This was the main sermon preached on Sunday 22nd February 2009 and it ... is ... AMAZING!!
"What Is Sin In The New Covenant?"
Something that is burning in my heart and all of your hearts I trust is that we are persuaded that;
The church is meant to be a heavenly society residing on earth - a community of people that embody the understanding that God is with us and that we are the temple of God, we are the people who are the walking embassys of God, that we carry heaven's Presence here on the earth because we have learnt how to conduct heaven's influence onto the earth.
This series is simply called; "Faith is Conducting Heaven's Influence into the Earth". The more members of this congregation that learn how to conduct heaven's influence into the earth, the easier and higher and greater will be the miracles.
I am of the persuasion in reading the Bible that we are not meant to sweat and struggle to see the miracles of God. If sweat and struggle is required on our behalf then that means we have got something in our natural soul that can make supernatural miracles happen - but we don't. Every miracle is totally of God and all He wants is partnership with man to do that.
God doesn't work in a vacuum - God works with human beings that cooperate with Him. So I have known over years that something is wrong with church and I couldn't figure it out. Particularly Sunday morning congregations were the hardest to preach into. You go there on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night and at first it is tough because the ceiling for supernatural miracles is very low in the average church. Then by Thursday night they start to get faith and believe a bit and God is delivering them from hang ups and condemnation and by Saturday night they are rocking and the heavens are starting to come down. The same crowd turn up Sunday morning and they dress and talk and act differently because they have gone straight back into their religious traditions that they have been brainwashed with. So I would go and fast 2 to 3 days in the early 80s. I just was in my room alone with God going without food day and night. I would get as much of the power of God that I could and with all of these downloads. I lost many friends, wouldn't watch TV, denying my wife and wouldn't have fun - just locked in with God and came out and did miracles.
And the people loved it! They just turned up in any state of mind that they wanted and their pastor was full of anointing oil that miracles would happen. Eventually it became unhealthy because we developed like a movie house where the congregation just watches and were entertained or it was a preaching hall and they would come in and watch the pastor do miracles. And I mean miracles! When any of them were sick they would call me and when an aunty was sick they would tell me to go and when I nearly burned out like many pastors - 80% pastors leave the ministry within 7 years because they are finished. They are burned out and their marriage is in trouble because they did it the wrong way like I was doing. And I couldn't figure out how to do miracles without having to get Reinhard Bonke in for a crusade and how you got miracles like the early church had. People were being saved every single day and getting healed every single day and they were meeting every day and had miracles all the time!
And Peter, John, Paul weren't burned out! Why? What was going on there?
They understood that there was no seperation between clergy and laity and they understood that there is a royal priesthood and every believer is to be equipped and trained by apostles, by prophets, by evangelists and pastor/teachers and every believer can learn the trade secrets from these ministries and every believer is to be a conductor of heavens influence.
I am almost embarressed to say that I have only seen in the last few months how easy it is to have a church that is so full of the glory of God that someone can walk in that door with crutches and look at them and while they are standing there in the worship there is so much condensity of heaven's presence in the meeting that before they know it the crutches are gone and they are dancing and no one even prayed for them because 70-80% of the members know how to conduct heaven's presence into the room! Though I still fast and spend hours with God it won't be at the expense of a normal sane life and neither will you have to burn yourself out praying hours and hours a day because what we are learning in this series is how to be a conductor of heaven's influence - not earning it or deserving it but by getting free from condemnation and free from guilt and all the lies of the devil that says; "You are disqualified because of the sin in your life - God cannot use you". Yes He can use you!
If He is only using people with no sin in their lives then there is not one person He can use on the planet!
How would you like to die one day and when you look back on your life the Father says; "You played your part in partnering with others in that local church and turned up regularly not through legalism!". There is no religious date in the Christian calendar by the way! I would do this on Monday morning if you had it of or Saturday! But you come regularly because you are being equipped and trained and when you miss meetings you get the downloads of the website and the CDs because you want to keep on-page with all your partners in bringing heaven to earth! So that it is so easy and effortless - every member in the congregation is worshipping God and bringing their sacrifice of praise. That pain they had during the week - they are not sulking! They are saying; "The pleasure You get Father when I praise You in difficult times - I WILL praise You! I will not sit here and analyse and criticise!".
We are not going to allow fanaticism in this church! What is fanaticism? It is doing things without the anointing and doing things without faith. Whenever you go beyond the anointing and go beyond faith then that is fanaticism!
Every member knows how to conduct heaven. Every member walks in and says; "I will pull heaven down!". The Bible says one can a thousand to flight but two can put ten thousand to flight! There is release of anointing in unity! When people come together who all know that they are royal priests and know they have got equality of faith within their spirits that attracts heaven's presence into the room then the whole thing goes up expenetially! Then we can sneeze and someone jumps out of a wheelchair! I promise you that if we can understand what we are saying in this series then it is this close! It is not complicated! When I fasted in the early 80s because I thought that I had to produce the miracles then I robbed my family and robbed them of their destiny! Now I am including you! I am saying to you that we understand that we get revelation and are regular in involvement in this church! How busy can you be to be distracted from something that will bring heaven to earth! I know that one day you think I am going to heaven and that is so far away and a lot of people will die and go to hell before you go to heaven!
We have got to get heaven to earth so multitudes get saved and multitudes get healed!
Hong Kong is not going to be saved by great preaching or great theology or great cemetaries ... I mean seminaries! Or great churches! If it is just religion and tradition it won't work! Hong Kong will be saved when heaven comes down so beautiful and intense! The people know that God Almighty is there in power! And there is no great evangelist or guru there - just a royal priesthood! And people come and say; "Who is doing this?". Jesus is doing this! Jesus is our leader! Jesus is the leader of this royal band and we are co-ordinated by the Holy Spirit who is anointing us and leading us! We are people of the Holy Spirit!
How many of you remember multiple choice questions as a student? I used to like them because when you didn't study at least you could guess! You get a question and there are 4 or 5 possible answers! God gives you and me a multiple question today! Galatians 3:5.
Question: Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles through the evangelist, clergy, among you?
Answer: Because you observe the law.
Or because you believed what you heard?
Only one is right! One is totally wrong and one is totally right! The Spirit moves through and among the people of God by hearing the message of the Cross and they are relieved from the curse of the law. (v8). Those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith. (v12). The law is not based on faith. I am going to say something that some of you have never seen or heard before. It will be a major departure from years of religious tradition. I am going to set you up before I say it and I will warn you before I say it. This revelation that I am going to say I did not get from books. God gave it to me. It will make you a better conductor. (Hebrews 11:6); "Without faith it is impossible to please God". Anything without faith doesn't please God. You can keep all 10 Commandments 100% - no one has except Jesus - but even if you did, God wouldn't be pleased and it wouldn't make Him happy because the law is not based on faith.
So what is faith? Faith is the recognition that God is so good and He is good all the time and His whole nature and His whole being is constantly positioned and His demenour is to constantly bless you without you earning it or deserving it. His nature is so good that even if you are sinning He STILL wants to bless you.
That isn't even the big thing that will shock people! While you are still sinning, the nature of God is to still heal you, bless you, anoint you and love you and show compassion and kindness to you!
Abraham was a lying, cheating Iraqui and God came to him and said; "I am going to bless you". Abraham said; "I believe that!". God said; "You are righteous" because Abraham believed. The nature of God is so good that He wants to bless me and He wants to make my name great! I don't have to earn a thing - I don't have the law! The law is 430 years in the future! But El-Shaddi manifested Himself and I encountered the living God! I didn't encounter religion or a church service! I was an Iraqui and was out in the desert and the God of heavens and earth came to me in manifest glory and said "I will bless you and make your name great! All nations will be blessed through you!". Abraham didn't say; "Oh I don't deserve it, I sinned this week, I haven't been having a good week". He just said; "Yes sure!". And God said "I declare you to be righteous".
Who are the righteous? Those who have faith that God is good and that His desire to bless you is not based on the law.
Now the law will blind you and blind millions of church-goers. Romans 4 - Paul said the law DECEIVED him! The law will BLIND you to the goodness of God and get you into a religious, driven-works programme to try and make you good enough to earn the blessing. That is sin against God. God hates that! It is an accusation against the goodness of His character that He is mean and wants to punish you and judge you and if you aren't being good enough then He doesn't want to bless you but if you really try hard enough then He may get around to blessing you. That unbelief is evil!
To think of God through the law - to think that God wants you to keep the law to earn the blessing is partnership with demonic powers.
I don't believe that Rob! Go check John chapter 8. Jesus is talking to people under the law and who believe that the law earns them the blessing of heaven. "Our father is Abraham". The answer? "Your father is not Abraham! Your father is the devil!". These were people that prided themselves that they were the elite of the religious orthodox of the day! Jesus said; "If Abraham was your father then you would do the things that Abraham did. Your father is the devil and when the devil speaks he lies because lying is his native language".
People who are under the law are liars and they are in partnership with the devil because the devil is their father while they carry their Bibles to their Sunday morning services.
That's terrible then why did God bring the law in the first place!? If being under the law blinds you! You saw from Hebrews 10 and Galatians 3 that God NEVER wanted to bring the law but to relate to man from the generous nature of His heart because He knew that if He continued to bless people in their sin then they would begin to adjust and DEAL with their sin and get victory over their sin and get more holy in their lifestyle! He brought them out of Egypt and slavery under Abraham blessing them and providing for them but they kept on being grumpy and complaining against His goodness and they insulted Him by their unbelief and were in partnership with satanic lies.
Until eventually God said; "Alright if you don't believe in My goodness and are in unbelief against My goodness then I will now give you church and religion full of unbelief - what you want - something not based on faith".
Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles based on law or because you believe? All those who believe are blessed along with Abraham - the man of faith! It is the most difficult thing to understand that God NEVER wanted to bring the law! He brought it because man's evil heart of unbelief in His goodness!
We have religion today so full of moral pride and they are telling everyone about the successful formulas and steps to be an effective person - you have ATHEISTS who are just as successful as they are and are doing it with their sole power.
But it comes to curse and it all comes into misery. Abraham's descendants are walking in joy because they know their God! Faith knows that God is good all the time! Let me give you a Scripture - 2 Peter 1:2; "Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus Christ". So as you get knowledge of the nature of God then grace and peace is multiplied to you. Grace is heaven's influence on your life. It is influencing and capacitating your life to do things that you have never done before. It is a confidence to be so close to the Father and to know the Father! What does the devil say? "Grace and peace will be taken away from you the less you know the nature of God". Grace and peace will be subtracted drastically the more wrong ideas that I - the devil - can put into their minds!
Why does 2 Corinthians 10:4 talk about the weapons we fight with are not carnal but mighty for the demolishing of strongholds that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God? Who puts these imaginations in your mind that is seeking to exalt itself above the image of God? Satan! Most people live on the planet utterly disillusioned with the goodness of God - they try harder and harder and get tired. Remember what this is about? This is about getting more of heaven to earth! This is about getting heaven in - this is about a faith conducting heaven in! Faith isn't something you switch on and switch off. If you have got faith then heaven is attracted to you! Not because you are doing rules and laws! But because you have got faith! There are atheists that are more moral than Christians but there is nothing miraculous in their lives because they have no faith in the goodness of God!
If you want heaven's power by the Holy Spirit then Luke 11 talks about "you who are evil know how to give good things to your children then how much MORE will your heavenly Father?". When you are a dad and you look at your children and sometimes you just want to give them everything! There are times you just want to bless them not because they have earned it!
How much more does a perfect Father full of love just want to dump the Holy Spirit in power on us who come together?!
Now we are getting close to the warning okay!? Go to Galatians 3 and let's look at this well known verse. (v23); "Before this faith came we were held prisoners by the law and locked up until faith should be revealed". Faith should be revealed! That is the important thing!
FAITH SHOULD BE REVEALED!
Something that is revealed is not something your head analyses through academic study. You can study about glasses and learn academic education about glasses but they have never been revealed to you. Glasses are only revealed when you wear them! Until faith is revealed you are locked up and a prisoner of the law! Until faith is revealed you are locked up whether you like it or not! Like the majority of Christians on our planet you are locked up in the limitations of earthly experiences and earthly encounters and you don't know the heavens.
It is not talking about the idea of faith. Paul is talking about the difference between the Old Covenant of Moses law and the New Covenant! This is the big one. The easy one comes first and then the big one.
1. Under the Old Covenant the law was given so that you would do your best to keep it but you would have to keep it 100% to earn the blessing. No one did. Everyone became cursed and Romans 2 says that there was none righteous. Under the New Covenant the law is taken away and cancelled at the Cross.
Under the New Covenant promises are given to believe to get the blessing.
Why are there people who seem to strive to get the blessing but don't get much? Firstly because they are under the law. While they are under the law they have no capacity to have faith. The law has locked them up. You give them the promises and you announce what God has for them but they have no capacity to believe the promises because they are locked up to academic human talents and earthly prison limitations.
When faith is revealed and promises are presented then they don't even think of the law but just believe God is good and just believe that God wants to give this to them!
Here it comes:
SIN IS DEFINED DIFFERENTLY ACCORDING TO THE CONTEXT OF THE COVENANT. UNDER LAW SIN IS DEFINED AS FALLING SHORT OF THE LAW.
Missing the target. Not keeping the law.
UNDER THE NEW COVENANT SIN IS NOT DEFINED THAT WAY AT ALL. UNDER THE NEW COVENANT SIN IS DEFINED AS UNBELIEF IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD.
Everyone who does not believe in the grace of God is in sin! Everyone who is in unbelief is in sin. They are keeping the law but are in sin because the law is not based on faith.
Romans 4:5 says where there is NO law there is NO sin! So the law has been taken off you - it has been cancelled at the Cross! So there is nothing to fall short of! So sin under the New Covenant is unbelief!
SO LEGALISTIC CHURCHES ARE THE MOST SINNING CHURCHES ON THE PLANET!
It is sad! Legalistic churches do not believe God wants to bless them just because of who God is despite their failures or lack of holiness that God wants to bless them like He did Abraham. They don't believe that! They believe you have got to do things to earn the blessing! They are in sin while they think that they are so holy. Let's go to Colossians 2. I want to encourage you - once you are in Christ where do you have to confess your sin? Don't give me 1 John1:8,9 - we have dealt with that! The Bible talks about only one form of repentance in the New Covenant and that is repentance from dead works.
What are dead works? Works done without faith! Dead works are useless religious ceremonies!
All through the book of Hebrews the writer is saying you must repent from UNBELIEF! Repent from DEAD WORKS! So whenever Hebrews talks about sin for those that are in Christ or those that have heard the Gospel but some haven't come to Christ - he is talking about unbelief. Hebrews 3 talks about having an "evil heart of unbelief" - what in? The grace and goodness of God! Hebrews 10 and it says that they are continually deliberately sinning (v26) - why are they trampling Jesus blood under foot? Because they don't have faith that Jesus blood can save them. They believe that the blood of shadow and symbolism and the Temple system is worthy of relying on. They have rejected the blood of Jesus because they don't have faith in the Gospel and are relying on the law and the temple system and priesthood which is what millions of believers around the world are doing! They are sinning and deliberately so!
If you die in Moses then you are going straight to hell. You can only be in Christ to go to heaven. Every sin is taken off and Christ has destroyed every sin but there was just one sin that He could not die for and that is unbelief in the grace of God. To die in Moses is to die in unbelief of the grace of God. Hebrews 11 starts about faith - the substance. And he goes on to give a list of dozens of people who did mighty things. "Through faith". Then it is those who through faith were persecuted and endured! All about faith! Hebrews 12:1; "Since we are surrounded by so great a crowd of witnesses" - who are all the people of faith! "And THE sin that so easily entangles us and run ... the Author and Perfector of our faith". One single sin! Religious people's obsession with themselves and their effort are locked up in a prison of earth. No ability to pull heaven into the earth! The sin that was constantly entangling the Hebrews was unbelief!
Everyone always thinks that the sin that "so easily entangles" must be pornography or lying or some other sin that I have done. We are not encouraging pornography!
I would rather have someone struggling with pornography but with strong faith in the love and glory of a loving Father - because if he keeps believing in the goodness of God then somewhere pornography will lose it's allure and desire and they will be free by the power of the Gospel!
The one full of unbelief is the one so easily entangled and they are putting people in bondage! Colossians 2. How many of you want to see fulness in your life? There is nothing more the Father can give you because He has already given you everything in Christ. Your journey is to grow in revelation of faith revealed - a revelation of what the gospel and law and sin under law and sin under the New Covenant is. A faith revealed! Colossians 2:8. Paul knows that the grace of God is driving the Pharisees into hysterical frothing at the mouth anger! "See to it that noone takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy that depends on human tradition of this world ...". The basic principle of this world is not Christ! (v9); "ALL the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form and you HAVE been given" - it has already taken place!
(v11); "You were circumcised in the putting of the sinful nature". That happened when you were born again. (v13); "Forgave us ALL our sins having cancelled the written code with it's regulations that is AGAINST us". The law is AGAINST you! "He took it AWAY nailing it to the Cross and having disarmed the powers and authorities triumphing over them by the Cross".
What is fullness in Christ that you have been given?
1. Your sinful nature was cut away when you were born again.
"But Rob I still sin!". Oh you still live in unbelief? "Oh I forgot what sin in the New Covenant is!". He cut away your sinful nature! What is the sinful nature of man? The sinful nature of fallen man is that nature that is suspicious about the integrity of God and secretly believe that God is evil and doesn't really want to do good to you unless you do well. How did it get in there? God had given Adam everything except one restriction - one tree. The devil came and said "Hey God is restricting you - you can't eat from the tree of religion - try to do good, try to avoid evil. God is trying to stop you! What did he do? He created a credibility gap in Adam's conciousness as to the integrity of God's goodness. He said you can do better than what God has given you. God had made Adam in His likeness - he had nothing to aspire to! He had government of the whole planet! But the devil succeeded in making Adam think that God wasn't good and He was holding out on Adam and was being stingy! So Adam ate and the conciousness that dropped into him and the sinning nature - an evil nature that suspected God was not good. A nature of unbelief in the goodness of God.
The sinful nature means that the day you got born again that was cut out - all of that suspicion - and a new nature put inside you that capacitates you to know that God is good all the time in fullness! What is the problem? Our heads! The way we were regenerated! Our heads are still programmed with inferiority and our mind thinks but we must listen to our new nature, our born again nature and it will say "God is good!".
2. He forgave ALL your sins!
When did He forgive our sins? After we have confessed our sins and repented? Ten hail Marys? When? 2, 000 years before you ever sinned! You arrived on the planet with all your sins totally wiped out - the slate clean and can never be dirtied again! The sins are all gone! I have got a new nature! Fully all sins gone!
3. All the Law of Moses - the 10 Commandments - the ministry of death that rates and condemns you was cancelled at the Cross.
Fullness of the law has gone! When that happened principalities and powers had nothing left to condemn you so you are not measuring up! "You are not measuring up!". To what?! The law! Come here devil you haven't been to a good church! Cancelled! As a result they were disarmed! What are preachers doing today? They are preaching the law back on the church and are re-arming a disarmed enemy and then they get the church to fast and pray to do spiritual warfare and bombard the powers operating in this area. No they are operating in this area because you are partnering with them through your unbelief and preaching of the law. YOU empowered principalities! Hong Kong doesn't need any more lies! It doesn't need anyone more telling us that if we fast and pray enough then we will bind principalities and authorities! How much more is fullness DISARMED? They have NO more power or authority! They are disarmed but the church RE ARMS them! People in unbelief love something that is not of faith because you don't have to get out the boat or step out in the supernatural - you can do everything by earthly control based on earthly talent. That is being locked up under the law!
If you have an inner heart that constantly struggles to believe God is good then maybe you are not saved. If you are constantly suspicious of God's goodness then maybe you have been a church-goer all your life but have never had your heart fully saved.
Your conditioning is different. If your inner nature constantly suspects God then you are still under law. How do I get born again? Jesus I believe you are good and that at that Cross you cut away that nature! Give me a circumcision of my heart! Cut religion out of me today! You can't receive it until you believe it! There will a people in hell who have been forgiven all their sins. Because there was one sin that Jesus couldn't die for. Unbelief. The only sin that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of; "because they do not believe on Me". What is the law? Not based on faith! What else did you do? Took away the law - sin conciousness is all gone! Powers and authorities are disarmed! You don't have to fast to disarm them! Just believe! Does God move by His Spirit and do miracles because you are under the law or because you believe!
There is a momentum of grace on the planet - it is so difficult to be a legalist now! There are grace congregations being raised up!
This is too important to not let the Holy Spirit water the seed. The devil tries to steal the seed by hardship so your mind says "This stuff doesn't work". But when the Holy Spirit waters the seed then it starts to produce multiple-fold. It has gone over the website today - the seed of heaven has gone into your heart. This is God's seed and it will keep producing for the rest of your life crops of blessing! Lies have been broken off your life! You are partnering with God conducting heaven's influence into the earth! You are not a pauper but an ambassador! A conductor that we might see the increase of heaven come into Hong Kong!
I am righteous in Him! I am righteous in Him! I am the righteousness of God in Christ!
I am righteous in Him! I am righteous in Him! I am the righteousness of God in Christ!
All my trangressions have been removed and all my mistakes are made new!
All my trangressions have been removed and all my mistakes are made new!
I am righteous in Him! I am righteous in Him! I am the righteousness of God in Christ!
I am righteous in Him! I am righteous in Him! I am the righteousness of God in Christ!
No more condemnation - no accusation now! I am free from the power of sin and death!
I have had a revelation of the glorious grace of God and I am living in perfect grace!
Heaven come to Hong Kong! Heaven come to City Church!
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