The Blessings of the New Covenant — Zac Poonen

Discovering a Calling to Teach God's Word

When I started my ministry, I did not know what God was calling me for. I was converted 54 years ago, when I was 19, I was an officer in the Navy in India. And I had this great burden, I mean, the only thing I knew was how our sins could be forgiven.

So that's all I could preach. And so, I was in the naval base, and in the two years I was there, I covered every single street in the town, preaching the gospel. And I thought I would be an evangelist, I witnessed the tracks on the trains and buses I traveled in, really seeking to witness for Christ, but gradually, over a period of time, I discovered through trial and error, that I was not an evangelist.

I didn't have that, I didn't see fruit, even though I labored so much. But when I began to teach God's word in little groups, I started sometimes with just one little family, I would ask them if I can come there once a week and share God's word.

I found, you know, real results and fruit coming out of my ministry, so gradually I discovered that though I wanted to be an evangelist, God was making me a teacher. It's very easy to find out what gift you have.

If you have a burden, the burden in your heart is very often an indication of our calling in the body of Christ. But sometimes we can have a burden for something that gives us a lot of prominence, and that could be our own desire.

So, if you try to exercise that ministry, you find out pretty soon whether you've got that calling or not. For example, some people have come to me and said, I think God's calling me for a healing ministry.

Well, I say, great, I hope you have compassion for the sick, but test it out, pray for a person who's already healed, you know that you don't have that gift. Don't waste your time. Go and seek for something else.

Because in the, the Lord Jesus said, I have chosen you and ordained you, John 15, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. And I believe that there are different callings, there are evangelists, there are people with a healing gift, more rare now, and there are apostles and prophets, and all these gifts are there.

But there will be in their labor fruit that remains, not that fruit that comes up and disappears. So, that's something which I have longed for in my own ministry, that I want to see fruit that remains.

And as I developed in the ministry of teaching over the last 40 years or so, I found God began to focus it on a few particular areas. And I saw that was because those were the neglected areas in scripture.

So, I spent a lot of time listening to what other preachers were preaching, what television, Christian TV was preaching, and many others, and literature and books. And I discovered that there were whole sections of scripture that were not being touched at all.

The Superior Promises of the New Covenant

So, God gradually began to show me, particularly after I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, the truths of the new covenant. Now, I never knew for 16 years after I was born again, that there was something called the new covenant.

And that Jesus spoke about it at the Last Supper. He spoke about it only once. When he took the cup, he said, this is my blood, this cup is the blood of my new covenant. There was something new. And in Hebrews chapter 8, this is the verse I want to read to you this evening.

In Hebrews 8, there are some amazing words. And we want to look at them carefully. Verse 6. In Hebrews, there's a lot of comparison between Moses and Christ, and between the law and grace, between the old covenant and the new covenant.

And here it says, he's talking about Moses first. And then comparing, you know, in verse 5, he's talking about Moses. And then he talks about Jesus. In verse 6, Hebrews 8, verse 6. But now, Christ has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as he's the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

Hebrews is a great book that speaks a lot about the new covenant. And the word that keeps coming again and again and again in Hebrews is the word, better, better, better. Make a note of that. It says here, a better covenant.

The new covenant is a better covenant than the old covenant. The old covenant was made with Israel on Mount Sinai. And the new covenant began on the day of Pentecost. It was sealed with the blood of Jesus on the cross.

The beginning of it was there. And there are better promises here. The old covenant was mostly promised for earthly blessing. If you read the Old Testament, God's promises to Israel, there was nothing about heaven there.

There was nothing about partaking of God's nature. There was nothing about overcoming sin. There was nothing about eternal life. These things were non-existent. I mean, such words don't even exist. Even the word fellowship, you don't find it in the Old Testament.

Because Israel was not a fellowship of people who could become one body. They were a congregation. And there's a lot of difference between a congregation and a body. And a lot of churches are just congregations.

A lot of Christians are living under the old covenant without realizing it. Here it says in verse 7, if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need, occasion sought for a second.

So here it says, the Holy Spirit says that the first covenant that God established was faulty. Can you imagine God giving out something faulty? What it says here so clearly. But it was not that God made a mistake.

I mean, the second covenant is not like a newer model of a car or something, rectifying the mistakes in the older model, no. The old covenant was not meant to do certain things. That's the point. And God could not establish a new covenant until Jesus came and shed his blood.

And rose again from the dead. And the Holy Spirit was given until then. And God couldn't establish this covenant. And in order for Christ to come to earth, He had to prepare a people through whom Christ would come.

That was the nation of Israel which began with God choosing Abraham. And so, He had to establish a covenant with them and through the law and the sacrifices and so that when Christ came and died, they would understand what it was all about.

And how seriously God took sin, etc. So, it's only in that sense, we can say the first covenant was a temporary measure preparing the way for the second. But it did succeed in raising Israel to a very high moral standard.

In fact, most of the laws in the world today are based on the Ten Commandments. And it raised Israel above all the nations of the earth morally because of the covenant God made with them. And not only morally but even their hygienic standards were much higher than in other parts of the world because that was also taught in the book of Leviticus.

So, but it was only a temporary measure preparing the way for what God's final plan was, the new covenant. We must remember that. So, He finds fault with that covenant. He says, I am going to make a new covenant, He says in verse 8, which is not like verse 9, the covenant which I made with their fathers in Sinai.

And at the end in verse 13, He says, Hebrews 8, 13, and when the Lord says a new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. And what is obsolete is ready to vanish. So, there is a covenant that's obsolete.

It's like, I suppose it's true in Australia too, but many other western countries, they are very strict about expiry dates for foodstuffs and they say not to be used after so and so date. And it's a crime in many places to, for big supermarkets to stock food that's been, that's expired.

They can be sued. Anybody gets sick. But and so, all these markets are very careful to remove foods and cans and all that have crossed the expiry date. It's past the expiry date and most of us, when we buy something, particularly medicines, we would look for the expiry date.

Is the expiry date, it's over? I don't want to touch it. I want something that's current. Well, I want to tell you, there's an expiry date on the old covenant. It expired long, long ago. Two thousand years ago.

But still, people are picking it up and thinking they've got to live by that. Let me give you an example. In Deuteronomy chapter 28, we see something of the blessings and curses that would accompany the old covenant.

The first 14 verses are the blessings and the remaining 54 verses are the curses. And what the Lord said was, if you obey everything that I tell you, these are the blessings that will overtake you. Verse 1 and 2 and then he describes it all.

But verse 15, if you don't obey, then these are the curses. And if you look at it carefully, I don't have time to read through the whole thing and I just want to mention, basically, he's telling them, if you obey my old covenant laws, you will be materially, financially wealthy and physically healthy.

And if you don't obey me, you will be financially, materially poor and physically sick. So, basically, Deuteronomy 28 was a health and wealth gospel. It's very clear. If you don't believe me, just read it sometime.

If you do this, I will bless you with health and wealth. It's expired, by the way, two thousand years ago. But there are people picking it up today. There are an abundance of television preachers. And how do they succeed in fooling a lot of Christians?

Because most Christians today have not read the Bible carefully. That's a sad thing. And I often say, if you got the Bible in your own language and you don't read it carefully, you deserve to be deceived by anybody.

I mean, I can feel sorry for, I mean, there are lots of people in our country who don't have the Bible in their own language. They can be forgiven. But what about people who got their Bible in 26 translations?

Why should they be deceived? And every one of them, those translations will tell you, the old covenant is expired. We're not living in Deuteronomy 28. There's a new covenant that God has made with man.

Why do we go back to the old? There's something in man's nature that loves the old. You know, Jesus said, even after tasting the new wine, people say the old is better. And I see that the new wine speaks about the life of Jesus.

That's, by the way, is in the last verse of Luke chapter 5. They say the old is better. But I see that happening around me. I mean, if someone offers, tells you, under the new covenant, you can overcome anger.

You'll never get angry with your husband or wife. You can overcome bitterness. You can overcome lusting after women. You can overcome pornography. You can overcome jealousy. You can overcome pride. And you overcome selfishness.

And you can overcome the love of money. And all types of sins. Hypocrisy. And another preacher comes along and says, if you accept what I say, you'll be healed of your sicknesses. You'll get a better house and you'll get a better car.

Which is, which a carnal person accepts. You know, carnal person is not interested in victory over sin. He says, the blood of Jesus just cleanses me all the time. It doesn't matter if I sin because no matter how much I sin, I can always go to the blood.

The blood, the blood, the blood. That's what a lot of people say. There is cleansing in the blood. It's true. But they say, well, I want to live on this earth and if this other gospel offers me material wealth and health, that's what I really want.

And as far as the spiritual part of it, so long as I just manage to scrape it into heaven, that's enough for me. Can you imagine that Jesus having shed his blood, sacrificed everything and given his life completely for us, made that tremendous sacrifice, first of all, of coming from heaven to earth.

And my response to that is, Lord, what's the minimum I have to do to get into your presence? I would be ashamed of myself if one day I stand before the Lord and I look back on my life and I discover that my whole life was animated by one principle.

What is the minimum I have to do to go to heaven? And yet that's how most Christians live. And that's why there's so little joy in their life. The victory and triumph that the apostles spoke about is not there in their life.

Now, I'm not throwing stones at anyone because I lived like that for 16 years after I was born again. So, I'm not without sin. I'm not qualified to throw stones. I'm just saying, well, the Lord set me free from that and delivered me and showed me that I did not have to take that expired medicine anymore.

I could throw it away. There was something better, a better covenant. And in this better covenant, it's not that God doesn't care for our earthly needs. He says, if you seek my kingdom and my righteousness, I'll take care of your earthly needs.

I'll provide for you and I'll take care of your children. But that's not what we seek. It's sort of a bonus that's thrown in. Because we seek that which is what God provides for us in the new covenant.

And so, when you turn back to Hebrews chapter 8, you see there, this, he says, is the covenant I will make with them. So, I just want to share that with you. The terms of the new covenant. The blessings of the new covenant.

And it's not health and wealth. It's something better than that. It's something that deals with our deepest problem. When our eyes are open to see the seriousness of sin, we discover that a wrong attitude to another person is worse than cancer.

Now, most Christians don't believe that. If they had cancer and a doctor told them after a scan that you got cancer, terminal cancer, they'd be really disturbed. But if their conscience tells them, you got a wrong attitude to that person, you got a bitterness against that person, they are not so disturbed about that.

That shows the blindness of people who think that sickness is worse than sin. In the old covenant, they thought like that. They wanted healing. But in the new covenant, God opens our eyes to see that sin is much worse than sickness.

And I can prove it to you. I know people who have gone to heaven, who died of cancer. I know them personally. But Jesus said, if you don't forgive somebody, your Heavenly Father won't forgive you. I mean, that's Matthew 6 .15.

So, if your Heavenly Father doesn't forgive you, because you didn't forgive somebody else, you had a wrong attitude, a bitterness, and you die in that condition, no matter how much healing and wealth you got, and your Heavenly Father hasn't forgiven you and you died, is there a second chance?

It's appointed unto men once to die. And after this, the judgment. So, is there another opportunity to be forgiven after he is dead? No, there isn't. But he may say, but he did so much good in his life.

Ah! Then your understanding of the Gospel is the heathen understanding that God will take a weighing balance and put all your good deeds on one side and all your bad deeds on the other side. And depending on which is heavier, determine whether you go to heaven or hell.

Is that the Gospel you believe in? I don't. That is the understanding of every heathen religion. That God is going to weigh your good deeds versus your bad deeds and determine whether you go to heaven or hell.

But the Bible says, our good deeds are like filthy rags. Everything is bad in God's eyes. So, what is going to be the condition of a person died without forgiving somebody? Let God be true and every man a liar.

That's what it says in Matthew 3. I don't want to get anybody under condemnation. But I want to speak the truth. It's so clear in Matthew 6, 14 and 15 that I say words could not be plainer. If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly father will forgive you.

I mean that verse itself should be enough. But Jesus amplifies it in the next verse and says, if you do not forgive men, your father will not forgive your transgressions. When he says your father, he is not talking about God.

If he said God, then he is talking to the unbeliever. He is telling the unbeliever, you guys don't forgive somebody, God will not forgive you. When he says your father, who is he talking to? You think the whole world can say he is their father?

God is not their father. Your father will not forgive your transgressions. Let's take Jesus' words seriously. So, that's why I say, you can have cancer and go to heaven. And you can have a bitterness against somebody and go to hell.

So, which is worse? To me, it's pretty clear. Now, that was not true in the old covenant. In the old covenant, Jesus said, to whom less is given, less is required. To whom more is given, more is required.

But the kindergarten class teacher does not expect as much understanding in that kindergarten child as someone who is in a PhD class, obviously. I think that's about the comparison. Old covenant is kindergarten and new covenant is PhD.

The Lord expects more. David died without forgiving Shimei. But he went to heaven. But in the new covenant, it's different. That verse is not found in the old testament. If you don't forgive others, God will not forgive you.

It is in the new covenant. We can rise higher in the new covenant and sink lower. That's how it is. In the old covenant, you couldn't rise high, you couldn't fall very low. On Hebrews chapter 8, let's get there and see what are the terms of this, what are the blessings of the new covenant.

Forgiveness, Cleansing, and Justification

And I want to read from verse 12 to verse 10 upwards. Hebrews 8, verse 12 first of all. Because, you know, the reason why I start like that is it says, for this and this and then finally it says for. So, when it says finally for, that's where it begins in verse 12.

For means because. So, that's really the starting point. That's really the foundation, the first blessing of this new covenant. There are three of them. The first is in verse 12. I will be merciful to their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more.

In the old covenant, sin was never cleansed. It's important to know that. In Egypt, they could say the blood was on the door, they were under the blood. In Psalm 32, it says, blessed is the man whose sin is covered.

When I hear Christians singing that I'm under the blood and covered by the blood, I say, you guys haven't read the Bible. That's old covenant. I don't sing those songs. You may have sung it all your life, but I just want to tell you, it's old covenant.

You'll never see that expression anywhere in the New Testament. Under the blood. Covered by the blood. Covered means, you know, your sins are all written down there on a board and you take a sheet and cover it.

That's what God did. That's all that the blood of bulls and goats could do. Cover your sin. If you lifted up the sheet, it was there. But the blood of Jesus cleanses. It's like taking a wet rag and wiping it all out.

It's gone. It's not there anymore. I'm cleansed by the blood. I thank God I'm not covered. I'm not under the blood. I'm cleansed by the blood. It's like a lot of people speak about being at the foot of the cross.

I'm not at the foot of the cross. I'm crucified with Christ on the cross. You'll never see the expression in New Testament at the foot of the cross. Now, if people use poetic licensing, that's fine. But if you think our position is at the foot of the cross, it's not.

Paul didn't say I'm standing at the foot of the cross. He said I'm crucified with Christ. I'm just showing you how careless Christians are with words. We've got used to, we've been brainwashed for so many years hearing certain expressions that we think they are true.

And like I said, it's because they don't read the Bible carefully. When I was converted 54 years ago, I didn't know much about the Bible. I don't know how I somehow came to the faith that there is one book and only one that God gave to the human race.

And that is the Bible. And I decided as a young 19 year old, just converted to Christ, Lord, if there is one book and only one that you've given for the human race, I'm determined to study it. And I don't have to go to a Bible school.

I've never been to a Bible school. I said I'm going to study it while I was in the ship. I used to sit in my cabin and read the Bible. And say, Holy Spirit of God, teach me. And I just read it carefully and I found that you didn't need a teacher to teach you.

If you really came and read it. And I thank God I knew English so I could read it. And I allowed the Holy Spirit to teach me. And all I had to do is read carefully. And take a concordance for example and look up all the words where grace came or faith came or mercy came.

And I got real understanding of what the New Testament was all about. So, as I read the scriptures, I found that so many things that many Christians spoke about and sang about were not true. I could give you numerous examples that may puzzle you, surprise you.

For example, do you know the Bible never talks about sinful nature? It's never found in the New Testament. The Bible speaks about the old man and the flesh. So, when, it's alright, you can use another expression if you like.

Sinful nature. There is nothing wrong in that. But when people talk about sinful nature, I ask them the question, Are you talking about the old man or are you talking about the flesh? They are confused.

I say the old man and the flesh are not the same thing. Romans 6 says our old man was crucified with Christ. God did it. But Galatians 5 .24 says those who are Christ must crucify the flesh. God crucified the old man, Romans 6.

But Christians have to crucify the flesh. The old man is symbolized in the Old Testament by the armies of Pharaoh. God buried them under the Red Sea. Israelites did nothing. The lusts of the flesh are symbolized by the giants of Canaan.

God didn't kill them. The Israelites had to kill them. The picture in the Old Testament is exact. But why is it that Christians don't see the difference? I would say most Christians in the world that I have met think that the old man and the flesh are the same.

Take a concordance and study it and see it's different. The Lord told Adam that by the sweat of your brow you will earn your bread. And I have discovered that if you want to get bread from the scripture you have to perspire.

You have to work hard. If you are going to be lazy you will get all types of wrong ideas. God has given us scripture and He is a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently. The word of God says in Jeremiah 29 .13, you shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

Those are the type of Christians I want to find. Who are seeking God with all their heart. I have seen businessmen in Bangalore in India who are so gripped by the possibility of making money through business that they work from early morning till late at night and I presume dream about it when they go to bed.

And that is their God. Mammon is their God and they worship it wholeheartedly. And I have often said to the Lord, Lord let it never be said that a worshipper of mammon, that false God, worships that God more wholeheartedly than I worship the true God.

Is that true in your life? Are there businessmen in Australia who are more devoted to making money than you are devoted to living for Jesus Christ and being a witness for Him and serving Him, witnessing by your life and words?

Don't you think that should put us to shame? People who worship false gods like mammon, so wholehearted. But the worshippers of Christ, so casual and careless, saying what is the minimum I have to do to go to heaven?

Whereas those businessmen are saying, what's the maximum I can do to open another store, expand my business, go across the country, across the world to expand my business, to make more money. Yeah. So, I just say that in passing.

The Lord says, I will remember their sins no more. The blood of Jesus not only cleanses me, it says in Romans 5, 9 that it justifies me. Now that's another thing which, I mean, this may be very elementary, but I don't mind emphasizing it for the sake of those who are not clear on it.

There is a difference between forgiveness, cleansing and justification. Justification is more than forgiveness. It says in Romans 5, 9, we are justified by His blood or declared righteous. And, you know, when I read scripture, I like to think in pictures or illustrations.

And the way I see it is, supposing I am taken to court and accused of numerous charges, serious charges, which could give me the death penalty. And the judge looks at all those charges. And he says, they are true.

But I forgive you. You can go free. Of course, I am happy. This is forgiveness. And people outside the court are waiting to hear that I got the death penalty and I walk out a forgiven criminal. Declared, proved to be a criminal in the court by the prosecution, but forgiven.

That's forgiveness. Now, justification is not that. Justification is, those charges are read out and the prosecution presents the case and the judge examines carefully and says, all these charges are false.

He is not a criminal. He's a righteous man. And I walk out of the court more than forgiven with my head held high. There's a lot of difference. Do you believe that through the blood of Christ, you're not only forgiven?

God says, I look at you as if you've never sinned in your whole life. Don't you think you'll have a lot more boldness to go to God if you had never sinned in your whole life? Don't you find in yourself something like a hesitation, something like driving your car but putting your foot on the brakes.

You're not so very sure whether you can go so freely to God because the devil is there to accuse you and remind you of all the wretched things you did. It's a wonderful thing to be justified. I wish somebody had told me that the day I was converted.

I wouldn't have been so gloomy for so many years. Forgiveness is great, but justification is so much higher. Imagine, I'm 73 now and I say, I've never sinned in 73 years as far as God is concerned. Can you imagine actually, supposing I actually never, never committed one sin in word or deed or thought or motive or attitude in my whole life.

With what boldness I could come before God. That is what the blood of Jesus does for a wretched sinner and criminal like me. That's what it's done. And that's what gives me boldness. That's the first step in the new covenant.

I will not remember their sins anymore. I'll be merciful to their iniquities. I'm declared righteous, justified. And I want every person who has really turned to the Lord here, who has come to the Lord in sincerity, acknowledged that you're a sinner, made no justification for yourself, not blamed other people like Adam.

As one of the things I tell people, I say, don't go to God blaming somebody else like Adam. Yes, Lord, I did it, but it was because of my wife. You'll get turned out of paradise. If you want to stay in paradise.

Have you seen this comparison between Adam blaming somebody else and being turned out of paradise? And the thief on the cross blaming nobody, he says, Lord, I'm to blame. The Lord says, really? Come with me to paradise.

You see the contrast? He didn't say, well, Lord, my parents brought me up badly and that was the reason or I got into bad company when my teenage years. No, it is me, Lord. One hundred percent me to blame.

Lord says, today you'll be with me in paradise. That's the difference. So, when you confess your sins, don't blame anybody else. Take the blame one hundred percent yourself. You can walk with Jesus in paradise.

Your life on earth will be like a walking in paradise. I tell you, I've experienced it. There were in the olden days when I was ignorant, I blamed people like Adam, being a true child of Adam, pointing fingers at others.

I finished with it. I said, Lord, in my flesh dwells nothing good. I have no business to point a finger at anybody else. I am guilty. Not ninety nine percent, but one hundred percent. And that's why I believe whenever there's a tension between two people, if you're a spiritual person, you should be the first one to go and apologize and set matters right.

I asked this question in India where heathen culture traditionally makes the husband like a king and the wife like a slave. Not the queen, slave. And I asked people, if a husband and wife have a tension, as can happen in every marriage, who should apologize first?

That's a very big question. Who should apologize first? Who do you think should apologize first? I say, well, let's take an example from God. When God and man had a tension, who took the first step to restore that relationship?

Who is it? God. Not man. Even though he had not made any mistake. The mistake was on Antalya on my side, but he took the first step. God so loved the world that he sent his son. Why did he do that? Because he was more spiritual than me.

So, now we get the answer. When a husband and wife have a tension, who should take the first step? The one who is more spiritual. And since both imagine that they are spiritual, they should be just running into each other's arms.

Why isn't it so? Because you are carnal. He is the carnal person who waits for the other person to take the first step. Well, you know the answer now. I hope from today onwards you will be just running into each other's arms every time you have a tension.

Because we all want to be spiritual, right? At least we want to be known that we are spiritual. The Lord treats us as we treat others. So, that's forgiveness, cleansing, justification. The second promise of the new covenant is here.

Knowing God as Father Through the Holy Spirit

Verse 11, Hebrews 8, 11. They shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, everyone his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest. That's the next step. First is forgiveness, cleansing, justification.

Then, he is not saying there won't be any teachers. Ephesians 4, 11 says, Christ has appointed teachers in the church. But the teacher's job is to teach people scripture. To teach people the doctrines of God.

But knowing the Father, you can know Him yourself. The teacher can only tell you what's here. But it's the Holy Spirit. Romans 8, 16 says, The Spirit of God, when He comes in, witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God and cries out from within us, if I were to translate it, Daddy, Father.

Abba is just, it's a Hebrew word, unfortunately not translated. But if it were translated, it would be Daddy, Dad. The Holy Spirit, you know, Dad is more intimate than Father. Father is a sort of a formal word.

And when it says in Romans 8, that the Spirit of God cries out within us, saying, Abba, Romans 8, 15. Abba, Father. It's Dad. It's one of the great blessings of the New Covenant. The Holy Spirit comes in and tells us, we're not orphans.

We got a dad in heaven. Can you imagine the security that a little child who had been in an orphanage, where they treated him nicely, for five years, never experiencing the hug of a dad or mom, getting his food, education, clothing and all.

When he's five years old, he suddenly discovered that he's not an orphan, that his dad is alive. He doesn't have to stay in the orphanage anymore. And he goes and lives in a home. And his dad hugs him and says, boy, I found you after five years.

You were lost. Can you imagine the excitement of that boy? I don't have to live in an orphanage anymore. I've got a dad. Have you experienced that? I see so many Christians living exactly like orphans.

You know, Jesus said, all shall know me, it says. And you don't have to be a very mature saint. The second blessing here in the New Covenant, Hebrews 8, 11 says, all shall know me from the least to the greatest.