Let us return to the book of Jeremiah, Chapter 31.
Jeremiah 31:31-34.
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord.
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
God used the prophet Jeremiah to warn the children of Israel of their sins. If they did not repent, judgment would surely come upon them.
Jeremiah spoke many hard words because the children of Israel were rebellious, and they would not obey.
But thank God, in judgment there is mercy. Even though judgment had to come upon the children of Israel because of their unrepentant condition, God promised that one day—not because of the faithfulness of the children of Israel, but because of His mercy—He would make a new covenant with them.
Now, our God is a God of covenant—or, to use a modern word, a God of contract, a God of agreement.
You know, why do we need a contract? Why do we need to sign an agreement? It is because we cannot trust each other. We cannot trust each other’s words. We may say something, and then we may not perform it. We may even deny it.
Now, in order to bind us, in order to strengthen our trust, we need a contract. We need an agreement.
Our God is a faithful God. Whatever He says is true. When He says it, it is as good as done. God does not need to sign a contract with us.
But because of our little faith—our faith is so small—we do not have the faith, the confidence, even in God’s Word, that we should have. We should believe whatever God says, because He is faithful and He will perform it. Heaven and earth may pass away, but His Word will all be fulfilled.
And yet, we are people of such little faith that even God has to covenant with us in order to strengthen us.
So our God is a God of covenant. You find throughout the whole Bible that God covenanted with His people from time to time.
He covenanted with Noah when Noah came out of the flood. You know, Noah must have been so terrified. God had to covenant with him to put him at peace, to give him rest.
God covenanted with Abraham when his faith was weak. God said, “I will do it. Your children shall be as the stars of heaven, as the sand on the seashore. I will give the land to you and to your seed.” God covenanted with Abraham.
Throughout the history of God’s relationship with men, you find God covenanted with His people from time to time. The reason is to strengthen our faith in Him. It is love.
So far as God Himself is concerned, there is no need for it. But for us, it seems necessary.
After God took the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them to Mount Sinai. There, at Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with His redeemed people.
This covenant was called the old covenant after the new covenant had come.
At Mount Sinai, God gave them the Ten Commandments and, of course, the statutes, ordinances, and precepts. In covenanting with the children of Israel, God gave them a sign: the Sabbath was the sign.
God took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt to Mount Sinai. God continued to take their hand to lead them on into the promised land.
God was like a husband to the nation. He took care of them, provided for all their needs, and led their way. Yet, in spite of everything that God did for them, they broke the covenant.
They did not keep the law. They rebelled against God. Because of that, the covenant was broken, and the children of Israel entered into judgment.
But God said that one day He would make a new covenant with them, and this new covenant would be very different from the old covenant.
The old covenant was God taking their hand.
You know, sometimes you see parents take the hand of their children as they walk down the street. They are going somewhere, but suddenly the eyes of the child are caught by something in a window, or by something else he sees. He wants to go the other way. He wants to go to that window or somewhere else.
Yet the parents know where they should go. You find the parents hold the hand of the child and try to lead him, while the child struggles away from them. Then they are pulling in different directions, and things like that.
God’s dealing with the children of Israel was almost like that. God took their hand and led them on, yet their heart was somewhere else. They wanted to struggle out of God’s hand. They wanted to go their own way. They did not want to be led by God.
The relationship of husband and wife is the closest of all human relationships. God was like a husband to the children of Israel, and yet it still was not enough.
God was still God, and they were still the children of Israel. However intimate the relationship might be, it was still an external thing: taking the hand, going together—still external.
Because of the weakness of our flesh—not because God’s law is not good, but because of the weakness of our flesh—we fail. We break.
But one day God would make a new covenant, and the nature of the new covenant is very different from that of the old covenant.
Why? Because God said, “I will put My law into your heart.” It is no longer inscribed on stones, but it will be inscribed upon the heart.
God said, “I will be your God, and you shall be My people. You do not need anyone to teach you, ‘Know the Lord,’ because every one of you, from the least to the greatest, shall know Me in yourselves. I will forgive your sins, and I will forget all your iniquities.”
In other words, you find that the new covenant is basically different from the old in that it is inward, not outward.
The old covenant is outward, external. No matter how good it is, it is external. It depends upon the children of Israel: “If you keep the covenant, if you be My people, then I will be your God.”
But the new covenant is intensely inward, and it all depends upon God Himself. He says, “I will, I will, I will.” In the old covenant, He says, “Thou shalt,” and “Thou shalt not.” But in the new covenant, God says, “I will, I will.”
In other words, God will do everything. It is grace. The old covenant is law, but the new covenant is grace.
One day God will establish a new covenant with the children of Israel.
We have not yet seen this fulfilled. Jeremiah prophesied approximately six hundred years before Christ. After he mentioned the new covenant, nothing more was heard about it for six hundred years.
Of course, we know that during those six hundred years God still spoke to His children for two hundred years, but for four hundred years before Christ, God had no word for His people.
Until we come to New Testament times, a promise had been made to the children of Israel—a new covenant—but nothing more was heard about it for hundreds of years.
Until one evening, our Lord Jesus gathered His disciples. They had the Last Supper.
Toward the end of that Passover supper, the Lord took the bread, broke it, and said:
This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me.
Then He took a cup, blessed it, and gave it to His disciples to drink. He said:
Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many unto remission of sins.
In Luke, He said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.”
In other words, here you find our Lord Jesus with His disciples. At that time Judas had gone out. So our Lord was with the eleven apostles, His disciples, and He gave the cup to His own and said, “This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood.”
Hundreds of years had passed, as if God had forgotten what He had said and what He had promised. Suddenly, from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, the Lord said, “This is the new covenant. I did it.”
This covenant, promised by God through Jeremiah, was for the children of Israel: “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.”
Yet here you find our Lord Jesus gave the same covenant to His church.
The children of Israel will receive it in the future. I believe it will be fulfilled in the millennium. But today, the church is already under that new covenant.
Yes, we find this not only in the Gospels. When you go into the book of Hebrews, you find it is very clear.
In Hebrews 8, we are told that our Lord Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant, which is established upon better promises.
Hebrews 8:7 says:
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second.
For finding fault with them, He saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will consummate a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
Here you find a quotation from Jeremiah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt;
For they continued not in My covenant,
And I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
So here in the book of Hebrews, we are again told that this new covenant, which God will make with the house of Israel in the latter days—that is, in the kingdom to come—has now, through our Lord Jesus, already become our possession.
He is the mediator of a better covenant. So, dear brothers and sisters, today we are no longer under the old covenant of law. We are under the new covenant of grace.
In Romans, we are told that you are not under law, but under grace. To be under grace is a covenanted position.
Because God has covenanted with us in this new covenant, we should rise up in faith to claim everything that is in the covenant as ours.
The reason He gives us this covenant is to strengthen our faith. If we do not rise up and claim it as our own, then this covenant becomes almost useless to us.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we need to remember that today we are a covenanted people. We are under a covenant. God has covenanted with us.
It is not the old covenant; it has passed away. It is the new covenant, which is a better covenant. This should define our relationship with God, and this should be the way that we live before God.
Now, in a covenant—or a contract—you have different articles. Some contracts are conditional, and some contracts are unconditional.
Some contracts lay down conditions: “If you fulfill certain conditions, then I will fulfill certain promises.” But there are contracts that are unconditional. In other words, no condition is required, but one promises that he will do this and he will do that. He binds himself with a contract.
The old covenant is conditional. God said, “If you will do this, and if you do not do that, then I will be your God.” Because the children of Israel did not fulfill their conditions, they broke the covenant. So God disregarded it.
But the new covenant is unconditional. You do not find in the new covenant any condition laid down for us.
Everything depends upon God Himself. God said, “I will, I will, I will.” In other words, He does not require us to fulfill certain conditions before He will perform His promises.
It is just love. It is just mercy. It is just grace.
You know, when you sign a contract, you had better read the whole thing—every article, even the small print. Sometimes we have to consult a lawyer because we do not even know the language.
Once you sign it, you are caught. You have to do what the contract says, or even suffer for it.
Now God has made a new covenant with us, and this is established by the blood of our Lord Jesus. In other words, it is unbreakable. It cannot be broken.
Have you read that covenant? Do you know what is in that covenant? What are the articles of the covenant? What has God promised, and what is your portion? Do we know that?
Dear brothers and sisters, I am afraid many of God’s people know faintly that they are a new-covenant people, but very few really know what the covenant is.
Because of that, our life with God is so weak, because we do not know what is provided. We are still looking for provision that is already there. You claim it, and it is yours.
Now, what are the articles of the new covenant? From Jeremiah 31, you find three things especially mentioned.
First, Jeremiah 31:33:
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
That is the first article. God said, “I will put My law in their inward parts, and will write it in their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
The law will be written upon our heart, and God will be our God. What is the meaning of God being our God?
When you think of God, what comes first? God the Creator. He creates all things out of nothing. He is all-powerful.
Here God says, “I will be your God, and you shall be My people.” Because I am your God, I am your power. Therefore, you can keep My law. You can be My people.
So, number one, it is the power of life.
Second, Jeremiah 31:34:
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know Me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.
You do not need to be taught. Why? Because you are taught from within. Inward knowledge, spiritual knowledge—that is the second thing.
Third:
For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
Forgiveness of sin, and even forgetting.
So here, brothers and sisters, you find that in the new covenant there are three things. These three things God has provided for every child of God. It is our portion. It is not something that does not belong to you; it is yours.
So far as God is concerned, of course, the power of life is first, then spiritual knowledge, and then forgiveness. But so far as our experience goes, probably we go from the bottom up. We know more of His forgiveness first; then we come to know Him, and then we come to know His power.
But anyway, these are the three things God has provided for us in the new covenant, and they are yours.
First, God said, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”
If ever we are under condemnation, if ever we are under accusation, if ever our conscience bothers us, if ever the burden of sin and the sinfulness of our sin troubles us, we know there is nothing better than to have our sins forgiven.
You may live in a palace. You may eat royal food. You may be given everything on this earth for your happiness. But if, in your conscience, you are under condemnation before God, all these things are peaceless.
There is nothing better than to experience the forgiveness of your sins. I believe we all know that.
But who can pardon our iniquity? When we are stricken in our conscience, our first reaction always is to cover ourselves.
Adam and Eve sinned. Their consciences were smitten, so they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. When they heard the voice of God, they hid themselves behind the trees.
We try to hide ourselves. When we cannot help ourselves, what do we do? We try to put the blame on somebody else.
If we cannot put the blame on somebody else, what do we do next? We try to do some good deeds to compensate for our sins. In other words, we try to bribe our conscience.
You find this is what people are doing all over the world. But do we have peace?
Adam and Eve might cover themselves with leaves, and yet they had to confess that they were naked. They might hide themselves behind the trees, yet they were discovered. They might put the blame on others, but God knew better.
Our self-righteousness is as filthy rags that cannot cover us.
There is only one way to have our sins forgiven, and that is through the blood of our Lord Jesus. That is the covenant.
Why is it that when people have tried everything and failed, when they come to the Lord Jesus and say, “Lord, I am a sinner. Have mercy on me,” suddenly the condemnation is gone? Suddenly there is peace. Why?
Because you approach God and ask God to do according to His covenant.
When you come to God and say, “I do believe in the Lord Jesus. I do believe His blood was shed for my sins. I do believe in Him, and therefore forgive me,” God cannot but forgive you.
Why? If He does not forgive you, He breaks His covenant. He would be unfaithful and unrighteous.
Therefore, you find in 1 John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It does not say that God is merciful and gracious. God is merciful and gracious, but His mercy and grace provided salvation for us. After the work of Christ was finished on the cross, it is a matter of righteousness and faithfulness.
If we confess our sin, God is faithful and righteous. Faithful to what? Righteous to what? To His covenant—to His covenant.
So anyone who approaches God through Jesus Christ, believing in the blood of our Lord Jesus, is forgiven. There is no doubt about it. We do not need to tremble and ask, “Now, will He forgive?”
You remember the leper who came to the Lord and said, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” He did not know whether the Lord would have mercy on him.
But when we come to God, we say, “Lord, we know Thou wilt, because Thou art faithful to Thy covenant and Thou art righteous.” If we believe in the Lord Jesus, our sins are all forgiven.
God says, “I will forgive their iniquity.” But more than that, God says, “I will remember their sin no more.” God forgives, and He forgets. Isn’t that wonderful?
God’s memory is wonderful. He remembers what should be remembered, and He forgets what should be forgotten. Our memory is distorted. We remember what we should forget, and we forget what we should remember.
But God’s memory is perfect. He remembers everything, and yet there is something He just cannot remember: anything that is under the blood, He forgets.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is not only good news to unbelievers. This is good news to believers too.
Even after we have believed in the Lord Jesus, sometimes we come under condemnation. Sometimes we come under accusation. Sometimes we wonder whether God will ever forgive and ever forget.
Thank God, He forgets, so that we may be fresh and new every day in His presence. Yesterday’s failure does not need to hinder us from standing before God today.
Oftentimes we remember—that is the problem. Because we remember, we dare not come. We deprive God of our fellowship, and we deprive ourselves of peace and blessing.
So remember one thing: God said, “I will forgive their iniquity. I will remember their sin no more.” Thank God, under the blood, that is the covenant.
Brothers and sisters, rise up. Do not be under condemnation of any kind. Do not accept any accusation, especially from the enemy.
If we confess, He forgives and He forgets. We are clear before God.
But this is the least provision in the new covenant. The second one is knowledge—spiritual knowledge.
Here you find it said, “You do not need anyone to teach you, ‘Know the Lord.’” Why? Because everyone knows.
Under the old covenant, you had to be taught. The children of Israel had no way to know God’s will. They had to go to the prophets. They had to go to the priests. The priests and prophets would tell them God’s will. They had to be instructed. They had to be taught, because there was no other way to know God.
But under the new covenant, there is a new knowledge. It is not mental knowledge, outward knowledge, which has to be taught and accumulated through information. It is an inward knowledge of life.
That knowledge does not require anyone to teach you. Actually, in Greek, in Hebrews 8, the two phrases, “Know the Lord” and “they shall all know Me,” use two different words.
“Know the Lord” is objective knowledge. “They shall all know Me” is subjective knowledge.
In Old Testament times, knowledge came from outside and had to come through instruction and information. No matter how much you knew, it was external. You knew about God, but you did not really know Him.
But in the new covenant, God says, “No, I have something better for you. I have put My life in you, and with this life is knowledge.”
What is eternal life? To know God, and to know Him whom Thou hast sent—this is eternal life. John 17:3.
Life is knowledge. It is a knowledge that comes out of life. God has given His life to us.
From the least one, newly born, to the greatest one, the most mature, you find they have the same life. Even though the degree of knowing is different, the nature of knowing is the same. As soon as you are saved, you begin to know.
Let me illustrate. You may accumulate a great deal of knowledge about God. You may even have a theological degree. You may know a great deal about God, but you may not be saved. You may not know God. God is still distant and unreal to you.
But one day, when you believe in the Lord Jesus, what does Scripture say? The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and we cry, “Abba, Father.”
The moment you believe in the Lord Jesus and life comes into you, immediately there comes from within a knowledge: “Oh, God is your Father.” You know God. God is living to you.
Brothers and sisters, this is just the beginning. Our whole life of knowing God is along this principle.
We may try to accumulate knowledge. I do not say there is no need for it. But basically, there is one thing more important than the knowledge you can accumulate from outside, and that is living communion with God.
There will be an intuitive knowing of God, and that is spirituality—real knowing. Do you know? You know. You do not need anyone to teach you.
In 1 John 2:27, the anointing that is within you teaches you in all things, and whatever He teaches is true.
And as for you, the anointing which ye received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as His anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in Him.
Abide in Christ by obeying the teaching of the anointing.
So, brothers and sisters, oftentimes we say, “I do not know God’s will. I do not know what His will is.” You see, this is our problem.
We try to ask people, “What is the will of God for me? Can you tell me what God’s will is for me?” There will be no lack of teachers. Everybody will teach you. We are all born teachers. We teach what we do not know.
Everyone will tell you what the will of God is for you. How they contradict each other! They put you into confusion.
Brothers and sisters, why not go to the Lord and let His life within you, let His Spirit within you, teach you all things? You may not be able to explain it, but somehow, within you, you know.
You know this is not of God. You know it. But oftentimes we walk by our mind instead of our heart.
If we only walk by our heart, we will not go astray. But if we walk by our mind, we will be led astray.
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life, will teach us in all things, and whatever He teaches is true. Only what He teaches is true. All the others are not true.
They may be correct, but not true—not real, not living—because it is not of life.
Oh, how we praise and thank God that He has provided for us!
Now you know the Lord. Now you are forgiven. Now you want to follow the Lord, but you do not know how. It is provided.
Your Comforter will never leave you nor forsake you. He will lead you into all truth. He is the Spirit of truth.
Oh, brothers and sisters, this is our portion. This is our inheritance. This is yours. Why not use it? Why not claim it?
The more you use it, the more you practice it, as it were, the more you enter into this knowledge of God.
Now, number three. Sometimes we say, “Well, our problem is not knowing. Our problem is doing. We know this is the will of God, but we do not have the power to do it.”
Just like Romans 7, here you find Paul saying, “I know, I know. ‘Thou shalt not covet,’ I know. I tell myself, ‘Do not covet.’ But the more I remind myself not to covet, the more covetous I become.”
I know, but I do not have the power. I do what I should not do. I know I should not do it, and I do not do what I know I should do. “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?” I know, but I do not do, because I do not have the power.
Brothers and sisters, it is provided. Not only will God make you know, but God says that the life within you is resurrection life.
It is not only knowledge; it is also power. Is there any power that can be compared with resurrection power? The power of life overcomes death.
They put our Lord into the tomb, but He came out of it. The same life is in you.
“I will put My law in their heart.” Now, that is the heart. We will not go into this this morning. Let us say that the heart is the seat of affection.
The law is written upon our heart. What does it mean? It means that I delight in the law of God.
When you love a thing, it is not hard to do it. The reason why something is very hard is because you do not love it. You dislike it, and yet you feel obliged to do it. Then it becomes a burden.
Now suppose there is love there. Oh, you love the law of God. You just love Him. You just love His Word. Is it hard to keep His Word? Not at all.
You consider it a pleasure. It is a privilege.
You remember what our Lord Jesus said—or what was said of Him in prophecy:
Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not,
But a body didst Thou prepare for Me;
Lo, I am come
To do Thy will, O God.
He came to do the will of God because God’s law was written upon His heart. Some versions say, “I delight to do Thy will.”
Oh, brothers and sisters, here you find that He has given us love—a love for God—and not only love, but the power of love.
His life is resurrection life, and His life will enable us to do whatever pleases Him, not as a duty, not as an obligation, not as a burden, but as a delight, as a pleasure.
This is our relationship with God. This is the new covenant.
We are no longer slaves under the law, but we are God’s dear children. We love Him. We love to do His will. He is our power.
It is all yours. So, dear brothers and sisters, do not forget: we are a covenanted people, and God has given this covenant to us. Rise up in faith and claim it for yourself.
Shall we pray?
Our Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee. Thou hast given us such a covenant. It is indeed a better covenant. Nothing can be better than that.
Oh, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou dost take upon Thyself to fulfill all these promises.
We praise Thee that through the blood of our Lord Jesus, the shed blood, Thou dost say, “I will forgive and forget.”
We praise Thee that Thou hast released life through the cross, and the life in us is a life that knows. Oh, how we praise and thank Thee for that life.
We thank Thee for the Spirit of life. We thank Thee for the resurrection power of life. We thank Thee for all Thy provision.
Lord, teach us how to rise up in faith and live in the new covenant, that we may be a praise to Thy glory.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.