May 30, 2010
Sermon #838
Actualizing Covenant
Introduction: For the past several weeks we have been looking at "covenant." I told you about the covenant between Ruth and Boaz that produced the line of David, the covenant between Jonathan and David, and between Jesus and His Church. There is a difference, however, between hearing about covenant, knowledge of covenant, and actualizing covenant. Covenant blessings are released in abundance upon the remission of sin.
Matthew 26:27 - 29 (NKJV) 27Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.
28For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."
Knowledge of the forgiveness of sins is the foundation
Jeremiah 31:31 - 34 (NKJV) 31"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—
32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.
33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
34No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
- When confronted by our sins, we cannot believe that we are welcome in His presence.
- We cannot believe that His promises are for us.
- We cringe under the sense of guilt.
- We are paralyzed to take the blessings of the covenant.
What is forgiveness?
- It is not being excused
Leviticus 16:6 - 10 (NKJV) 6"Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.
7He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
8Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat.
9And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord'S lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering.
10But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. - It is sin being "sent away" - aphiemi in the Greek N.T.
- Aphiemi is "divorced" – set at liberty
Leviticus 25:8 - 12 (NKJV) 8'And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
9Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.
10And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty (aphiemi) throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
11That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.
12For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.
John 1:29 (NKJV) 29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Romans 6:15 - 19 (NKJV) 15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
16Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
17But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
18And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
19I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.A total release from all debt
Matthew 18:21 - 35 (NKJV) 21Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"
22Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
23Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
25But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.
26The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'
27Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28"But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'
29So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'
30And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
31So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
32Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'
34And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
35"So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses."- It was a debt he could not pay – even if he had 10 lifetimes
- It cost the Master
- The debt was totally gone
2 Corinthians 5:17 - 21 (NKJV) 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
18Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
19that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
21For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
II. Christ in us
Ezekiel 36:25 - 27 (NKJV) 25Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Receiving a bear hug from God
Luke 15:11 - 24 (NKJV) 11Then He said: "A certain man had two sons.
12And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood.
13And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
14But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
15Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
17"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
19and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."'
20"And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
21And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
23And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;
24for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry.
Acts 10:44 - 48 (NKJV) 44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.
45And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Then Peter answered,
47"Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
48And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
- He "fell upon" that's what I mean by a bear hug!
The Holy Spirit connects us to the real world of the covenant
ILL: I was asked a couple of years ago to speak at a church on the Holy Spirit and His Gifts. After three days I was told that they only wanted to hear about Him but not experience Him.
1 Corinthians 6:15 - 20 (NKJV) 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!
16Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."
17But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
18Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.C. Covenant relationship hinges on the Holy Spirit being given to dwell in us
John 14:15 - 21 (NKJV) 15"If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19"A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
20At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
21He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
John 15:1 - 8 (NKJV) 1"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Conclusion: It is not trying to be like Jesus or doing what Jesus would do!
One plus One equals One
Galatians 2:17 - 21 (NKJV) 17"But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!
18For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.
20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
21I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."
Galatians 4:19 (NKJV) 19My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you…
Luke 11:9 - 13 (NKJV) 9"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
11If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
12Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
