll believe him you'll believe him you'll
go home tonight in the covenant and the
covenant will be yours how can we have
talked so long and said nothing there's so
much more to say now let's pray shall
we