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Scripture Reading: Matt. 26:28; Heb. 8:10-12
We have read this passage in Hebrews 8 over and over. If we study this portion carefully, we will see that it contains three promises: (1) The law will be imparted into the mind and inscribed on the heart, to the effect that God will become God to us, and we will become God's people. (2) The result of the law within our heart is that we will know God. We will not only know God's will and God's commandment, but know God. (3) Not only will God be propitious to our unrighteousnesses, but will forgive our sins. The items that we listed [in the fifth message on the new covenant] reverses this order. We had cleansing as the first item, knowledge the second, and life and power the third. This was according to our spiritual experience. We are first cleansed and forgiven, then made to enjoy God's life and power, and finally know God.
The thought in Hebrews 8:10 continues through the end of verse 11. Verse 12 is another beginning. At the beginning of verse 12 there is the word "for." This means that forgiveness has been accomplished. God is propitious to our sins and forgives our unrighteousness, then He puts the law into us and inscribes it upon our hearts, with the result being that we know God. This knowledge of God will fill the earth as the water, and no one will teach his neighbor or brothers to know God. Therefore, the order of our spiritual experience is: (1) cleansing, (2) life and power, and (3) knowledge.
In Philippians 3, Paul told us his experience. First he received God's righteousness --he was justified apart from his own righteousness. Then he considered all things as loss in order that he might gain Christ and know the Lord. The knowledge of God came after forgiveness. Forgiveness is once for all, but the knowledge of God goes deeper and deeper. Day by day we know God more and more. However, I will not speak about knowledge today but about the second aspect of our spiritual experience, which is life and power. We will not cover life and power completely; we will only speak on the part about life.
Hebrews 8:7 says, "For if that first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second." In God's eyes, the first covenant had faults and was weak; it did not have the power and way for us to keep God's commandments. As far as the first covenant is concerned, Paul also said in the book of Romans that the law was holy but was not able to do many things (7:12). As far as the power of the first covenant is concerned, it also had faults. This is why there is the need for the second covenant.
Why did the first covenant have faults? Let us read 8:8-9, "For finding fault with them He says, `Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will consummate a new covenant upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.'" The Lord said that when He took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, they did not continue in the Lord's covenant. This means that they should have continued to be faithful. However, they were not able to be faithful day after day. Even though they made up their minds to follow the Lord, they could not faithfully follow Him every day. Even though they were revived once, they could not be revived every day. They might have promised to read the Bible every day, but they could not. This was the problem with the old covenant.
Exodus 19:5 says, "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine." This is God's word to the Israelites. Verse 8 says, "And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." Immediately they said that they would keep the words. Let us read again Exodus 24:8, "And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words." Everything recorded from chapter nineteen to 24:8 are the words of God's covenant. Moses said that this was the blood of the covenant, and the people answered saying, "All the words which the Lord hath said will we do" (24:3). Brothers and sisters, in Exodus 19 through 24, God's law says that we cannot have other gods and worship idols. Please remember that the contents of Exodus 19 through 24 are the whole covenant. But by chapter thirty-two, before Moses delivered the tablets of the covenant from Mount Sinai, the Israelites had made a golden calf and started to worship the idol. The tablets of the covenant were still up in the mountain, and the Israelites had already betrayed the covenant! They were worshipping the golden calf at the bottom of the mountain. This shows that they could not keep God's law. This is the shortage of the old covenant.
Therefore, the old covenant means that we can temporarily make up our minds and be excited; we can shout to God that we will do His will. But even if we keep the law for a few days, this will not last. We can find out the teachings in the Bible, but cannot keep its commandments. We can behold God's glory on Mount Sinai, but sin at the bottom of the mountain. We can rise up early to read the Bible and pray, but we forget about God in the office, hospital, school, or at home. This means that even though there may be good beginnings, there are no good endings. This is the old covenant. However, God has given us the new covenant which is within us. Second Corinthians 3 says that the law was previously written on tablets of stone; now it is written on the tablet of our heart. Today the new covenant is the best gospel. The new covenant is entirely different from the old covenant. In the new covenant, the One who gives the command is God, and the One who is responsible to keep the command is also God. In the old covenant, the One who gave the commandment and the law was God, but we were the ones who kept them. In the new covenant, the One who made the law is God, and the One who keeps the law is also God.
Today Christians everywhere are very ignorant of this gospel. However, the gospel of the forgiveness of sins can be found everywhere. Everyone knows about the death of the Lord and the blood He shed to save us and forgive us of our sins. Many people have faith in this and can lay hold of this. They believe in this part of the new covenant and preach it. They know that God is propitious to unrighteousness and sins. But it is amazing that only one third of the new covenant has been believed by men. The other two thirds are set aside. An ignorant sinner thinks that he has to try his best to do good before he can be saved. He thinks this way because he has never heard the gospel. But we will not think this way anymore. We know that we are children by promise and not by works. We know that God has promised to forgive and forget all our sins through Jesus Christ. We know that when we believe in Him according to His Word, we will receive forgiveness. It is amazing that we know that we are saved by the Word of God and not by ourselves, but in the matter of overcoming, we think that we have to strive, struggle, and wrestle.
Brothers and sisters, both salvation and overcoming are in the same covenant. This covenant gives us the power to go on in the way ahead of us. Overcoming sin, obeying God, and the filling of the Holy Spirit are all included in this covenant. The way we receive the grace of forgiveness is the same way we receive the grace to overcome sin. The way our sins are forgiven before God is the same way we overcome our sins before God. Just as we felt that we could not have forgiveness in ourselves, we should feel that we are weak and are unable to do good and overcome sin in ourselves. The old covenant was God holding the Israelites' hands and bringing them out of Egypt. Today God is holding our heart and leading us out of Egypt. Formerly God put the law in their hands. Now God is putting the law in our hearts. Today there is something mysterious that tells us what is and what is not of God.
First, let us consider how God puts the power within us, and how He strengthens us to overcome. Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 31 are similar passages. Ezekiel 36 refers to the salvation of the Jews during the millennium. Jeremiah 31 refers to the same thing. However, in some areas, Jeremiah's words are clearer, while in other areas, Ezekiel's words are clearer. Hebrews 8 is a quotation of Jeremiah 31. Therefore, the last two are similar.
Ezekiel 36:25 says, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." This means the same thing as in Hebrews 8 when it says that He will be propitious to our unrighteousness and cleanse us from our iniquities.
Verses 26 through 27 say, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Please pay attention to the word cause in verse 27. This is a strong word. It is a verb. Can you see the glory in verses 26 and 27? This explains Jeremiah 31. Verse 26 mentions our spirit, while verse 27 mentions God's Spirit. The second Spirit is not our spirit, but is something that God gives to us. Therefore, we have a new spirit, a new heart, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to do God's will and keep God's laws. The law written on the tablets of stone is outward. There is nothing within ourselves that is compatible with the law on the stone tablets. This is why we cannot keep God's commandments. Today God has written the law within us. Not only has He written it within us, He has given us a new spirit, a new heart, and the Holy Spirit which cause us to obey Him. This is regeneration. Not only do we have a new spirit which enables us to fellowship with God, but we have a new heart which enables us to love God and everything spiritual. This new heart causes us to develop a love for God; it is contrary to the heart of stone. Not only do we have a new spirit and a new heart, but the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit causes our new heart to have the strength to love God and our new spirit to have the power to fellowship with Him.
Some have asked, "Why does God have to give us the Holy Spirit in addition to the new spirit and the new heart?" If we know the function of our body, we will know. With our body, there are the voluntary actions and involuntary actions. For example, moving our hands and feet requires the exercise of the will; these are voluntary actions. In addition to these actions, there is digestion by the stomach and metabolism by the cells which are not under man's control; these are involuntary actions. Voluntary actions are controlled by the will, and involuntary actions are spontaneous and controlled by a natural law. When we were saved, we received a new spirit and a new heart; these are "involuntary"; they spontaneously operate according to their new functions and new desires. However, God has not only given us these things. He has also given us the Holy Spirit so that we can be led by Him wholeheartedly, receive revelation from Him wholeheartedly, and trust in His power wholeheartedly. These must all be done through the exercise of the will and through conscious effort. God desires that, spiritually, we have an involuntary living as well as a voluntary living. If we do not understand God's will and do not follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit will be grieved, and we will be hindered from receiving guidance and revelation from the Holy Spirit. This will cause the voluntary action of the spiritual life to cease. Of course, the spontaneous and involuntary actions of the spiritual life will not cease. However, without the power of the Holy Spirit, the new spirit and the new heart would be very much weakened.
God has not only given us a new heart and new spirit, He has also given us the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, He has put the law within us and inscribed it in our hearts so that our life will spontaneously crave God. At the same time, the Holy Spirit of God within us enables us to carry out what the spirit understands and what the heart desires.
In Kuling, Kiukiang, there was a brother who was an electrician. Originally he was a nominal Christian who was not even clear about his salvation. He did not know if he was saved. Once after I studied the Bible with him, he became clear that he was saved. I have known him for five or six years. This year while I was speaking on the experience of the Holy Spirit, to my surprise, he told me that he had experienced what I was speaking about even though he had never read this verse before. He said that he had a "steward" within him (this is what he called the Holy Spirit) which tells him if something is right or wrong. He was half illiterate. When he first believed in the Lord, he could hardly read a few words of a verse. Yet he had the Holy Spirit within him leading him, instructing him, and being a steward to him. This is a living example. Should this not be the experience of every Christian?
Many times, we do not know what we should do concerning the things that we encounter. Yet many times, before we act, we know that something is wrong. Our conscience is not telling us this; the conscience only works after something wrong is done. But, in this case, we know that something is wrong because the law of God tells us within. Sometimes when we are talking to someone and excited concerning what we are talking about, something within stops us and forbids us to say some further words which may not even be unscriptural or morally corrupting. But we just feel that something within us is giving us a pinch and telling us not to say anything more. We do not know why. If we take care of this and obey it, we will have the peace. Otherwise, when the words come out, our conscience will tell us that we have done wrong. This is the law within us. Subconsciously, it will stop us and issue a warning to us.
Let me tell you another story. A certain Christian was an active believer. He loved to offer hospitality to other believers and Christian workers. He always did his best to either invite the preachers that he met to meals or to give money to them. Once, a pastor who graduated from an American school was preaching in his chapel. He was preaching the social gospel and not preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus. After the meeting the brother wanted to go over to greet the pastor and talk to him. But he felt something was nagging at him. He hesitated for a while and did not walk forward. Finally he decided to forget about the pastor and just went home. Brothers and sisters, this is the law written within us; it is not the law written on a tablet of stone. Later this brother asked me if he could associate himself with the pastor. I did not tell him my opinion. Instead I only quoted Galatians 1:8, which says that if any man preaches another gospel that is different from ours, he should be accursed (a strong word of rebuke in Greek). Not only did Paul say this, even John said the same thing. John was called the apostle of love. Love should make a person foolish. Yet John said that if any man does not preach this teaching, we should not receive him into our house and should not greet him (2 John 10). The brother then said, "Now I know that the leading within me and the law within me were right."
Brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit inspired men to write the Bible. The Holy Spirit also gives us the inspirations within. If we would be faithful and honest to follow the inner leading, God will surely lead us on. Sometimes we can be mistaken through our prejudice. I am not telling you to not pay attention to the Bible. I am telling you to link the Bible with the inner leading and judge what we do as right or wrong according to this way. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit is not leading believers today, nor does it mean that the believers have no leading from the Holy Spirit. The pitiful thing is that they are not willing to be led by the Holy Spirit. Many read the Bible like reading a dead book. Reading the Bible to them is like memorizing the Ten Commandments, because they cannot see any leading of the Holy Spirit there. I do not despise the Bible at all; I am very concerned that the leading of the Holy Spirit must match the teaching of the Bible. Yet it is a bad phenomenon today that many people seem to have no leading apart from the Bible. They are following the Lord without any speaking from the Lord.
The reason many brothers and sisters cannot receive new truths is that they have refused and rejected the leading of the light. As a result, God puts aside the light. God has placed the law within us, and He is constantly testifying to the truths. If we reject these testimonies, day by day we will find ourselves more and more in darkness. But if we are willing to be led, day by day we will become clearer and clearer. Someone has said that the enlightening of the Holy Spirit is the light, while our inner being is the glass. If the glass is not cleaned, it will become more and more darkened and receive less and less of the light. The reason why many people cannot receive truths is that they have rejected the truths once before. Many people cannot believe in the truths, because they have once refused the truths. The Holy Spirit is responsible within us to show what is and what is not of God.
Everything from man, the world, Satan, or the flesh comes from the outside. Everything from God and the Holy Spirit comes from the inside. If we encounter something and this thing arises from our head and occupies very little weight, it must be from the outside. If it is God's leading, deeper than feeling, it is always from the inside and is a sensation that cannot be removed or ignored. If we have a feeble mind, we may easily forget the verses we have memorized. If we are tired, we may be unable to read the Bible. Sometimes when we are faced with some situation on the street, we may not have time to ask for the advice of others and consult a teaching from the Bible. But within us there is a living law leading us, whose leading is spontaneously compatible with the teaching of the Bible. This can be confirmed by the experience of many. If we repeatedly follow God's leading, which comes from the inward law within us, we will gradually be clear about the leading which comes from God's law within us. If God has made a covenant to put the law within us and to lead us, we can take hold of God's covenant and say to God: "I have Your law within me. Therefore, I will surely know Your will."
We have to know God's will item by item. But knowing God's heart is different. One English brother with deep experience in the Lord and who knows God well once said that we not only can know God's will, but also His heart. We do not despise God's will. In order to know His will, we have to seek after Him wholeheartedly. But God's heart has been given to us already; it is something that we know without consciously seeking. One Western missionary said that when he drinks milk, he prays to see if he should put one or two cubes of sugar in the milk. This is unnecessary. We should have God's heart, and we should know His heart. God has not only given us the Bible for us to keep, but He has given us the law within us so that we can know His heart. When we encounter a crisis, we should surely seek God's will. In our daily life, we can act according to God's heart; there is no need to purposely ask God. We are those who have God's heart within us already, so we know what we should do to conform to His will. Can you see the glory here?
Men in the Old Testament had to consult the law or a prophet before they could be clear about God's will. But we have a Prophet within us today. He will tell us everything. We also have a law which is not outward. An outward prophet or outward regulations have not been put upon us. Rather, we are instructed by God within us, who gives us an unspeakable sensation, a feeling which, at the same time, is not quite a feeling. This is what believers experience every day. Do we have such an experience? We may not have it every day, but at least we should have experienced it a few times.
The first stone tablets which Moses received were smashed to pieces. The second tablets which he received were placed in the ark. The ark is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. God ordered that blood be sprinkled on the ark, His glory was manifested from above the ark, and He spoke to man from above the ark. All these are pictures of the Lord Jesus.
Do we see the ark-life in the Lord Jesus? "The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does His works" (John 14:10). "For I have come down..not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38). We can see how the Lord Jesus obeyed God's word and did His will. He was not only acting according to the teaching of the Scripture but according to the inner law within Him. It is better to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit than the leading of the Bible in a dead way. Consider John 12. John 11 speaks of the Lord's raising up Lazarus. Chapter twelve speaks of the most glorious day the Lord had on earth. Not only was Lazarus resurrected, but the Greeks came to the Lord Jesus also. But whether or not they came to Him, whether or not Lazarus was resurrected, and whether or not He received glory when he entered Jerusalem, He said: "Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). Later He said: "Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me out of this hour. But for this reason I have come to this hour" (John 12:27). This word of the Lord Jesus was from His heart! Others might have considered that this was His best time. But He considered that a grain of wheat would abide alone if it did not die. In His heart He said, "Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say?" He did not immediately say what He wanted to say, but instead cried out: "Father, save Me out of this hour." But was that possible? No. Because it was for this hour that He had come. What then did He do? Verse 28 says, "Father, glorify Your name." The Lord did not say, "Father, deliver Me from this hour." Brothers and sisters, here we see the life that is within the Lord Jesus. He is led by the Spirit of God. He is truly the ark.
The ark was covered with gold on the outside which signifies the divinity of the Lord. Within the gold was the acacia wood which signifies the Lord's humanity. Therefore, the Lord has both the body of a man and the holiness of God. But within Him, there is the law which is more significant than the outward attributes that are seen and understood by men. The failure of the Pharisees was in the fact that they only saw the law placed in a high place in the synagogue. They did not see the law within the Lord Jesus. Among us today, there are some who do not know God's will and do not know how to act in this and that matter. Let me say that forgiveness is not the only item within the new covenant. His leading and law, which are within the new heart and new spirit, as well as the Holy Spirit of God are also within us and are part of the new covenant. It is a pity that many people only cling to the part about salvation. In many places, people are satisfied as long as they hear the gospel and are saved. But God has not only given us a gospel of salvation. Why would we not build a full mansion on the land that is allotted to us according to God's deed? Why do we have to build only a small hut on one little corner of the lot and leave the other parts deserted?
We should pray about many things. But with many things, we are clear even before we pray about them. I am not saying that the teaching of the Bible is not important. I am saying that the inner leading is more precious than outward leadings. Many people have said that they do not know what to do with this and that, and what should they do if they find out that they have made a mistake. My answer is that you have God's new heart, new spirit, the Holy Spirit, and the law within you. Some have often asked, "How in our experience and actual daily life can we still live like the Israelites in the Old Testament? Why do we still need the outward leading?" Let me ask, "Why was the book of Hebrews written?" The book of Hebrews was written for the Christians among the Hebrews. They were New Testament Christians living Old Testament lives. They were clearly men of the New Testament, yet they lived Old Testament lives. So there was a need for the book of Hebrews. Its purpose is to tell us that we do not have to live the Old Testament life anymore. The goal of Hebrews is to lead men out of the experience of the Old Testament into the experience of the New Testament. Do not be surprised that many Christians still live a life according to the Old Testament. Their experiences of salvation, receiving of the eternal life, and forgiveness are all real, yet they still live the Old Testament life. Praise God, He is no longer leading us out of Egypt by holding our hands, but by holding our hearts.
Some have asked why it is that in the Old Testament, men could see God and hear His voice directly, while we cannot today. We have to thank God that men in the Old Testament saw God with their physical eyes and heard Him with their physical ears. But today, in the New Testament, we do not have to do this. God has hidden Himself. He is within us now and is no longer outside of us. I know what I am saying. The deeper we go, the more we will realize that all the outward excitement and activities are gone. We will realize that everything has become inward. More and more, we will become normal, and men will not be surprised when they see us. The more we go on, the deeper our experience will be, the more blessing we will receive from God, and the more we will have the experience of knowing God. The more we go on, the more subjective experience we will have and the more we will gain God. Please remember that this knowledge is part of God's covenant. Whoever has not received this leading can cling to the covenant and say to God, "This is what You have said in Your covenant, and I want it." Do not say that we will not have it. Because of this covenant, we can receive what we should receive every day. God has to give it to us. The blood of the Lord Jesus has purchased this covenant, and God's faithfulness and righteousness guarantee that everything in this covenant will be ours. Therefore, we can cling to this covenant, speak to God, and pray to Him by standing on this covenant in faith.
