Turn to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 8. This morning we will read Hebrews 8:10.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, saith the Lord;
I will put My laws into their mind,
And on their heart also will I write them:
And I will be to them a God,
And they shall be to Me a people.
And then we have Philippians, the letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13.
I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, how we want to praise and thank Thee that Thou hast brought us into this last section of the conference. We thank Thee for Thy presence with us. We thank Thee for Thy presence with us this morning.
And as we approach Thy throne of grace, we thank Thee for giving us that boldness because of the shed blood of our Lord Jesus and the new and living way that Thou hast opened for us. Knowing that Thou art our great High Priest, interceding for us, Lord, it is all by Thee and through Thee that we have this boldness to enter into the very presence of our God.
We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt continue to give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God. Enlighten our understanding, that we all may enter into all that Thou hast provided for us in Christ Jesus.
We wait upon Thee, Lord. Finish Thy work in us to the praise of Thy glory. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Thank God for leading us to this point. Last evening, we had the Lord’s Supper. Whenever we come to the Lord’s Supper, when that cup is passed to us, we know one thing: God has made a new covenant with us.
This covenant is sure because it is sealed by the very blood of our Lord Jesus. He has given it to us. He said, “Drink all of you in remembrance of Me.”
Brothers and sisters, as we took the cup and drank the cup, how did you feel within yourself? Did you really realize that this new covenant of grace has been given to you? When you drink the cup, it shows that you have accepted it—accepted it with gratitude.
So, in a very real sense, every time we come to the Lord’s table, we are strengthened by the faith that we are living in the new covenant. The old covenant of law has passed. The new covenant of grace is the way of life to us.
So I believe, brothers and sisters, as we gathered here this morning, we all know where our position is, where our relationship with God is. Today, all God’s dealings with us are according to the new covenant. At the same time, all our dealings with God must be according to the new covenant.
Anything that is outside the new covenant is outside the will of God. So this is the way in which we must learn our Christian life.
Now, we have already mentioned that as we approach the throne of grace, we enter first into the outer court. There we see that huge brazen altar. It typifies the cross of our Lord Jesus—how He suffered for us, how He shed His blood for us, and for one reason: to forgive our sins.
And not only to forgive, but to forget. God has a wonderful memory, but strangely, there is a part of His memory that seems to be missing. Because after our sins have been covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus, He cannot see them and He cannot remember them.
We do not have a perfect memory, but we have a wrong memory. Sometimes it is as if all our past sins have come back to trouble us. We know this is the trick of the enemy, because the enemy is the accuser.
You remember the story about Martin Luther? One day, he saw Satan come to him and present him with a document. On the document it was written, “The sins of Martin Luther.” This document was filled with words, inside and outside. Satan began to laugh at Martin Luther: “You are such a sinful man. How dare you do the work of Reformation?”
Thank God, Martin Luther knew the blood of the Lord Jesus. So he took up a pen and wrote upon the document, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.” Immediately, Satan disappeared.
So, brothers and sisters, in our Christian living, sometimes the enemy will come and accuse us. As a matter of fact, some of the things he accuses us of may be real, even though most of his accusations are unreal. But whether they are real or unreal, we thank God for the blood of the Lord Jesus.
As we grow in Christian life, we grow in appreciation of the blood of our Lord Jesus. As people say, even the tears of our repentance need to be cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus. We will never live to a day when we are beyond the need of the blood of the Lord Jesus.
Praise God, His blood has not only cleansed our past sins, but His blood cleanses us day by day, hour by hour. How powerful is the blood of the Lord Jesus. The more you live the Christian life, the more you appreciate the precious blood of the Lord Jesus.
But this is only a preparation for something far greater. Because God’s purpose for us is glorious. He wants us—think of that—He wants us, sinners saved by grace, to be transformed and conformed to the image of His beloved Son.
What a glorious purpose God has purposed for every one of us. So when we are saved, brothers and sisters, this is not the end; this is the beginning. Do not think that as long as you are saved out of hell and have a passport to heaven, that is it. No. God’s purpose is glorious.
After we have experienced that last article in the new covenant—“I will forgive your sins, and I will remember your transgressions no more”—thank God for that. But after we have experienced this, what is next?
We find the second article: “You do not need anyone to teach you, ‘Know the Lord,’ because every one of you, from the least one to the greatest one, shall know Him in themselves.” In other words, brothers and sisters, this is the beginning of our Christian living.
How are we going to live as Christians? How do we know God? How do we know His will? Not by outward teaching, but by inward, intuitive knowledge.
The Holy Spirit, who dwells in each and every one of us, is there in our spirit to teach us, to show us the will of God, and to enable us to walk accordingly. So as soon as we become Christians, God puts us on an inward way of life.
Unfortunately, in Christianity we are being led outwardly. We are told, “Do this. Do not do that.” Even if we are good and obey all the commandments, brothers and sisters, it is all outward. Christian life is not an outward way of life. Christian life is an inward way of life.
As soon as we are saved, we begin to experience the anointing—the Holy Spirit, who is applied upon us as ointment. When He applies that ointment upon us, we sense something deep within our spirit. With that, we begin to know what is the mind of God and what is God’s pleasure.
Then we have a desire to please Him. Just like the Apostle Paul said, he had no ambition of any kind, but only one ambition: to please the Lord. I believe that every believer has that ambition. We want to please the Lord. But how are you going to please Him? You do His will.
How are you going to know His will? By being quiet before Him and allowing that still, small voice to speak to you. If you are obedient, then you are walking in the will of God.
Now, as we speak about this inward way of life, I think probably we need some caution. The Bible tells us that we have the anointing within us, and He is there to teach us all things—big things and small things.
Usually, if we are faithful in small things, then we will be faithful in big things. If we obey the anointing, the teaching of the anointing, what happens? We abide in Christ.
One day I asked some young people, “How can we abide in Christ?” By that I meant that, in our daily life, we live in Christ and stay in Christ. How can you do that?
Some young people said, “Well, if you want to abide in Christ, you need to pray. Pray much, and then you will abide in Christ.” Other people said, “No, you need to read the Bible. The more you read the Bible, the more you abide in Christ.”
But, brothers and sisters, it is very simple. If we want to abide in Christ, just listen to the teaching of the anointing. That is it.
Some people will say, “Well, I do not have such experience. If I try to listen, I may listen wrongly. Then what will happen?”
It is very strange. As you read the Scriptures, you find that the promise of the teaching of the anointing is given to babes in Christ—to little children. It was not given to the fathers, nor to the young people, but it was given to little children.
Little children usually live by intuition because they do not have all this information. Why is it that some people little children will avoid, while to other people it seems as if little children will go near? Why? Because intuitively, they sense something.
Brothers and sisters, as little children in Christ Jesus, we have that divine intuitive power. We know it.
But suppose we are wrong. Then what will happen? God has already made provision for us. In the same section in 1 John, it says, “You have the Word abiding in you.”
In other words, if we are not sure whether what we sense within is the word of God, the written Word will either prove it or disprove it. This is how the balance is maintained.
Furthermore, this is the reason why, as little children, we are humble, because we acknowledge that we are not all-knowing. Little children are humble.
You remember our Lord Jesus in Matthew 11. After He had preached to those cities, they refused to repent. Our Lord Jesus turned His heart to God and said, “Father, I thank Thee, because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, but hast revealed them unto babes.”
That is the reason why the Lord Jesus said that unless you are converted and become as little children, you cannot see the kingdom of God. The greatest in the kingdom of God is like a little child—humble as a little child.
I remember in China, we had an old proverb. I was surprised when I tried it on some Chinese people in this country, even grown-up people, and they did not know that proverb. But when I was a boy, it was a very popular proverb. Let me try to explain it in English.
It says, “The more worldly wise you are, the less intuitive power you have.” If we consider ourselves wise and prudent, that intuitive power within us begins to diminish. But if you consider yourself as a little child, humble before the Lord, then that intuitive power will increase in you.
That is the reason why, as Christians, we should be childlike, but do not be childish. You know, Zinzendorf was greatly used by God in the Moravian movement. He was very childlike before God—simple.
But he was simple to such a point that, in history, he gradually became childish. Finally, by the grace of God, he was delivered. So, brothers and sisters, we need to be as little children before God—humble before God.
With that, our intuitive knowledge will increase. Whenever the Spirit of God begins to move in your spirit, this is the time that you learn to know the will of God.
As a matter of fact, when the Spirit of God moves, He usually first touches upon some outward things—perhaps some old habit that we have. The Spirit of God begins to touch these things. For example, your bed.
I remember a lady missionary called Miss Groves whom I knew. She said the battle for a Christian is between the Christian and his bed. Now, what does that mean? You love your bed so much that you cannot get up early to have a quiet time with the Lord.
Because you love your bed, you go to sleep. When you get up, it is almost time to go to work or go to school, and you have no time for the Lord. It is a battle between your bed and yourself. Very true it is.
This is the way the Holy Spirit first begins with your life. You may have other habits—bad habits—and the Lord will begin to deal with such habits.
I was a pastor’s son, but I loved movies. When the newspaper came, the first thing I read was the movie news. I dared not go to a movie on Sunday, but Saturday was the day that I would be there.
At that time, I had a friend whose family owned a movie theater, so I could go to see a movie without paying. After I was saved, I still continued to spend my time in the theaters.
But then the Spirit of God began to touch me. He asked me a question: “Is it right for you, a Christian, to go to theaters, to support those people who are ungodly?”
I tried to argue with God. I said, “All right, I will only see religious movies.” But still the Spirit of God continued to reprove me. So I told the Lord, “All right, I will try not to go to the theater.”
By the grace of God, for about three or four months, I kept myself from going to theaters. But then the temptation came. A religious movie came. It was Noah’s Ark.
It was playing in a high-class theater, and people sent tickets to my family. Now it was just a temptation to me. I argued with myself, “I have been successful for four months, but now this temptation, this chance, is too good for me. I could not miss it.” So I went.
I sat there for two hours. Outwardly, I was looking at the movie; inwardly, there was such a battle going on. I was hoping the movie would soon be over so that I could leave the theater, but I did not leave. I still sat there for two hours. The big battle was raging on.
When it was finished, I walked out of the theater, and that was the end of it. My aunt said, “You young people, have some fun. Go to see a movie. I will give you the money.” But thank God, I said in my heart, “You do not know. I have something far better.”
Brothers and sisters, usually the Holy Spirit begins to deal with us in these outward, small things. He knows our measure, so He measures His teaching with it. He teaches us gradually to leave the world behind, to leave ourselves behind, and to enter into all the glorious riches of Christ Jesus.
Throughout your Christian life, you will find that the working of the anointing becomes more and more inward. First, He may touch only our outward habits, perhaps our friendships.
After a Christian believes in the Lord Jesus, it is a strange thing: we change our friends. Not in the sense that we deliberately forsake our old friends, but somehow, as we go on with the Lord, we find there is something different.
Gradually, the Lord begins to create some new friends. Even in our friendships, you will find there is a change.
The Spirit of God will continue to work in our lives until we are delivered from that which is not of God and are transformed into the image of Christ. This is the work of transformation.
So, brothers and sisters, as soon as we believe in the Lord Jesus, we start this inward way of life. There are dealings between us and God. Sometimes we are disobedient and stubborn, but we find how that affects our communion with the Lord until we yield and are able to follow.
Then you find that you are one step closer to the Lord.
Now this morning, we would like to come to the first article. When we experience that inward knowledge of the Lord, it is as if we have entered into the holy place. We begin to see that God is light.
If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our sins. We begin to realize that Christ is our life. Like the showbread, Christ is our life, and we live by the life of Christ.
We also enter into communion with the Lord in prayer. So it seems as if we have now entered into the holy place. But, brothers and sisters, that is not the end.
Behind that veil is the holiest of all. This is where the ark is, where the mercy seat is. This is where God communes with His people, and His people live in His very presence. This is God’s purpose for us.
Here you find the first article of the new covenant: “I will write My law upon your mind and upon your heart. I will be your God, and you shall be My people.”
Brothers and sisters, this is the reverse of the old covenant of law. Under the old covenant of law, God said, “Thou shalt do this. Thou shalt not do that. Then you will be My people, and I will be your God.” The responsibility was upon us.
But in this new covenant of grace, God says, “I will write My law upon your mind and inscribe it upon your heart.” This is so different from the old covenant, because the old covenant was written on stones—without feeling.
But the new covenant is written upon our heart and our mind. God has given us a new heart. We love the will of God. Formerly, we were afraid of the will of God; we hated God’s will. But now we love God’s will.
Even with our new mind, our awakened mind, we understand what God’s will is. So, brothers and sisters, we are now on a higher level.
Just like the Apostle Paul, when he wrote Romans 7, he was telling us his experience. I believe it was not his experience before he was saved. Actually, he was writing of his experience after he was converted, after he was saved.
Why? Because he said, “With my awakened mind, I know what God’s will is. With my new heart, I love to do God’s will.” Here you find a different kind of life. Formerly, he hated God’s will and did not want to know God’s will. But now he loved to know God’s will and wanted to do God’s will.
Is that not true in each and every one of us when we first got saved? Intuitively, we know what God’s will is, and deep in our heart, we love to do it.
But the problem is this: we know what God’s will is, but we do not have the power to do it. The Apostle Paul said, “The willing is present with me, but the doing of the good is not.”
Brothers and sisters, after we believe in the Lord Jesus and as we progress in Him, we all go through this stage. It is as if we are in a civil war. There is a war within us.
Put it another way: it seems as if there are two persons, two lives, within us. Deep in our spirit, Christ lives. He is our life. But there is also our soul. Adam is still there—that old nature, that fallen nature, that selfish nature—is still the life of our soul.
You know, Martin Luther once said, “I am not afraid of the pope, of all these cardinals and all these dukes and counts, but I am afraid of the old Adam in me.”
The Reformation theologian Philip Melanchthon said, “Little Melanchthon is no match for the old Adam.” So they all sensed this civil war within them.
Brothers and sisters, are you starting to have this kind of experience? If you do, it does not mean you are going backward. It means that you are going forward. Do not be disappointed at that, because you have the chance to be fully delivered.
Praise God, the Apostle Paul had the same experience. It is a painful experience because he said, “What I want to do, to please God, I cannot do it. I do not have the power to do it. But the old Adam within me is so strong.”
“He forces me, as it were, to do what I do not like to do. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Brothers and sisters, have you come to this point yet? Or have you come to a point where you begin to sense the civil war within you, but you are still struggling—trying, trying, and trying again? Yet you find there are more defeats than victories.
Until you come to a point where you despair of your own strength, you say, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
When Paul came to this desperate point, thank God, salvation was nearby. In Romans 7:24, he cried, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Then the following verse, Romans 7:25, says, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Now, how do you come to this transition? Because there is something about the cross of our Lord Jesus that we have ignored, something that we are missing.
When we believe in the Lord Jesus, what do we believe? We believe that our Lord Jesus bore all our sins upon His own body, and there He died for us. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God. That is what we believe.
But the cross of our Lord Jesus is much more than that. There is another side of His cross. When our Lord Jesus was crucified, He was crucified as the last Adam.
In the sight of God, there are only two persons. The first man is Adam. The second Man is Christ. Christ is not only the second Man, but He is the last Adam. The Bible calls Him the last Adam.
When the last Adam died, then the Adamic race was finished—no longer. When He rose from the dead, then the new race came up. It is in Christ.
So, dear brothers and sisters, when Christ died on the cross, He took the old man with Him to the cross. That is Romans 6:6. There is something we need to know: know that our old man was crucified with Christ on the cross.
If you have read Against the Tide, the biography of Watchman Nee, you will find an illustration there. To the Chinese, it is very real, because the Chinese race is supposed to come from the Yellow Emperor.
Once, the Yellow Emperor had a battle with his enemy, Chiyou. During that battle, there was a heavy fog. How could you fight under a heavy fog? But the Yellow Emperor was the one who supposedly invented the compass.
By that, he overcame his enemy and killed Chiyou. That is the reason why the Chinese race continued on. Now suppose the Yellow Emperor had been killed by Chiyou. Would there be any Chinese in the world? No, of course not.
That is really what happened. In the sight of God, there are only two persons: Adam and Christ. They are the federal heads. All the people in the world came from Adam, and all who believe in the Lord Jesus came from Christ.
So we who believe in the Lord Jesus must see what the Lord has done for us. He has done more than merely bear our sins and carry our sins away from us. When He died on the cross, the whole Adamic race was finished.
When He rose from the dead, there was a new race. All who believe in the Lord Jesus rose with Him.
That is why we need baptism. Some people say, “Well, if you believe in the Lord Jesus, you are saved. Why do you need to be baptized?” That is the reason why.
Baptism is a symbol that we go under the water. That means death and burial. Our old man, in baptism, went into the water and was buried out of sight.
Then, when we rose from the water, we rose with Christ Jesus in new life. So far as God is concerned, what our Lord Jesus has done on the cross—His finished work—is eternally true.
Christ Jesus died on the cross more than two thousand years before we were born. We had not committed any sin yet. And yet, brothers and sisters, when we believe in the Lord Jesus—that He bore our sins in His body, died on the cross, and shed His blood for the remission of our sins—we believe it, and we receive it.
Why not the same thing? Believing that when Christ died on the cross, we too died; and when He rose from the dead, we arose with Him. Why not do the same? It is the same thing—the same faith.
If you know Romans 6:6, then what do you do? You reckon yourself dead unto sin and alive unto God, as Romans 6:11 says.
After we know the truth in Romans 6:6, then we try to reckon ourselves. Reckoning simply means accounting. Accounting is the most accurate thing, because one plus one equals two. You cannot add or subtract.
God says that when Christ died on the cross, our old man was crucified with Him. So we reckon it to be true. But, brothers and sisters, do you have that experience? The more you reckon yourself dead, the more alive you are.
“I am dead. I am dead. I am dead.” But you are more and more alive.
You know Hudson Taylor. He was the founder of the China Inland Mission. We are ever grateful to him. He came to China to be a missionary. He was the first one who opened up interior China.
At that time, he had been in China for several years already. He had founded the China Inland Mission. He had fellow workers in China. But at one time, he felt his spiritual life was not normal. He felt he was not what he should be. So he sought the Lord very earnestly about it.
He tried to spend time in prayer. He even fasted. But no matter how he tried, his spiritual life was not improved. Then one day, his fellow worker, who was seeking for that holy life at the same time, got the secret.
So he wrote to Hudson Taylor. He said, “It is not by trying, but by believing.”
One day, Hudson Taylor was reading John 15: “I am the vine; ye are the branches. Abide in Me, and I in you, and ye shall bear much fruit.”
Hudson Taylor prayed earnestly. He said, “Lord, put me into the vine, so that I can get all the nourishment from the vine and be victorious in my Christian life.” But no matter how he prayed, he could not get in.
Until finally, the Lord opened his eyes. One day, the Lord told him, “Why are you trying to get into the vine? Are you not in the vine, and the vine in you? You are already there.”
Suddenly his eyes were opened, and he just thanked the Lord for the reality. From that time on, his life was changed. Even during the Boxer Rising in 1900, when many China Inland Mission missionaries were martyred, he was sick and weak, resting, but there was peace within his heart.
Brothers and sisters, God has made every provision for us. It is the gospel to the Christian. Christ not only took our sins and bore our sins on the cross, and died for us so that we might become the righteousness of God.
If we believe, the same thing is true: when Christ died on the cross, He took the old Adam away. So now, by faith, we can declare that we are dead to Adam and alive unto God. If we take that position, you will find how it works in our life.
This is living faith. Now, what is faith? The only place where you find something like a definition of faith is Hebrews 11:1.
In Darby’s version, which is almost a literal translation, it says:
Now faith is the substantiating of things hoped for,
The conviction of things not seen.
What is faith? Faith is the substantiating of things hoped for. Something you hope for, faith substantiates to you.
Let me use this illustration. Here we are in this auditorium, and you have that board there. How do you know there is a board? The board is a reality to you. Why? Because you have eyes to see.
Your eyes have the power to substantiate that thing. It is a substance, but your eyes have the faculty to make it real to you. You look at it, you see it, and it comes into your experience.
Faith is the same thing. Something you do not see, something you only hope for, but if you have faith, you can substantiate it and make it your experience.
The finished work of Christ is a substance. There is nothing more real than the finished work of Christ. It is eternal, forever. It is just like that board here: the substance is there.
If you do not have faith, you cannot see. It is there, but it is not here within you. But if you have eyes to see, then it is not only there, but it is here within you. That is Christian experience.
So, brothers and sisters, that is how important faith is. Let us believe what the Lord has done on Calvary’s cross—nothing less. Everything is there. It is only waiting for you to substantiate it by faith.
Now, brothers and sisters, as far as our Christian experience goes, everyone is different. I often say that God loves variety. You never see two people the same.
Think of your face. It is only a small area, with only a few items there: two eyebrows, two eyes, one nose, two ears—that is all. But God can put these few things in such a small area, and no two persons have the same face. Is that not wonderful?
Not even with twins. We may be fooled, but the parents will not be fooled.
Do you know that your soul also has a shape? Not only does the body have a shape; our soul also has a shape. What is it? Temperament.
God created in such a way that no two persons have exactly the same temperament. All our temperaments are different. Some people are extroverts. Some people are more inward. Some people are quick; some people are slow. Everybody is different.
In our Christian experience, this affects our Christian experience. The problem today is that when people hear these stories of how others got through into victory, they try to have the same experience.
If you are merely seeking for an experience, you will not get it, because you are different. The way God deals with each one is different. The principle is the same, but the experience is different.
Some people have a drastic experience. Other people do not have a drastic experience, but somehow, gradually, they cross a Rubicon. The fact is, if it is there, it is there. You do not need to worry about what kind of experience you have.
Whenever we talk about the victorious life, people always look for something spectacular, and they wonder why they do not have it. Well, your temperament may be different, and the way the Lord leads you is different.
But thank God, if you seek earnestly, sooner or later it will become a fact to you. Dear brothers and sisters, is it not wonderful that everything for our Christian life has been provided?
It is everything by grace through faith. This is not of yourselves; it is the mercy of God. This is the new covenant.
Brothers and sisters, thank God, He has made every provision for us to live to His glory. May the Lord help every one of us. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we bow in worship, seeing that Thou hast made every provision for us unto life and godliness within that to which Thou hast called us.
Thou hast not only called us, but Thou hast made provision for us. We pray that Thou wilt give us faith to believe, that we may enter into everything that Thou hast provided.
May we be conformed to Thine own image, to the glory of God. We ask in Thy name. Amen.