We've not sung that song very
often, but sometimes I kind of avoid songs because I remember
them from my childhood and how they were abused, and then you
look them over, and they're very scriptural songs. When I was
a kid and through my teenage years, they were constantly after
us young people to, and this was their words, dedicate your
lives to full-time service. You know, they'd want us to Say
we'd be missionaries or pastors or whatever. And of course, me
being the religious kid I was, many times I said, yeah, I'd
do that. You'll go forward at the end of some emotional service.
But you know, the scriptures, to my recollection, never tell
us to ask men to go. It says, pray the Lord of the
harvest that he will send forth labors. And that's what that's
all. It's a quotation from my Lord. He told his disciples,
he said, that the harvest was ripe and ready. And then he said,
now pray the Lord of the harvest, that he'll send forth labors.
Any man sent of man, it'd be better if he didn't go. But if
a man is sent of God, then he'll go. And he will be enabled by
God to bring in whatever harvest God has ordained at his hand.
And I do. I pray the Lord will send forth
laborers. And I'm glad whenever I hear that He has. You know,
I'm glad to hear of missionaries that go. I'm glad whenever I
see God raise up men to preach the gospel here. I'm glad when
I made contact with Brother Sergei Makalov that God has sent somebody
to that awful dark place to preach the gospel of His light. So let
us always keep in mind, as we pray, that the Lord would send
forth laborers to harvest and to bring in, as the other psalm
said, bring in the sheaves. Now I make all things new, says
the Lord. Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes,
which is for the most part a rather depressing book. And there's
a reason that it's a depressing book, and that is that most of
the time, he's speaking as a man who is looking at things only
as the eye of flesh can see them. And we get the impression he
was a rather old man, at least old enough to understand or have
felt within himself the process of age and how the things of
this life could no longer give him fulfillment. He saw that it would not be that
long before his life would go the way of everybody else's life,
and that is to death. He'd spent many years seeing
the cycle of the years, and he'd seen the rain fall to the earth
and go to the rivers and streams and then on into the ocean and
then back up in the sky and down again. An endless cycle of old
things. And in this depressing book of
his, now it's not altogether depressing when you understand
it, It's a joyful book, but working your way through it can be depressing.
And early in this depressing book, in verse 9, he says, there
is nothing new under the sun. So far as the natural eye can
see of this world, there is nothing new. It's just the same old thing
going on and on and on. We turn on the television about
five or six o'clock, and we get the evening news. They ought
to call it the evening old's, because that's all it is. It's
the same old thing happening again. Henry David Thoreau, back in
the 1800s, he said he quit getting the newspaper. He said, because
there isn't anything new in it. It's just a report of the same
old things happening to different people. We think that what's
going on is new. We might think of Iraq as a new
war. It's not a new war. It's the
same old war that's been going on all along. It's just happening
in a different place. There's nothing new in religion.
Churches try to come up with something new to appeal to the
hungry hearts and the itching ears of men. Always got to come
up with something new. But what they come up with isn't
new. It's just the old with a different
layer of makeup on it. That's all. Solomon looked over his life
and he said, you know, there's just nothing new. Everything
that's happening happened before. And what's happening now is just
going to happen again. Part of the bitterness of old
age is the fact that there's nothing new. I remember that
song. I think it was back in the early 80s. A very old gentleman
sang it. It was, I wish I was 18 again.
And the next line is, going where I've never been. And you know,
there is an excitement to young people because there is something
new in the world of them because they haven't seen everything
yet. They haven't yet learned by their experience that really,
it's just the same old things. Youth deceives us into thinking
that there is in this world something satisfying, something fulfilling. One of the follies of human investigation
is people try to study and search out things if they're taken up
with every new thing that is set forth. When Paul was in Athens,
it says he went to the Areopagus, otherwise known as Mars Hill,
And it was a place, it said, where people gathered either
to say or hear some new thing. And you know, that's not new,
is it? And they're still doing the same thing. People are always
after some new thing, but in this world, there's nothing new. But the Lord says here that he's
making everything new. I like the sound of new, don't
you? For most of my life, up until about three and a half
years ago, I only had used cars. It was fun to get a new one.
One that nobody else had driven. New. We just like that. New. The Lord is making everything
new. He's caused the old things, he
says, to pass away. Look at verse four now in Revelation
21. Right there at the end, he says,
For the old order of things has passed away. Now, I want you
to know something about what our Lord says here in the book
of Revelation. And, you know, and if this point I'm about to
make isn't true, we might as well shut this book. The things
written in the book of Revelation have already happened. How do I know? Verse 6, He said
to me, it is done. Now this is a little different
than when He said it is done or it is finished on the cross.
That word means it's perfected, it's been brought to completion.
Here, this word that says done is the word that normally means
to bring into being. He's saying I've brought it into
being, I've brought it to pass. It's here. It's the same word used when
it says in the beginning, God created. the heavens and the
earth. That is, it's the Greek equivalent
of that word. And so the Lord is saying, I
make all things new and it is done. It has been brought into
being. The new is already here. All the glorious things written
of in the book of Revelation are not something we wait for.
It's something that's here. The book of Revelation was not
written in order to tell us about Things which are going to happen
in the distant future. Rather, it was written to give
us eyes to see the things that are going on right now behind
the scenes. And here's one of the things
going on. Jesus Christ is making everything new. He's caused the
old order of things to pass away. In the accomplished gospel of
Jesus Christ, the old is gone. The new has come. He's brought
in all new things. Things that are not natural to
human thought. Things that human thought and
understanding could never conceive of, could never perceive. Things
that are not corrupt, and get this, not corruptible. You know,
when God made the heavens and the earth to begin with, He made
something without corruption, yet it was corruptible. And the
proof of it is what we see around us. The proof of it is that Adam
and Eve corrupted the creation which God made. But in this new
creation, this making of all things new, it's incorruptible. It cannot be ruined. I told you I like getting that
new vehicle, but you know something, it's not new anymore. The moment
I got it and turned on the key and backed out of the garage
where they given it to the checkup, you know, it started getting
old. And while it's in pretty good
shape yet, it's not a new truck. It's used. But here's something
that's ever new. I'm making all things new and
they'll never get old. The dew of youth is on his brow,
says the scripture, and the dew of youth is on everything he
does and everything he creates. They're not worn out. They're
not obsolete. They're not fading away. I make
all things new. Look over here in Hebrews chapter
10. We're going to look at some things that the Scriptures talk
about that are new. Hebrews chapter 10. If you've
got a concordance, or on your computer you've got a program
that will search words in the Scriptures for you, Take some
time to look up this word, new, and see how often it appears,
and rejoice in what it says about the new. In Hebrews chapter 10,
in verse 19, Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter
the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living
way opened for us through the curtain that is his body, And
since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us
draw near to God with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience
and having our bodies washed with pure water. There is a new
and living way. Now, what does that tell us?
If it says there's a new and living way and introduces this
as something new, that must mean there's an old and dying way.
And there was an old way. It was the way of the law. It
wasn't a bad way. That is, it wasn't an evil way.
But it's the old way. And it's the way of works. It's the way of do this and live. And you know, all of us are by
nature born on that way and all of us by choice. stay on that
way until God reveals to us in our hearts this new and living
way and puts us on that way. A new way. The old way was a
way of death. The old way is one and the same
with the broad road that leads to destruction. And nearly everybody
is walking on it. Our Lord says there is a way
that seems right to a man, but the end of it is death. He says
there is the broad road that leads to destruction. Our Lord
didn't say that the broad road was a bad road. He didn't say
it was an evil road. He just said it's a road that
leads to destruction. The Pharisees walked that road.
The scribes walked that road. The Sadducees tried to walk that
road. Everybody's trying to walk that road because they're trying
to please God by their own efforts. That's a big, wide road because
there's a lot of people on it. You know, you go through Sioux
Falls or around Sioux Falls on the interstate and there's two
lanes going both ways. And except when there's construction,
there's plenty of room. I mean, you know, you just fly
right through on Interstate 29. When we were just trying to go
through Nashville here last week, along about five o'clock, the
worst time of all to try to go through Nashville. And you've
got three interstates, which make a big knot right there,
and you've got thousands, maybe millions of people trying to
get home from work. And they've got anywhere from
three to six lanes in both directions absolutely packed. It's a broad
road because there's a lot of people on it. And the broad road, it seems
like it's always under construction. Somebody's always adding new
lanes. Baptist lanes, Methodist lanes, Reformed lanes. Law lanes,
morality lanes, ceremony lanes. They just keep adding them up
because there's more and more people to put on them. He says there's a narrow way
that leads to life. And that's the new way. The new
way. There's few that find it. It's wide enough for everyone
ordained to get on it. It's a way that leads to life.
A new way into the presence of God has been made. It's a living
way with a living hope. Peter says that God has begotten
us again, given us a new birth unto a living hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Here's a way that ends in life.
Here's a way that the living walk on. When you look at the
broad road that leads to destruction, what you are looking at is this
horde of spiritual zombies. Walking dead men. on the broad
road that leads to everlasting destruction. But on this way,
it's a way of life. The living walk on it. Those
who have been made alive by the grace of God through the Word
of God, they walk on this new and living way. It's the way
of the blood of Christ. Notice what it says here. Back
in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19, Therefore, brothers, since
we have confidence to enter the most holy place, and that's the
presence of God. He's talking about the real holy
place. We've got confidence to enter there by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way. This new and living way is nothing
less than the blood of Jesus Christ. It's a way made by that
blood. It's not the way of faith. You
say, what do you mean by that? Faith will cause us to take this
way, but faith is not the way itself. Why do I make that point? Simply this. There are some who
think that faith is the replacement for righteousness. And they think
that by believing God, they earn themselves a place in the presence
of God. No, that's not what it is at
all. Faith is a gift from God. that propels us or compels us,
maybe that's the right word, compels us to go by this new
and living way which is made by the blood of Jesus Christ. Faith makes us go before God
with the blood of Christ. Sorry, not with the blood of
Christ. We go by the blood of Christ. So what's the distinction?
Well, really, we don't go in and offer the blood of Christ.
It's been offered already. The blood made the way. We take
the way that the blood made. It says that Jesus Christ is
the forerunner, having gone behind the veil for us. And we're just
following Him in. He left the door open, so to
speak. By the shedding of His blood, He opened the door. And
having thoroughly put away our sins by His blood, the door cannot
be shut again. In the book of Revelation, another
place, he says, Behold, I've set before you an open door and
no man can shut it. A new and living way through
the veil, which is his flesh. This happened when he died, and
you know, the scriptures give us testimony of that. Look back
here at Matthew chapter 27. Verse 51. Let's back up some. Verse 46. Our Lord has been crucified
and it says in about the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud
voice, Eloi, Eloi, Suboxone, which means my God, my God, why
have you forsaken me? When some of those standing there
heard this, they said he's calling Elijah. Immediately, one of them
ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar,
put it on a stick and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest
said, now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to
save him. And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice,
In other scriptures, it must have been when he said, Father,
into your hands I commend my spirit. When he cried out again
in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment, the curtain
of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks
split. Oh, something momentous happened.
when Jesus Christ died. And God gave to us a testimony
of what happened. You know, that temple had the
holy place and the most holy place. And the two of those places
were divided by a heavy curtain. And that curtain represented
the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when that body was torn for
us, God tore that curtain in two. And it shows us the blindness
of our hearts and the blindness of this human heart in general,
that our Lord dies. And the curtain is torn in two,
and nobody knew what it meant. It's as though the Lord Himself
spoke from inside that temple and said, the way to God has
been made plain. A new and living way has been
made for all these generations. No one could come in here but
the high priest, and that only once a year. Nobody could come
to God. But now a new and living way
has been opened up. For the first time in all history,
any Jew that was standing around the temple could look all the
way back to that most holy place. The Bible doesn't say it, but
I'll bet you I know what they did. I'll bet you just as quick
as they could, the priests sewed it up again. All religious people want to
block the way to God. The Lord said to those Pharisees,
He says, you won't go in and you're shutting up the kingdom
of God to anybody else. Why? The priesthood has no power
unless there's a curtain, unless there's a veil through which
only they can pass. But our high priest has gone
into the very presence of God. Through the rending of his body,
through the tearing of his body, the way to God's been made, a
new and living way. And anybody with a mind to take
that way may go. So there's a new and living way,
and anyone's allowed to walk it if they want to, but here's
the problem. Man loves the old way. Men say
they don't love law, but actually they're just head over heels
in love with it. Men love commandments. And they'll multiply and give
them the chance. No, if you're going to have a new way, then
you're going to have to have a new man to walk that way. Look over here at 2 Corinthians
chapter 5, verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has
come. Does that sound familiar? The
old order of things has passed away. Behold, I am making all
things new. You see, the old man can't walk
the new way. The old man has no power to understand
it. Look here back at Isaiah 35. It's not as though the old man's
not allowed to. There's no sign that says you
can't walk here. It's the old man can't see it.
The old man can't love it. The old man can't want to walk
on it. That's his problem. It says in Isaiah chapter 35
verse 8, and a highway will be there. It will be called the
way of holiness. The unclean will not journey
on it. It will be for those who walk
in that way. Wicked fools will not go about
on it. No lion will be there, nor will
any ferocious beast get up on it. They will not be found there,
but only the redeemed will walk there. and the ransomed of the
Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing,
everlasting joy will crown their heads, gladness and joy will
overtake them, and sorrow and sigh will flee away. Who walks
on this? The redeemed, the ransomed. Those
whom the Lord has paid for by His blood And redemption involves
more than simply paying the price. It means actually taking possession
of the thing redeemed. Who are those that walk there?
Those whose redemption price has been paid and those who have
been possessed by God. They are a new creation. The
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a reformation of the old
man. Oh, don't we know that? Because we're still dragging
that old man around, and he isn't any different than when we got
started. He was corrupt to begin with, and he just keeps getting
more corrupt. He didn't like God to begin with, and he still
doesn't like God. The more he hears about God,
the more he doesn't like about God. That's just the way he is.
Any of you who truly believe the gospel, any of you who have
confessed Christ, you will probably also confess this, everything
I ever was, I still am, and worse. The old man is still there. The
flesh is still there so far as our experience is concerned.
But also, if you have been begotten again by the Spirit of God or
born again by the Spirit of God, there's a new man. There's another
man. That's why it's called the new
birth. The Holy Spirit doesn't come
in and clean things up. That's what the devil does. The
devil cleans people up. You say, what do you mean? Well,
read about it. There's no sure way for Satan
to secure a man on the broad road that leads to destruction
than to get him to turn his life around, to get him to clean up. I'm not opposed to people turning
their lives around, so to speak, and cleaning up, not preaching
against that. We could all use some of it. I'm just saying that's
not a spiritual thing. The Spirit of God comes in and
He doesn't clean up. He doesn't shape up. He doesn't
reform. He makes something brand new,
something that was not there before. When a child is born
into this world, we don't consider that a reincarnation of an old
guy. We don't consider that somehow or another they were able to
take an old person and restore youth to him and make him a baby
again. And here he is. We think that's a brand new person
that wasn't here before. And when a man is born again
by the grace of God, it's a brand new person that wasn't there
before. And this brand new person has different ideas than the
old person does. He sees things the old person
can't see. He wants things the old person
doesn't want. That's why Paul said, O wretched
man that I am. He didn't say that simply because
he had evil and sinful desires. He said that because he had both.
As one person made of old man and new man, he felt the constant
struggle within himself to be pulling in both directions. He
said, oh, what a mess. But this new man, he's created
by God. It says he's created to be like
God. in true righteousness and true
holiness. The new man steadily walks on
this new way. He may have some difficulty walking
in that way because he's got to drag the old man with him
and the old man doesn't like it. The old man constantly tries
to pull towards a broad road that leads to destruction. And
let me tell you, believers, right now, that ain't going to stop.
until you die. So long as you have consciousness,
that old man is going to say, this is the road that leads to
life. This is the way that seems right to me. Don't believe him.
He's been a liar from the beginning, just like his father the devil.
Don't believe him. Always and at all times, according
to the gospel that's been preached to you, steadily walk in this
new way made by the blood of Christ. This new man steadily
walks that way because he's got a new heart. Look back here at
Ezekiel chapter 36. Our Lord said, I make all things
new, and He does. He makes a new way, and then
he makes a new man to walk on it. He doesn't call the old man
to walk on the new way. If the old man tried to walk on
the new way, he'd stumble all over the place. And he'd get
off of it as quickly as he could, because the new way is not his
way. But here, the new man, he walks
on the new way, Because he's got a new heart. Verse 26 of
Ezekiel 36. I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart
of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit
in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to
keep my laws. What's he saying here? He creates
a new man. with a new heart and gives him
a new companion, the Spirit of God Himself. Now, this new man
is no match for the old man in and of himself. Our Lord may
create us a new man and put within us a new heart, but we still
need this new companion. As our Lord calls him in the
New Testament, He says, I will send the counselor. And that
word is from a Greek word, parakaleo, someone called alongside. Oh, what a blessing He is. And who called Him alongside?
Who called this blessed Spirit to walk with our spirits? Did
we call Him? No. Because if He only walked
with us when we called Him, He wouldn't be walking with us very
much, would He? But He walks with us because God called Him
to that. The Lord Jesus Christ said, or
God said, I will send My Spirit. And the Lord Jesus said, I will
pray the Father, and He will send you this other one alongside. He goes with us when we do the
right things, and He goes with us when we do the wrong things.
He goes with us when we rejoice in the Lord, and He goes with
us when in our stubbornness and foolishness We rejoice in the
world. He is with us at all times. He
protects us. When our old man seems to have
the ascendancy, the Spirit of God is still there. And He protects
that new heart, put in that new man. And in the end, in the end,
it will be the new man that wins. It will be. Because He has one
who fights for Him, who cannot be defeated. Our Lord says, I'm making all
things new. This new man, he's got a new name. Look over here
in Revelation chapter 2. A new person comes in this world,
they come up with a new name for him. And when this new man is created
in Christ Jesus, he's given a new name. Revelation
chapter 2. Verse 17. He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will
give some of the hidden manna. What is it to overcome? It's
to believe. I don't have time to prove that, but that's what
he's talking about. To believe and not be drawn away from Christ.
To him who overcomes, I'll give some of the hidden manna. I will
also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known
only to him. who receives it. What is this
new name? Brethren, says John, now are
we the sons of God. John also wrote in his gospel,
he came unto his own, and his own wouldn't receive him. But
to everyone who received him, to them he gave the right to
be called. the sons of God, to have this
name, Child of God. Do you want a different name
than that? I feel sorry for those little Jewish boys and young
Jewish boys. They turn, I think it's 13, 12
or 13, I can't remember, and they have their Bar Mitzvah.
Do you know what Bar Mitzvah means? Son of the commandment. Is that what you want to be?
You want to be a son of the commandment? Oh, what a terrible thing to
have to be. to be a child of the law, because children of
the law are slaves, but children of God are freeborn. If this
new name is given to him and nobody else knows it but him,
that doesn't mean you were given a new name and other believers
are given different names. All believers are given the same
new name, and only believers know that name. That is, only
they can know it by experience, to know what it is to be a child
of God. God has sent the Spirit of His
Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. What is it to know
this name? My name is Joseph Terrell. Now, you know what my name is,
but you don't know my name because you can't go to Ray Terrell and
say, Dad. I can't. He's my father. I know what it is to be his son. I know what it is to bear the
name. the son of Raymond Terrell. And
I know what it is to be a son of God. I know what that name
is. Because His Spirit within me cries out, Father, Abba, Daddy. This is the witness of the Spirit
within us that teaches us this wondrous name. This new man with
a new heart lives by new mercies. In Lamentations chapter 3, great
is thy faithfulness, he says, and every morning there's new
mercies. Why do we live on new mercies?
Because old mercies won't work. God gives each day the mercies
and grace required for that day. And blessed be His name every
morning. There's new mercies. There's
new mercies to cover our new sins. There's new mercies to
uphold us in our new trials. There's new mercies for our new
day. Every day. And this new man has a new song. Look over here, Psalm 40. David writes, I waited patiently
for the Lord. He turned to me. That's Psalm
40. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the
slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, and set my feet on a rock.
He gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God. What's this new song? Well, it's
a song that only the new man can really sing. It's a hymn
of praise to God. Men may sing hymns that praise
God. Religious people may pick up
their hymn book and find a hymn that some true believer wrote
that actually praises God, and they may mouth the words, but
they don't have a new song in their heart. It's on their lips,
but it's not on their heart. They can't truly praise God because
they actually believe that they're worthy of the praise. But look
here in Revelation 5. Here's this new song. Here in Revelation chapter 5,
John speaks of the church of the Lord Jesus in symbolic terms. He speaks of them being before
the throne of God. In verse 9 it says, And they
sang a new song. And here's that new song. As
to the Lord Jesus, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open
its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased
men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God. And they will reign on the earth.
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands
upon thousands, ten thousands times ten thousands, They encircled
the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice
they sang, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power
and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. And I heard every creature in
heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and
all that's in them singing to Him who sits on the throne and
to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power forever and
ever. Is that song in your heart? Is that the underlying theme
of your thoughts? Oh, what a joy to hear and be
able to sing that song in your heart. And how bitter to have to try to sing the song,
Worthy Am I, when I know better. When we were driving Tuesday, almost two weeks ago,
we left the Kansas City area and were heading towards Bonnie's
mom's house, and I was listening to a message by Brother Bruce
Crabtree. All of my heart rejoiced. He, in his preaching, sang that
new song. He spoke of the glories of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And you know when Elizabeth,
the mother of John the Baptist, when Mary came to visit her,
it said, John leapt within her womb. And Elizabeth said, Who
am I that the mother of my Lord should visit me? And my heart
leapt within me to hear of Him. Oh, how happy I was to be able
to hear that song and from my heart to sing it. Worthy art
thou. For thou hast redeemed us by
thy blood. That's the new song. The world
doesn't know the song of redemption. The world's religion doesn't
know the song of redemption. It knows the song of responsibility.
It knows the song of works. It knows the song of slavery.
But it doesn't know the new song of free-born sons who gather around the throne
of Christ and sing praises to His name. He says, I make all
things new. A new way, a new man with a new
heart and a new name and a new song, living on new mercies,
coming to God by a new covenant. Not that old covenant that Hebrews
says is passing away. In the days of the book of Hebrews,
it was passing away. Now it's gone. Oh, that old covenant,
those Jews slaved so hard under that. There were some who understood.
They understood that those that the temple was just a picture
and a symbol, and they understood the Ten Commandments weren't
really given to them as any kind of way to life that they could
actually achieve. Abraham saw Christ's day. Moses
believed the Lord. They came by faith. More by faith,
they came by the blood of Christ. But the time came when that old
structure of the law had to be brought down. It was but a superstructure,
a type and a picture, of the new things to come. And now that
the new things have come, the old had to go by the wayside. Isn't it foolish of us to keep
trying to rebuild the old? And that's what we do by nature.
We keep trying to go back to the old law. The old man, he
loves it and he wants to go back. But no, we're not going to do
that. We've got a new covenant. I don't have time to speak of
all of it, but we read of it in the last words that God says,
as He prophesies concerning this new covenant, which you and I
now enjoy, these words, their sins and iniquities, I will remember
no more. Oh, I can remember them, can't
you? I remember them all, it seems. Even as I preach, these
things come to my mind, all my sins. And they would overwhelm
me. They would shut my mouth. Were it not that I read that
even though I remember them, the Lord God does not. He put them away by the blood
of His Son. Oh, He knows they happened. God
knows everything. That word, remember me, one of
them is, I won't bring it up again. Oh, my conscience brings
it up all the time. But not God. He never brings it up again.
And especially on that day, when all shall be judged out of the
books, and everyone is going to be judged by what he has done,
God is not going to bring up what I've done. Because He has
transferred the things I have done to the record of His Son.
and has transferred the things that his son has done to my record. And when they open the books
and judge me, there's going to be nothing in the books that's
bad. It'll be full of good stuff.
You say, I know you better than that preacher. So do I. But what
you know and what I know isn't what makes any difference. It's
what the record says. And the record says righteous.
The record says He did always those things which pleased the
Father. The record says in Him is no sin. The record says He
did no sin. Because it's the record of Jesus
Christ under my name. A new covenant. A new way of
service. A new commandment. The Lord says
a new commandment I give to you that you love one another. Don't
you like that better than the old covenant that always had
us judging one another? We were under the burden of having
to try to keep the covenant or keep the commandments and all
that, and that burdened us down. And if there's a commandment
we could keep, we'd sure enough find fault with someone who couldn't
keep that one. Of course, when we would fall
to a covenant, I mean, excuse me, to a particular commandment,
you know, well, we could tolerate others that fell to the same
one. But always judging. As Paul says,
biting and devouring one another, hating and being hated, that's
a miserable way to live. Oh, to live in love. To love
one another as God has loved us, as Christ has loved us. And then we have a new home.
Four times in the scriptures it says new heavens and new earth. Peter says we wait for new heavens. and new earth wherein dwells
righteousness." I can't say for sure, but here's
what I believe he's talking about. I think there's a two-fold application
there. First of all, there's a prophecy of the new heavens
and new earth in Isaiah. I think he's talking there about
the gospel age. And Peter in his day was saying, we're waiting for all the old. to be gone.
Because he knew by the Spirit of God and the Spirit of prophecy
that God was going to come and destroy the old way of the Jewish
law. And he did in A.D. 70, and it's
gone. And that old heaven and earth, you see, the temple was
a picture of heaven, and that old heaven was torn down. And
the Jewish nation was the earth, so to speak, and it's gone. And
new heavens and new earth, a real heaven, real earth, a real gospel.
A new and living way has been put in its place. And you and
I live there. And yet, there will come a time
when a new heavens and new earth will be created in the same sense
that this old heavens and earth was once created many thousands
of years ago. And this old heaven and earth
will pass away, and the elements will burn with a fervent heat.
And everything that has to do with this universe, will be gone and a new one will be made. And
there will be nothing in it, nothing contrary to God, nothing
in opposition to His way. Everyone in it will walk His
way. And that's what awaits every
believer. Now, we read there in the book of Revelation And
I'll just say this quickly, the list of people who won't be there, it says, but the cowardly, the unbelieving,
the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice
magic arts, the idolaters and all liars, their place will be
in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. You say, preacher, I'm in there.
I'm in that group. One or more of those characteristics
certainly applies to me. Do you mean that I have no hope
of being part of that new heaven and new earth? No, that's not
what it's saying at all. You who are in Christ, you are
not any of those things. Oh, in your flesh you may have
done them. Do you know something? That old man, he is going to
die. He is. This old flesh is going to die.
It will go to corruption. It will go to a death that lasts
forever. But just as in your heart you've
been made new, a new flesh will be made. And none of these things
shall be a part of it. That new man, None of this stuff's
in him. That old man, he's going to die
in good riddance. And we're going to be given bodies.
Not only hearts, as we already have hearts like the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're going to have bodies like His, in which there is no
desire for any of this. And won't that be good? Won't
it be good? to love without hate? Won't it be good to worship God
without hindrance? Won't it be good to be righteous
from top to bottom, from inside to outside? Our Lord said, I'm
making all things new. The old order, it's gone. It
no longer counts for anything. And Paul says, I press on. I'm pressing on to lay hold of
that for which I was laid hold of. The work's begun. God's making
you new. Stretch out. Reach out. And in due time, you will lay
hold of it. And you will be new through and
through.