Old Covenant Christian or New Covenant Christian — Zac Poonen

I'm thankful that I've had the opportunity of speaking in Abundant Life for 20 years, beginning every year, a number of times in some years. And since a number of you may not know me, I thought I would begin with a brief testimony.

I was converted, born again, 59 years ago, when I was 20 years old, when I was an officer in the Indian Navy. And seven years later, God took me out of that, and I've been serving the Lord in India for 52 years.

And my main ministry is Bible teaching and planting churches in the villages and cities of India. And it's been a great honor that God's continued to bless that ministry. And I'm married, and I've got four sons.

Three weeks ago, we completed 50 years of our married life together. And my wife is here, and I want her to stand up so that you can see her. She's more than a wife. She's been my prayer partner and travels with me all the time.

I'm very thankful for that. My subject today is Old Covenant Christian or New Covenant Christian. They are two different things. In my observation, the vast majority of believers, born-again believers whom I have met, are Old Covenant Christians.

And I will explain to you, hopefully, in the next few minutes what that means. And I hope you will be challenged, and you will have faith that you will rise to possess what Jesus purchased for us on the cross.

Possessing the New Covenant Inheritance

It's a tremendous inheritance that our Heavenly Father gave to us in Christ and through the Holy Spirit. And it's possible that we don't possess it fully. You know, if your dad was a billionaire and left you a huge inheritance of property and money in different banks, and he died, oh, you'd be really careful to make sure that you don't lose any of it.

Because when it comes to money, we are all very sharp and very careful. We won't allow any crooked lawyer to cheat us of our inheritance. But is it possible that the devil has cheated you of your inheritance in Christ?

Maybe you got a portion of it. It's like if you got a thousand dollars inheritance from your billionaire father, you'd be, well, you'd say you'd get something, but there's a lot more that he laid up for you.

And some crooked lawyer has cheated you of it. I really believe the devil's cheated a lot of Christians of their full inheritance. I don't think most of them have even got 10%. How do I know? Because for 16 years after I was born again, from the age of 19 to the age of 35, even after I was in full-time Christian work, I never understood what it is to possess this new covenant inheritance.

That's how I know. From personal experience, from defeat and failure, from pretending to be spiritual, and preaching more to impress people than to help them. I remember the day the Lord asked me, do you want to impress people or you want to help them?

I said, Lord, I want to help them. Then the Lord said, stop trying to impress them as a preacher. Forget it. Don't seek a reputation. Seek to help them. And if you want to help people, there's a verse in Scripture that tells us, in Philippians 2, and verse 3.

It's a command to all Christians. But there are very few who obey it. Philippians 2, verse 3, the last part says, With humility of mind, and in my translation, regard one another, NASV says this, as more important than yourself.

With humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourself. Jesus regarded people as more important than himself. That's why at the Last Supper, when the basin of water was there, but the slave that normally washes people's feet was not there, and everybody looked around to see who would wash the dirty feet, Jesus said, well, I'm the one.

He did not regard others as more spiritual than himself, because that's not possible. That would be a lie to pretend that others are more spiritual. And God doesn't ask us to tell lies, that others are more spiritual.

But the command is to regard others as more important than ourselves. That is the mark of a humble man. And Jesus was that. And when you enter into the full experience of the New Covenant, I tell you, it will be easy for you to regard others as more important than yourself.

And if you're not doing that right now, just say to yourself, I'm not like Jesus Christ. That is the first step to enter into the New Covenant. It's not what we... You know, there's an appearance of outward humility that we all like to have to gain a reputation for humility.

That's a lot of garbage. Throw it in the trash. Real humility of mind, it's in the mind. How do I look at other people who are less intelligent, poorer, and less spiritual? Can I consider them as more important?

Can I be their servant? That is New Covenant life and ministry. But it took me many years to discover it. And I'm so thankful that God opened my eyes to see it, because it changed my life completely. I'll tell you some of the other blessings that came into my life.

Freedom From Discouragement and Anxiety

I used to be a very discouraged Christian. Frequently discouraged over things and defeated. I was in this endless circle of sinning, repenting, confessing, sinning again, repenting, confessing, sinning again.

I was in this endless circle for a number of years. I'm not talking about gross external sins. I think my external testimony was good. I wasn't fooling around with women, or cheating on money, or my taxes, or any such thing.

But inwardly, it was an endless cycle of defeat. Defeated by anger. Defeated by dirty thoughts. Defeated by bitterness, murmuring, complaining. Wrong attitudes to people. Jealousy, etc. And I knew this is not New Covenant Christianity.

There was more to it. God didn't want Christians to go around discouraged. I read verses in the Bible like, Rejoice in the Lord always. Always means 24 -7. Was that a suggestion? Or was it a command? As long as I took it as a suggestion, I could say, well, do it whenever possible.

But when I saw it as a command from God, You shall not worship idols. Rejoice always. Both are commands by God. And I said, Lord, I haven't got there. You know, the first step to come into New Covenant Christianity is to acknowledge that you're not there.

And be honest with yourself. And I said, Lord, I want to be honest. I'm so often discouraged. I can't honestly say I'm rejoicing always. It's not true. I read verses in Scripture like, Be anxious for nothing.

Philippians 4 -6. And I said, Lord, it's not true. Have you just written that there to taunt us? With something which I can never attain to? Do you tease us? You know how sometimes evil grown-up people tease little children by offering them something.

And when the child comes forward, pull it back, pull it back, pull it back. Is God like that? Rejoice always. Rejoice always. And I never get it. Be anxious for nothing. Be anxious for nothing. And I never get it.

No. God is a loving Father. The failure must be with me. And that's what I said. And I said, Lord, I'll never be satisfied. You know, one thing about knowing God. There's a beautiful verse in Jeremiah 29 and verse 13.

The principle is true in the Old Testament and in the New. In Jeremiah 29 and verse 13 it says, You will seek me and find me only when you search for me with all your heart. And that's the reason many people don't find Him as a God who can lead us to the fulfillment of all His promises.

We are not searching for Him with all our heart. Perhaps we are pursuing after our profession, our money, our fame, or a hundred and one other things that the devil offers us. And we miss out on God's best.

And I want to say to every one of you sitting here, God loves you. There's no doubt about it. He's got a plan for your life which is far above what you're experiencing right now. And that plan was made before you were born in your mother's womb.

Each one of you must see that. In your mother's womb, God planned a life for you. And He knew that one day you would respond and give your life to Christ. He also knew that today you would be here in abandoned life sitting, listening to this message.

And I want to say to you, He wants to lead you higher. God's word doesn't come to condemn us, never. Condemnation is an Old Testament type of preaching. In the New Testament, the word of God is always, come up higher, my son.

Come up higher, my daughter. Don't live at that low level. And that's the spirit in which I want to preach. Not with condemnation. I don't want to look down on any one of you. I want to really, from my heart, consider you as more important than myself.

Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to speak the truth to you. But the Bible also says, Galatians 1 verse 10, that if I seek to please men, Galatians 1 verse 10, the last part. If I try to please men, I cannot be a servant of Christ.

So I want to determine that I will not seek to please you in my sermon. I will seek to please Jesus who is here in our midst right now. I always seek to be conscious of the fact that the Lord Jesus, my Savior, is there right in front of me, sitting in the front seat, listening to me as I speak.

And I want to please Him more than anyone else. And I believe it will bless you if I do it that way. In Hebrews, in chapter 8, we read this, about this new covenant. And verse 6, in the last part of that it says, Jesus is the mediator, Hebrews 8 verse 6, the mediator of a better covenant that has been enacted on better promises.

He compares the new covenant with the old covenant. And says, this is better, it's on better promises. How much higher is the new covenant from the old covenant? As much higher as Jesus is than Moses.

Moses was the mediator of the old covenant and Jesus is the mediator of the new. One of the big differences between old covenant and new covenant is, in the old covenant it was only the word, which was the light.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, it says in Psalm 119 verse 105. The word was the light. And that's all they had. All of that Old Testament, all the laws that God gave to Israel.

But in the New Testament, it says in John 1 verse 4, in Jesus was life. And the life was the light of men. So there was a big difference in the new covenant. In the old covenant it was the word. You had to understand the word.

In the new covenant it was the life. In the old covenant the prophets would say, come and hear the message of the Lord, the word. In the new covenant, the word is come and see how the Lord has changed our lives.

In the old covenant lives were not changed. You would just proclaim the word. Moses' children were not a good testimony. But Moses was the greatest prophet. Samuel's children took bribes. But Samuel was a great prophet.

The way they brought up their children didn't matter. In the new covenant, it says a man cannot be an elder in 1 Timothy 3, if he has not brought up his children properly. That's the standard of the new covenant.

According to the new covenant standard, Samuel, the great prophet, could not be an elder in the new covenant church. Did you know that? You read in 1 Samuel chapter 8, his children, his two sons were taking bribes and he made them judges in Israel.

That's an example of how the new covenant is different. The standards are much higher. As much higher as Jesus is than Moses. And we see when we look around at Christendom today, they have not risen up to that standard.

The New Covenant Life Versus Mere Religious Profession

And that's why the name of the Lord is dishonored. The first thing that the Lord told us to do was not preach the gospel. The first prayer is not, Lord, save the lost. Our first prayer is, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Let your name be respected. Let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Let your kingdom come. So when we look around and see how the name of Jesus is being dishonored, not by non-Christians.

No non-Christian can dishonor the Lord's name. No atheist can dishonor the Lord's name. Because they don't take His name. It's only when a woman marries a man and takes His name and calls herself Mrs.

So-and-so, only then can she dishonor His name. If she's not married to Him, she cannot dishonor His name. And it's when I'm married to Christ and I call myself a Christian, it's only then I can dishonor His name.

Until that point, I cannot. Because I'm a non-Christian. See, I come from a country which is 98 non-Christian. And whenever I witness to non-Christians in my land, and I've lived there all these 79 years, one of the first things I always tell them when I'm sitting in a train or witnessing to someone about Christ, I want to tell them, first of all, I want to tell you something, my dear friend.

95 of Christians are not Christians. See, until I begin with that in preaching the Gospel, he will say, this guy is trying to convert me to a Christianity and I know about this Christian fellow who cheated me two years ago.

And there's the other Christian who's a crook. So I have to eliminate from his mind prejudice by telling him that I disagree with that type of Christianity. That is nominal Christianity which is not reflecting the life of Jesus.

They may be speaking the word. As I said, in the old covenant is the word. In the new covenant, the word was made flesh. That's the difference. In the old covenant, the word was in the book. And an old covenant preacher preaches from the book.

And from notes and things like... And it's all correct. All those Old Testament prophets, they preach the right thing. But like I told you, it was not reflected often in their life. Whereas when Jesus came, the word was made flesh.

It was in his life. In his life was the light of men. And from there came the word. It was from within, the word came out. In Acts of the Apostles, in chapter 1 and verse 1, we read like this. Luke was writing about the previous book he wrote, which is the Gospel of Luke.

This is the second book he wrote. He said, the first account I composed of Theophilus, that's the Gospel of Luke, was about all that Jesus began to do and teach. So Luke's summary of the Gospel of Luke is what Jesus began to do and teach.

And Acts of the Apostles is what Jesus continued to do and teach through his church. But notice the order. He first began to do and then teach. He did and taught. That was not Old Covenant. In the Old Covenant was he taught.

The word, the word, come and hear the message of the Lord. Come and hear what the Lord has said. But in the New Covenant is, come and see what the Lord has done in our life through his word. That is what I share with you.

So when you think of the Sermon on the Mount, that wonderful message that Jesus preached, it wasn't something that he sat down the previous night and took down notes as to what he's going to speak the next morning.

He spoke out from 30 years of his life. For 30 years he had lived that life. And he spoke from that. That is the only type of preaching that is New Covenant preaching. So we say, well, then we won't be able to preach all these wonderful sermons.

Right. We like to preach according to the level of your life. If you are in the first grade, you can teach people who are below the first grade. If you are in the second grade, you can teach people up to the first grade.

If you are in the 10th grade, you can preach people below the 9th grade. The sad thing is when a Christian preacher who is only in the first grade begins to talk about 10th grade stuff. It's just a lot of nonsense.

It's not real in his life. In the New Covenant that is just not true. The New Covenant as we read here is a better covenant enacted on better promises. Now let me clarify one thing. When we talk about Old Covenant, I'm not talking about the 39 books of the Old Testament.

That is the Bible. In fact, the word Old Testament describing the 39 books of the Bible is never found. That's a description man has given calling it Old Testament just for convenience. But the whole, all 66 books of the Bible, the Old Covenant is the covenant or agreement that God made with Israel giving them a law.

The New Covenant was established by Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost through the gift of the Holy Spirit and through His death on the cross. So, as I just said, the emphasis in the New Covenant is life more than teaching.

We must be more interested in our life than in understanding. In Hebrews in chapter 8, we see the promises of the New Covenant. He says here in Hebrews 8 verse 10, this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel and that applies to us today.

Read carefully Hebrews 8 10, I will put my laws into their mind and I will write them in their hearts. This is the New Covenant and I'll be their God. Notice the emphasis, it's inside. Inside our mind, inside our heart.

Inside our mind means He gives us the desire to do His will perfectly. All of His will. Inside our heart means He gives us the ability to do His will. There are two things we need. A desire to do His will and an ability to do His will.

And that's going to be inside. If you have a desire to do the will of God, don't ever think that you work that up yourself. It is a fulfillment of that promise. I will put my law into their mind. If you're better than that other guy who has no desire to do God's will, it's not because you're a better person.

You got to just humble yourself and say, Lord, you have mercy on me and you put that desire into my mind to do Your will. Now don't stop there. In the Old Covenant, it was the external life alone that mattered.

But in the New Covenant, it's the inner life that matters. You remember Jesus told the Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup, but the inside is all dirty. That's how it was. And when my external life, please listen carefully, when my external life is better than my inner thought life, something is wrong with my Christianity.

I am an Old Covenant Christian. The Old Covenant people, their external life was much better than their inner life. Think of David. Do you know that David wrote more scripture than the Apostle Paul? He quoted the Psalms and the number of Psalms he wrote.

But he would say, don't look at my life. If I saw a pretty woman like Bathsheba, I'd fall. And to get her, I'd even kill her husband and marry her. That's David. But boy, look at those Psalms he wrote.

And when a man's message is more powerful than his life, he's an Old Covenant Christian, even if he's the greatest preacher in the world. Jesus did and taught in him was life. And the life was the light of men.

Life. The word became flesh. It didn't just come out of his mouth. And when we look at these standards in the New Covenant, we see how far short Christendom has fallen. Because the devil has cheated us of our inheritance.

Because the Lord says, I will not only write my law in your mind, I'll put it in your mind and I'll write it in your heart. It's his responsibility. You remember, when Moses went up to the mountain, God with his finger.

And the finger, by the way, in the New Testament is a picture of the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus once said, I cast out demons by the finger of God. In another gospel it says, He cast out demons by the Spirit of God.

So you put the two verses together, you write the finger of God is the Holy Spirit. And with that finger, he wrote on two tablets of stone. Hard rock. And he wrote on that four commandments on one, man's relationship with God.

And six commandments on the other, man's relationship with each other. And God was as it were telling Israel, it's easier for me to write on those rocks than to write in your hearts. Your hearts are hotter than these rocks.

But in the New Covenant, the Lord says, I will write that law in your heart now and in your mind. These are the two tablets now, which Jesus wants to write his law on. Your mind and your heart are the equivalent of those two tablets of stone.

And even if your mind and your heart are hotter than those rocks, the Lord says, I'll write it. That's what the Holy Spirit has come to do. And so, don't say, I'm too bad. No, it's for bad people. Jesus came for sinners.

He didn't come for the righteous. He didn't come for the holy people or those who think they're holy. He came for hard-hearted people and says, I will write my law in your mind and in your heart. So believe that first of all.

The Holy Spirit and the Gift of New Covenant Power

And believe that God wants to do it. You know, when Jesus once talked about the gift of the Holy Spirit, there's so much confusion concerning that in the world today. So much confusion. And because of that confusion, some people turn away from it altogether.

We have two extremes concerning the Holy Spirit nowadays in Christian teaching. One is this extreme where you have all this fanaticism going on in the name of Holy Spirit bringing such dishonor to the Lord.

And then on the other side are those who say, we want to steer away from that and don't talk about the Holy Spirit at all. Well, the devil is quite happy with both groups, I'll tell you that. Because one group won't talk about it and the other group goes into the extreme fanaticism.

But there's a balance in God's Word. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. He could never have fulfilled His ministry apart from that. You know that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit at the age of 30.

He had the Holy Spirit from birth. He Himself is the Son of God. And yet He needed to be anointed. Not to be more holy. Jesus was not more holy when He was 31 than when He was 25. But there was something that came upon Him when He was 30.

At the baptism in the river Jordan after which He would preach, cast out demons and do the will of God, do God's work. And that's the same gift He gives us. So, in Luke chapter 11, He spoke about this gift of the Holy Spirit like this.

In Luke 11, the subject here is when the disciples came to Him and said, Lord, teach us to pray. Verse 1. And many people finish with just that, the Lord's Prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

But there is more to it than prayer. Just that, what we call the Lord's Prayer. He went on to say, I want to explain some more. In answer to your question, Lord, teach us to pray. And He said, this is how you should pray.

In verse 5. Luke 11, 5. Supposing you have a friend and you go to him at midnight and say to him, lend me three loaves. And he says, I'm asleep, my children are asleep. Don't trouble me now. And I can't give you anything.

But this man doesn't give up. He keeps on banging at the door and say, you got to give me, you got to give me. Because a friend of mine has come who is needy. And I don't have what it takes to help him.

What is he asking for? He is asking, not for himself. He is asking for something to feed a needy person who has come to his house. This is Christian ministry. Around us in the world are needy people. Of course, I can act with no concern for them.

Some friend has come to my house, he's hungry, so what? Go to bed man, we'll see you in the morning. But this man was not like that. He said, listen, have you eaten? Now you don't usually ask people at midnight when they come to your house whether they've eaten.

Because if you don't have any food in the house, it's better not to ask them. But this man was so concerned. He had so much love for that person. And this is the basis on which we pray for others. That I'm so concerned about that person's need.

Number one. And secondly, an awareness that I don't have within me what it takes to meet that need. Then I will go to God, like this man, and say, God, give me what it takes to help this man. This is the only basis of Christian ministry.

And as I said, I never understood it for 16 years after being born again. I thought all I had to do was sit down and study and read a lot of books and prepare a sermon and preach it. That's not the way brother, sister.

It's by having a burden and a compassion and love for people in need. And then recognizing secondly that I don't have it, what it takes to meet that need. And going to God and knocking and knocking and knocking.

And say, give me what I need to help this person. And what is it I need to pray for. Verse 13. If you 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?

Not to everybody. To those who ask Him how? In this way. In this way. Lord, give me this, give me this. Give me the power of the Holy Spirit to live this life. To offer this person something from my life that will lead him higher.

Not a theory. That is new covenant. It is very different from the old covenant. That is full of rules and regulations. But this is a life where God writes His law in my mind and in my heart. And thereby I can live this life.

In the new covenant the very first promise in the new testament is in Matthew 1 in verse 21. It is very important to understand this. Because that is where the new covenant begins. When I spoke about life.

Matthew 1 .21. It says you shall call His name Jesus. And the reason is given there in Matthew 1 .21. Read it carefully. Not He will forgive His people their sins. That was already there in the old testament.

David said in Psalm 103. Bless the Lord who forgives all my sins. One thousand years before Christ came. He rejoiced for the forgiveness of sins. But this is something new. He will save His people from their sins.

That is the new covenant. In the old covenant it was forgiveness. In the new covenant it was deliverance from sin. That is what I mean when I say that most Christians haven't come into the new covenant.

How has it been in your life? I have asked people this question. I said, has Jesus saved you? He said, yeah. I said, what do you mean? Has He saved you from anger? Has He saved you from dirty thoughts?

You know they are sin. Has He saved you from bitterness? Has He saved you from all murmuring and complaining in your home? Has He saved you from losing your temper at your husband or your wife? Always the answer is no, no, no, no.

Has He saved you from the love of money? Has He saved you from anxiety and fear and discouragement and bad moods? And I say, no, no, no, no. He has not saved me from any of those things. But I confess them and I am forgiven.

Ah, I say then be honest. Honesty will take you very far. Say that Jesus is my forgiver. He has not yet become my savior. Ah, but He saved me from hell. But hell is at the end of your life. Okay, He will save you from that.

What about, is there no salvation right now from these things? You shall call His name Jesus because He will save His people from hell? No! What did we read in Matthew 1 .21? He will save His people from their sins.

And I want to say in my life after I was born again all I knew was that I was saved from hell. I could not honestly say I was saved from sin. The devil had cheated me of my inheritance. And I saw as I read the New Testament, the 27 books in the New Testament and I was thirsty.

I said, there is a life I want which I don't have. You know, I think of all these immigrants who come from different countries to the United States. Why do they come here? Because they want a better life for themselves and their children.

They know this is a country which will receive them and give them a better life. Why don't they go to some poor country in Africa? Because they know they won't get it. They have such a longing for a better life on this earth.

That's why we look for jobs where we can have a better life for ourselves and our children. My question is, why don't we have that same longing spiritually to come to a life free from sin? We don't realize how much sin is destroying our inner life and how much it's bringing a bad name to the name of Jesus Christ on earth.

So if I have a longing, Lord, I want to be saved from sin. Like we read that verse, if you search for me with all your heart, you'll find me. You remember Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit also in John chapter 7.

One day he got up, it's the only time we read in the Bible that he shouted out. Usually Jesus spoke very softly. But here one day it says he cried out. John 7 .37 If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink, and from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

And this he spoke, it says in verse 39 about the Holy Spirit. And it's a very interesting thing written here in verse 39. This he spoke about the Holy Spirit who those who believed in him would receive.

For the Spirit, listen to this, for the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. And then you wonder, how did David have the Spirit? How did Samson have the Spirit? Gideon and the prophets.

Elijah, Elisha got a double portion of Elijah's Spirit. How does it say the Spirit was not yet given? The meaning is the Spirit was not yet given in this way. It says from the innermost being, the rivers of living water will flow.

It was not like that in the Old Covenant. Here's another big difference between the Old Covenant and the New. In the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit came upon Moses, and David, and Samson. It didn't come inside them.

And it's like a waterfall that flows over our head. And flowed around and blessed millions of people. But in the New Covenant, the Lord says, the Holy Spirit will come within. And the water will flow from within.

It's like if I have a glass here, and I have a lid over it. And I pour water on it. Yeah, you keep on pouring water, it can flow around like rivers and bless many people. But the inside of that cup will still be dirty.

Because the water hasn't flown inside. That's what happened in the New Covenant. That God removed that lid. And the Holy Spirit could come into our spirit and clean up our spirit first. And then flow out from within.

That's why you read, David could commit adultery. Samson could commit adultery. And as I said, Moses and Samuel couldn't bring up their children properly. But you never read in the New Testament about Paul committing adultery.

Or John committing adultery. Or Peter committing adultery. There is a lot of difference between New Covenant and Old Covenant. We need to recognize this. So many Christians, when they fall into sin, they go for refuge to the Old Covenant.

Ah! But those people did that, and still God used them. What are you interested in? Just to be used by God? You know the Bible says, in 2nd Timothy and chapter 2, there are different types of vessels in God's house.