New Covenant- Repentance & Heavenly Kingdom -2 — Zac Poonen

The Tenth Commandment Reveals Humanity’s Inability to Keep the Law

And God had to prepare people for many years to come to that place, particularly through the Tenth Commandment. You know, man could keep all the Nine Commandments, but he couldn't keep the Tenth, because the Tenth Commandment was, you shall not lust in your heart, and nobody could keep it.

That's why when Jesus spoke to the rich young ruler, he listed all the commandments but left out the Tenth. Have you noticed that, in Mark 10, when the rich ruler said, what shall I do to have eternal life?

He said, you know, what the law says, you must honor your father and mother, you must keep the Sabbath, you must honor your father and mother, don't kill, don't commit adultery, all the commandments related to man, five of them, he said, I kept all of these.

Humility, Failure, and Entrance Into the New Covenant

And Jesus purposely left out the Tenth. And when he said, I've kept all of these, then Jesus said, okay, now I'll tell you about the Tenth. Give your money away. He said no. That's where they failed. And that's where you and I fail, where we have a lust for something which God does not want us to have a lust for.

Could be a woman, could be money, could be property, could be anything, could be a job. And the only thing we should have a strong desire for is God himself. Who keeps the Tenth Commandment? Nobody. And those who are honest enough to acknowledge that enter into the new covenant, nobody else.

Those who pretend that they are keeping it will live forever under that delusion and fool everybody else and may end up in hell. But those who are humble enough to say, Lord, I can't keep it, I failed.

No matter how hard I try, I'll still fail. I'll be better than others. I may be better than people in other churches. And I may be pretty good compared to what I was in the past, but I'll never rise up to your standard.

I give up. Lord, I want to humbly depend on you. He forgives us, cleanses us, and leads us into the new covenant. So that's why God allows all of us to go through a period of struggling under the law and being defeated, depressed, discouraged, losing our temper, lusting with our eyes, watching internet pornography.

Hypocrisy, Pharisees, and Honest Confession

All this is evil. Getting addicted to these things, behaving well in the church and behaving badly at home. That's the mark of a hypocrite. That's the definition of a Pharisee, one who behaves well in the church and behaves badly at home.

So if that definition fits you, you're a Pharisee. But the Lord came to save Pharisees if they acknowledge their need. Not if they don't. If you don't acknowledge your need, He doesn't save anybody. He doesn't ask you to be perfect, but He asks you to be honest, to say, Lord, I'm a hypocrite.

Do you know that no Pharisee would have been lost if they had just said, Lord, I'm a hypocrite? But it's so difficult to say it. I mean, do you find it easy to say that? Would you get up in the presence of those who respect you and say, I have to acknowledge I've been a hypocrite?

Boy, that'll deflate you. But it'll probably save you too. That is God's way of salvation. He doesn't save those who are high up in their own thinking, but those who come down to earth and acknowledge their failure and their sin.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way for the New Covenant

And that's why in preparation for this message of the New Covenant, God sent a prophet called John the Baptist. You know, as soon as the pages of the Old Testament are over and you come to the pages of the New Testament, you see this prophet coming straight away.

And this prophet was to prepare people for receiving Christ and to enter into the New Covenant. And the message of this prophet is the message that we need as a preparation to enter into the New Covenant.

So that's why it's very important to understand the message of John the Baptist. Because that was the preparation for Christ. And that is the preparation for us also to enter into the New Covenant. So let's turn to Matthew's Gospel in Chapter 3, where we read of the ministry of this man called John the Baptist.

For nearly 350 years, Israel did not have a prophet, or perhaps 400 years approximately. Malachi was the last one. And you know, he said that the last word he spoke in his prophecy was curse. I'll smite the land with a curse.

That was the last word God spoke for 400 years. So that's why they had something to meditate on for 400 years. It was this. I'll smite the land with a curse. That's how the Old Testament ends. And then comes this prophet, John the Baptist.

Repentance as a Complete Turning From Sin

And he says, repent! Verse 2, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I want you to notice two things there, which you may not have noticed before. Repent is a 180 degree turn. It's turning right around from your old direction.

It's not 25 degrees. It's not giving up, just gambling and drinking and dancing and things like that. OK, that's good. That's not repentance. Repentance is a 180 degree turn. There are a lot of things you can give up and not fully repent.

There are a lot of things you give up. You would give up smoking. Well, that's bad for you in any case. Good thing you give it up. Drinking. That's bad for you in any case. Good thing you give it up. But sin is basically wanting your own way.

That's one definition of sin. My will. My will. And if you want to know what God thinks of your will. You know, our personality consists of our intelligence, our feelings and our will. But our will is what we really are.

Because it's with our will we choose to do certain things. And if you want to know what God thinks of this thing called my will. The Bible calls it the old man, by the way. God killed it on the cross.

Crucifying the Old Man and Reckoning Ourselves Dead

The old man that was crucified with Christ on the cross. If you never got a revelation on it till today. Here it is. It is your self-will. You're wanting your own way. When it says in Romans 6 .6 our old man was crucified with him.

It's wanting your own way was crucified with Christ. God condemned it to death. Telling you what he thinks of your will. All you got to do is agree with him. Romans 6 .11 says reckon yourself to be dead.

That means, let me paraphrase those words for you in Romans 6. The whole of Romans 6. You can take time to read it sometime. Because that's the secret of the new covenant. You're wanting your own way.

God thinks it's good for nothing. Must be put to death. Lord, I agree with it. I accept it. That is to be crucified with Christ. Then what do we do then? Lord, I want your will in my life. That is repentance.

That is why John the Baptist says, I baptize you unto repentance. And that's why in Romans 6. Crucifying the old man and burying it is called, is testified to in baptism. There's a close connection. Many people go through baptism without knowing what it means.

Baptism as Testimony of Death to Self-Will

It's just a ritual for them. You are testifying there that your old man was buried. That you don't want your own will. I mean, you think, go to the cemetery and see how many people are doing their own will over there.

Not even one. They're finished with doing their own will. They're finished with wanting their own way. Once they died, other people decided where they would be buried, how they would be buried and whatever, they're finished.

My question is, have you died? In the Old Testament, you didn't have to die. All you had to do is listen to some preacher and go and try and improve your life a little bit after that. And you can come to CFC and listen to some preacher and improve your life after that.

You'll just be an old covenant Christian. But if you die to your will, you'll be a new covenant Christian. So, repentance means a death to your will because it's our will with which we chose to fight with people, to argue with people, to shout at people, to shout at your husband, to shout at your wife and whatever you do and to be nasty and bitter and gossip.

Valuing Christ’s Blood and Turning From Deliberate Sin

It's all your will. You choose your will. I'm gonna do that. Even people take advantage of the blood of Christ. Oh, well, I can always go to God and ask Him to forgive me afterwards. Amazing! They treat the blood of Christ like tap water.

I can always wash my hands with salt. Can you imagine a greater insult than treating the blood of Christ like soap? Ah, it doesn't matter. I can always wash my hands. Would you dirty your hands if soap cost 100 ,000 rupees a little bar?

No, you'd be more careful. When we value the blood of Christ, we are more careful with sin. It's easy to repent. It's easy to repent when you see the price that Jesus paid to save you from your sin. Amen.