Do you have what it takes?
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Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My! - But Wild Animals are Not Dangerous
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Zac Poonen - This pastor from India seems to be living exactly the way Paul and Jesus intend for us to live.
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4/3/2022
New Covenant and Drinking of the Wine
The highest law of the land, the Constitution is a living document, and not
a dead document. Its application changes base on circumstance and technology.
An example is the 2nd amendment right to bear arms which does not extend to
nuclear weapons for very obvious reasons. Is God’s law living or dead?
We know in the Old Testament, the 10 commandments were written by God on a stone
table. The Jews did exactly as it was written. The law was given once, and is
static. What about the New Testament? Jesus gave us a new covenant that has
several new requirements.
One is you have to do the will of the Father, or Christ will reject you on the
last day. But how do you know what is the will of the Father?
Another is you have to be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. But how
can we be perfect?
Jesus said he did not abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. Not the smallest letter
or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Does that mean
we have to hold to all 613 laws in the Old Testament? That is impossible in
modern age.
The new covenant is a living covenant in that it adopts to circumstance and
situations for each of us. All 613 laws has to be fulfilled base on the circumstance
we are in. New covenant is a living law. For example Leviticus 19:19 You shall
not “wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together”.
Deuteronomy 22:11 said “you shall not wear a material mixed of wool and
linen together.” So all outdoor clothing would be banned. They all have
mixed fabric of nylon or polyester of some sort. Mixed fabric had a particular
meaning 3000 years ago. Mixing may have something to do with worshiping different
gods. In today’s situation, we have different laws. The new law for us
would be you shall not wear a material mixed of polyester and polyurethane especially
in Sunday service. You may only wear polyester and polyurethane if in a women
or men only gym. We know exactly what that means, no tight fitting Spandex in
church. Old Testament saints have their static law, and we have our new living
law.
In the US, we have Supreme Court Justices to decide how to apply the Constitution
to a particular circumstance. What about God’s law. Who helps us apply
His law? God writes the law in our hearts so we know what they are. How does
God write the law in our heart? We are in Jesus. How are we in Jesus? Thru the
Holy Spirit, the helper. Jesus illustrated that in the communion. Matthew, Mark
and Luke wrote that Jesus said this is My blood of the covenant, drink this.
It explains to us we drink His blood, and His blood is in us. John is more to
the point. It said He who eats My flesh and Drinks My blood abides in Me. When
you eat Jesus, you are joining with Jesus. Is a very strong illustration of
abiding in Christ. The Holy Spirit then convicts you what you need to do little
by little. Then you know the will of God moment by moment.
You stop sin one by one. You cannot look to heaven and desire to be in third
heaven like Paul at this very moment. Holy Spirit gives you one instruction
at a time. You can't get to the next level until you pass the first. There is
no turning around either. Instruction might be no watching secular movies. Wow,
that is hard. Not all Christian will have the law on movies. You may have it
just because you like movies so much that you can't imagine living without it.
So it is unclean to those who thinks is unclean. You cannot skip that law and
go onto the next one. Many Christians especially me got stuck at one law for
decades. I look at other Christians and ask why they don't have that law? I
excuse myself by saying is such a minor law, what is the big deal. Pursuit of
career was my weakness, so God gave me that law because you cannot serve God
and money at the same time. That was a tough one. The flip side is if you don't
follow that one single law, the Spirit will depart, and you will backslide.
Jesus said Christians have been granted the mysteries of kingdom of heaven.
Mystery message is the will of God for us to carry out. But for those who have,
more will be given. Whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away
from him. Don't follow one law, and it will be taken away. Very dangerous. You
follow one law at a time, and you will start to abide in Jesus. You will then
be living by the Spirit.
What about perfection, how do we become perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect.
Jesus overcame sin, so when you are in Jesus, you are given power to overcome
sin. The more you give up the world, the more you abide in Christ, and the more
you are able to overcome sin. We do that day by day. 2Cor 4:16 “though
our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day”
We know Jesus is a very special person. Did you know Jesus created the universe?
Yes He did. Do you believe that Jesus has the ultimate power? Yes He has. The
power coming from Jesus helps you overcome porn, alcohol, depression, and lead
you to a perfect life. The power is there to do God's will.