I am so thankful for the Word
of God. God has given us a book, the
Bible, where He reveals Himself, and I am so grateful for that. Turn to Hebrews chapter 8. As
I've already announced, I've entitled this message, God's
Laws written on the heart. If the Lord God saves me or you,
he's going to do something on the inside of us. He's going
to write something on our heart. And if the Lord is pleased to
bless this message, you and I can leave this place knowing whether
or not He has written on our hearts. I want to know that,
don't you? God's laws written on the heart. Now, if somebody asked me, what
is the New Testament? And what is the Old Testament?
And what is the difference between the two? I believe the eighth
chapter of Hebrews is what would come to my mind to answer that
question. This is a very important As a
matter of fact, we're going to spend four or five weeks in this
chapter. Paul says, or the writer to the
Hebrews says in verse one, Now of the things which we have spoken,
this is the sum. This is the main point. We have such an high priest who
is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the
heavens." Now, this high priest is infinitely superior to the
high priest of the Old Testament. The place of his ministry is
in heaven, sat down at the right hand of the Father, sitting because
his work is finished. The Old Testament's priests had
no chairs because their work was never finished. But this
man, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on heaven." Verse 2, he's a minister of the
sanctuary, the holy place, and of the true tabernacle, not that
material tabernacle that Moses was given instructions concerning
making in Exodus 25 to 31, but the true tabernacle which the
Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained
to offer gifts and sacrifices, wherefore it is a necessity that
this man have somewhat also to offer, and what an offering this
man has. These Old Testament priests,
they could offer the blood of bulls and goats, but what could
that do? It was a top. It was a shadow. There was no
saving substance to that. But this man offers his own blood. And this means something. It
means he's put away the sins of the people he died for. And
he offers his own blood. He offers his own righteousness.
This is a superior priest. Verse four. Now, if he, the superior
priest, were on earth, he should not be a priest. seeing that
they're priests that offer gifts according to the law, he couldn't
have been a priest under the Old Testament economy because
he was not a Levite. He came out of Judah. Verse 5,
who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. Now,
these things are shadows. There's no substance to a shadow.
He serves unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as
Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle.
For see, saith he, that thou make all things according to
the pattern showed to thee in the night. But now hath he, this
superior priest, this Melchizedek, the Lord Jesus Christ, now hath
he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he
is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises." Now, this is why this is a more excellent ministry.
You take the Old Testament priests. They offered a sacrifice. And
this demonstrated to us the need of a sacrifice. But their sacrifice
could not put away sin. But when he offered up his sacrifice,
it's because his sacrifice actually puts away sin. Now, that is a superior ministry. The Old Testament gives us the
law. shows us our need of a righteousness,
but it gives us no power to perform that righteousness. But this
man, this priest, actually makes us righteous before that holy
law. So I stand before God's holy
law as righteous by virtue of what this man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, has done for me. The Old Testament priests showed
us our need of a priest. I have to have somebody representing
before God. I can't come on my own. But these
Old Testament priests were just as bad as I am. They couldn't
do me any good. They were nothing more than a
shadow. But this man is one who can actually represent me before
God. And the Father hears him. Verse 7. For if that first covenant
had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for
the second. And what was the fault? It could
not save. It could not say that's a big
fault in it. Verse 8. For finding fault with
him, this is God, the father, finding fault with him, the Old
Testament covenant. He says, Behold, the days come,
sayeth the Lord, when I 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." Now
before we go on reading, if all God does is take you by the hand,
and that's a good thing. He took them by the hand and
led them out of Egypt. But if all God does is take you
by the hand, that heart you've got is going to remain the same.
You see, you need something done for you more than God taking
you by the hand. If all He does is take you by
the hand, there will be no saving benefit in that. I must have
a new heart. I think of what David said when
he said, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right
spirit within me. I must have a new heart. I want a new heart. Let's go
on reading. 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 covenants, and I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. You see, under this whole covenant,
it was up to me to continue in it. And if anything's up to me,
it's doomed for failure. Now he speaks of the New Testament
in verse 10. But this is the covenant that
I'll make with the House of Israel after those days, saith the Lord.
Now, he gives four blessings of this new covenant or this
New Testament, and I want us to consider them one at a time,
a sermon at a time. I'm going to bring a sermon on
each one of these. But here's the first blessing of the New
Testament. He says, I will put my laws into their mind and write
them in their hearts. Now, don't you want the Lord
to do that to you? to put his laws in your mind and write them
in your heart, written by the Spirit of the living God. I want
God to do some writing on my heart. I desperately want that. Now, here's the second blessing. I'll be to them a God. And they
shall be to me a people. You know what that means? If
God's your God, that means God's for you. If you're his people,
that means you're for him. Now, that's simple enough, but
that's so glorious. Having God for me. If God be
for us, who can be against us? And me being for Him, me being
on the Lord's side. Here's the third blessing. Verse
11, And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For all shall know
me from the least to the greatest. Now, here's the third blessing
of the New Testament. I'm actually going to know the
living God. I don't mean know about Him,
I mean know Him. This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, the only true and living God in Jesus Christ,
whom Thou hast sent. Now, this is something the Old
Testament could never do. It could never make me actually
know God. It could enable me to know things
about Him, but to actually know Him to where I know Him and He
knows me. Only the New Testament, only the Gospel does that. And
then it says in verse 12, For I will be merciful, and that
word is propitious. I will be propitious. I will
be appeased concerning their unrighteousness through the blood
of my Son, is what that's talking about. I will be propitious to
their unrighteousness. He doesn't say, I will be if.
He says, I will be merciful. I will be propitious to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. Now there's the fourth blessing
of the New Testament. God being propitious to you to
where he can't remember your sins, and like I said many times
before, the only reason God can't remember them is because there's
nothing there for him to remember. You are perfect in God's sight. And so he says in verse 13, in
that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first bold,
talking about all the Old Testament, the sacrifices and so on. Look
what's said next. Now, that which decayeth and
waxeth old is ready to vanish away. Now, the Old Testament
did something externally. God took them by the hand and
led them out, but that's not enough because it's up to us
to continue. Anything that is dependent upon
me is not going to work. But the New Testament does something
on the inside. He said, I will put my laws into
their mind and write them in their hearts. He put something
there that was not there before. Now, this is so important. He put something there that was
not there before. His laws. He writes upon the
heart what was not written upon the heart. Now, here's the first
question we need to deal with. What is meant by this term, laws? I'll put my laws in their mind
and write them in their hearts. What does he mean by laws? Does he mean the Ten Commandments?
That's the way most people interpret this. Well, he'll write the Ten
Commandments in your heart. No, because that's already written
in your heart. Turn with me to Romans chapter
2. Romans chapter 2. You know, I've
had people say to me with regard to preaching, you need to teach
people how to live. You need to teach people what
to do in certain situations. You already know how to live.
You really do. You already know that it's wrong
to lie. You know it's wrong to murder
people. You know sexual sin is wrong. You know that. I don't
have to convince you of that. You know you shouldn't covet. You
know you ought to obey your parents. That you ought to honor authority.
You know these things. I mean, we're born into this
world with that knowledge. Everybody is born into this world
with that knowledge. I don't care what country. I
don't care what religion. Everybody is born into this world
knowing the difference between right and wrong, knowing God
is, and that he will reward the righteous and punish the wicked.
Everybody knows these things. Now look here in Romans chapter
2, verse 14. For when the Gentiles, which
had not the law, they were never given a Bible. They had no copy
of the Bible like you and I do. They were heathen. They had no
revelation from God. For when the Gentiles, which
had not the law, do by nature, The things contained in the law,
these having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which
show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness." You see, we have a thing called the conscience,
and it tells us it's wrong to kill. It tells us it's wrong
to steal. It's wrong to covet in these
things. Every one of us have a conscience
that knows this. And look what this does. And
their thoughts, the meanwhile, accusing or else excusing one
another. Now, this is how we deal with
this. We either have an accusing conscience or we try to make
up an excuse for it. But everybody has the law already
written on their hearts. So when he talks about, I'll
put my laws in their minds and write them in their hearts, this
is not a reference to the Ten Commandments. Now I'd like you to turn with
me to Romans chapter 8 for a moment. Let me show you how this word
law is used in the Scriptures. Romans chapter 8, verse 2. Let's go ahead and read verse
1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh. but after the Spirit. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death. Now, here the word law is used
in two different senses. He speaks of the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus and the law of sin and death. Now, you've heard of the laws
of nature. or the laws of physics, like the law of gravity. Things
are drawn to the center of the earth. What goes up must come
down. That is a physical law. A law
of nature is a force that impels action. Now, the laws he's speaking
of are the laws of the new nature. There's something in you, if
God's written in your hearts, that makes you, causes you to
act and believe a certain way. It becomes natural to you. This
is what he's talking about when he talks about these laws written
in the minds, written in the hearts. These are the laws of
the new nature. They're physical laws. These
are spiritual laws, the laws of the new nature. Now, in the
New Testament, God does something on the inside. He said a new
heart, one that was not there before. A new heart also will
I give you. The new birth is not the old
nature being changed. The new birth is not the old
nature being influenced for good. It is a new creation. It is a
new heart. It is a holy nature. That's what the new birth is.
It's what God does on the inside. You see, a believer has two separate,
distinct natures. Now, somebody says, well, how
can that be? Well, Christ has two separate, distinct natures,
yet he's only one person. He's got human nature, And he's
got the nature of God. He's the God-man. He has two
separate, distinct natures. And every believer has two separate,
distinct natures. A fallen human nature and the
new nature, a holy nature. Now, someone is going to ask
the question, and I understand somebody asking this question.
If I have a holy nature, how come I'm so sinful? Why can't
I see it? Because I see the new nature
in me. I love God. I love the Lord Jesus Christ.
I didn't used to. I see the effect of the new nature. I believe the gospel. There was
a time when I didn't, but I do now. So I see the effect. I see the power of that new nature.
I'm doing something I did not do before because of that new
nature. But yet, when I look at everything that I do, everything,
and I mean everything, I see sin. In my preaching, I see sin. In my praying, I see sin. In my love, I see sin. In everything I do, I see sin. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. It's right there. Now, how is
it that I have a holy nature if everything I do is sin? And
as far as that goes, when the scripture says, if we say we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If
we say we've not sinned and there's talking about an action regarding
anything I do, I've sinned in it. Now, how do you get that
and a holy nature together? Where does that work? Now, here
is an illustration that I hope will be helpful. If you take
red paint, a gallon of red paint, and a gallon of yellow paint
and pour it into a funnel, all you will see is orange paint. Isn't that true? You take red
paint, yellow paint, Pour it in a funnel into one container,
and all you will see is orange paint. Now, the red paint did
not change its nature or its composition. It's still what
it was. Nor did the yellow paint change
its nature or composition, but all you can see is orange. These
two natures are funneled into one man, so I am unable to see
anything. but orange. Because of the two
natures, I'm always going to see sin. It's always there. But I know it's there because
the Bible tells me so. There's enough of a reason. The
reason I know I have a holy nature is because the Word of God says,
he that is born of God doth not commit sin. He can't sin, for
his seed remaineth in him. First reason I know I have a
holy nature is because the Bible tells me I do. Partakers of the
divine nature. And the second reason I know
I have a holy nature is I see its effects. Like I said, I do
love the Lord Jesus Christ. I adore Him. I love being saved
by His grace. There was a time when I didn't
feel that way. There was a time when I didn't experience that.
I do now. It's because of the new nature. Now, we read of six laws in the
New Testament. These are all part of what Paul
calls the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. And every believer is governed
by these laws and are caused to walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. Now, I'm not giving them an order
of importance because there's not an order of importance. They're
all equally important, but here they are. First, there's the
law of righteousness. We're going to look at these
one at a time, briefly. There's the law of righteousness, there's
the law of sin, there's the law of faith, there is the law of
liberty, there's the law of love, and there's the law of Christ. And every believer has these
laws working in them. Just like there's laws of nature,
these are the laws of the new nature. Now, first, there's the
law of righteousness. Would you turn with me to Romans
chapter 9? What shall we say, then, that
the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have
attained to righteousness? Even the righteousness which
is the faith. But Israel, which followed after
the law of righteousness, had not attained to the law They
didn't get it. How come? Because they sought
it not by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law, for
they stumbled at that stumbling stone. Now, we read of some who
attained to righteousness and others who don't. Now, what does
the Bible mean by righteousness? Now, here's the best definition
I know of. I mean, there's several good
definitions of righteousness, but there's none better than
this. Righteousness, according to the Scripture, is a perfect
standing before God's holy law. I stand before that law, not
guilty. Now, there is something in the
nature of a believer that will not let them be satisfied with
anything except perfect righteousness. My conscience won't allow me
to be satisfied with anything but a perfect righteousness before
that holy law of God. Now, how in the world can I attain
to something like that? This is the nature of a believer.
It's believing the gospel. It's having some understanding,
some hearing, some belief. You grasp this, that on the cross,
Christ was actually made to be sin. God's wrath came down upon
him as a sin-bearing substitute. He was made to be what I am. He was made to be sin. And just
as truly as he was made to be sin, everybody he died for is
made to be the very righteousness of God. Perfect righteousness. That's the law of righteousness,
and I can't be satisfied with anything but that. My conscience
won't let me. You take that away in any respect,
and I've got no peace. The only thing that can satisfy
me, and the only thing that can satisfy any believer, is this
thing of the law of righteousness. They've got a law in them that
will not let them be satisfied with anything short of that.
Now, the second thing is the law of sin. That's in Romans 7. You know,
Paul said regarding this thing of the righteousness of faith,
he said, Do we make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish the law. Here's the next thing, the law
of sin. Look in Romans 7, verse 21. I find in a law that when I would
do good, Evil is present with me, for I delight in the law
of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord, so that in my mind I myself have heard the law of
God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Now, understand this. It takes the new nature to see
this. If you've got a new nature, You
know exactly what he's talking about when he talks about this
law of sin that's in my members. It takes the new birth. It takes
regeneration. It takes a new heart to see that.
If I don't have that, I can't see it. But if I have a new nature,
I see this other law warring in my members and bringing me
into captivity. I know exactly what he's saying.
Look up in verse 14 of this same chapter. For we know that the
law is spiritual, but I am carnal. sold under sin. For that which
I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that is good. Now it is no more I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me,
that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me. I would, as God is my witness,
and I say that very carefully, I would never sin again. I would be exactly like the Lord
Jesus Christ. The will is present with me. But how to perform that which
is good, I find not. Not, I make mistakes
here and there, not I mess up sometimes, but I utterly find
not. For the good that I would, I
do not. But the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now, if I do that, I would not. It's no more I that do it, but
the sin that dwelleth in me. I bind them all. that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. Somebody says, I really
can't see that about myself. Okay, but if that is the case,
it's simply because you are a stranger to the grace of God. You're a
stranger to a holy nature. If you had an holy nature, you'd
see this clearly. Now, is this your experience?
Is God's law written on your heart with the pen? of the Spirit
of the living God. Turn to Romans 3. Here's the
third spiritual law. We've had the law of righteousness,
the law of sin, and the third is the law of faith. Look in
verse 27. Romans 3, verse 27. Where is boasting then? It is
excluded. It's altogether shut out. By what law? Works? Nay, but
by the law of faith. The law. And this is a principle
of your new nature. The law of faith. A believer
does not choose to believe. It's his nature to believe. He cannot not believe. Oh, the flesh doesn't believe
at all. That's why he cries out, I believe, help thou my unbelief.
That's the unbelief of the flesh. But the new nature believes the
gospel and it cannot not believe. I cannot not trust the Lord Jesus
Christ as my righteousness before God. Can't do it. And this excludes boasting. We
continually say, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross.
Now, there was a time when you had no faith and there was a
time when you found yourself believing. You didn't choose
to believe. You didn't wake up one morning
and say, I think I'm going to start believing the gospel. I'm just
going to decide to believe. No, it didn't work that way at all.
You found yourself believing because God gave you a new nature. And you must believe. You see, faith is the evidence
of things not seen. What is the evidence that I have
a new nature? What is the evidence that I've been given a new heart?
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you believe the gospel, it's
as simple as this. If you believe the gospel, if
you believe that Jesus is the Christ, You are born of God. That's what the Bible says. This
is a law of faith. And thank God, I cannot not believe. I cannot not believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. I know He is. I know He's the
eternal God. I cannot believe that. Now, my
unbelief may drive questions, but my unbelief gets beaten down
because I know Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I know He's the
Creator of the universe. I know He's the Sovereign of
all things. I cannot not believe that. I've got a law of faith. Now turn to James 1, the law of liberty. Verse 25, But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, That's another name for the gospel, the law
of liberty. And continueth therein, he being not a forgetful here,
but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his being. Look in James chapter 2, verse
12. So speak ye, and so do as they
that shall be judged by the law of liberty. Now, this is a law
in every believer's heart. It's called the law of liberty,
the liberty of the gospel. Now, what is liberty? Let me
give you two or three things. Liberty is knowing that there's
nothing you need to do to obtain God's favor. You have it. There's nothing you can do to
please God any more than you already please Him in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I mean, there's flat out nothing
to do. You're accepted in the beloved. Isn't that liberating? Liberty
is knowing you do not owe anything. All debts are paid in full, eternally. Liberty is getting to do what
you want to do. Paul said, stand fast in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. And don't you be
entangled in that yoke of bondage. Now, what is that yoke of bondage?
It's trying to keep the law. You know why I don't try to keep
the law? Because I've kept it. That's
why. I don't try to keep the law. I have kept it. I have perfect
righteousness before that holy law of God and what liberty there
is in the gospel. Look in James 2 verse 8. If you fulfill the royal law,
according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
You do well. Now, this is what is called the
law of love. Now, this is a law. This is a
nature in the believer. John said, Beloved, let us love
one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. God is love, and it's the nature of a believer first to
love God. I love God as He's revealed in
the Scriptures. Everybody says they love God,
but do you love the sovereign God? Yes, I do. Do you love the
holy God? Yes, I do. Do you love the just
God? Yes, I do. I love God exactly
as He's revealed in the scriptures. I bow down before Him and worship
Him as He is. I love the way He is. I love
God. It's my nature to love God. I've
been given a new heart that loves Him. I love His gospel. I love His Son. I love God in
the Holy Spirit. I love God in all the sacred
persons of the Trinity. One God revealed in three persons.
I love God as He is. And you know what? Lord knows whether I'm telling
the truth. Anybody that loves the Lord Jesus Christ, I love
them. I mean, I'm their biggest fan.
If you find me somebody that loves Christ, I love that person.
I esteem that person. And I love men. I want them to
come to the knowledge of Christ. And by His grace, I'm going to
do everything I can to make His gospel known. This is the law
of love. Every believer, this is their
nature, to love the Lord. And here's the last one, Galatians
chapter 6. Relations chapter six, verse one. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, you see how easily you could
be overtaken by any sin. Now, brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, you which are spiritual, which have this spiritual nature,
restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted." Now, here's what he's saying. If you
see that brother overtaken in a fault, realize and believe,
if you were tempted like he was, you would fall like he did. No questions about it. You cannot
stand up before temptation, and the only thing that keeps you
from falling is not having the opportunity. Thank God for him
hedging us in a place to where we can't fall. Anytime you haven't
fallen, it's because you haven't had the opportunity. Do you believe
that? Do you believe that about yourself?
I hope you do, because it's so. If the Lord puts you on trial,
if you were faced with any temptation, if I was faced with any temptation,
I would fall every time. And the only reason I haven't
is because the Lord has prevented that from me being in the place
where I would be tempted like him. So what he's saying is,
is if you see your brother overtaken in a fault, you restore that
brother in the spirit of meekness, knowing, I mean knowing, that
if you're tempted, you will fall just like him. Bear ye one another's
burdens. A real simple way of putting
that is put up with one another. Overlook one another's faults. It means for you to see me as
God sees me. It means for me to see you as
God sees you. Perfect. Bear ye one another's burdens.
You know, my sin is a burden to me. Get up with me. You know how
your sins are a burden to you? My sins are a burden to me. Bear
ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. There it is. That's the law of
Christ. For man, verse 3, thinks himself
to be something when he's nothing. He deceiveth himself. Now, you wouldn't find a bunch
of people who love each other, who are true friends to each
other and support each other. It's people who have this law
of Christ. Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ. Now, the laws of this new nature,
the laws of the New Testament, the laws of God written in the
heart, and you can know whether He's done this with you, the
law of righteousness. You can't be satisfied with anything
short of perfect righteousness. The law of sin. That new nature
sees that old nature is nothing but sin. The law of faith. You cannot not believe. The law
of love. You love. It's your nature. And the law of Christ. And the reason we have fellowship,
one with another, is we share in the same nature. I have the
divine nature, you have the divine nature. That's what the new birth
is, 2 Peter 1.4, partakers of the divine nature. You know what? I have these laws written in
my heart. Let's pray.