Alright, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 8. We're continuing our study in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 8, we're going to be reading from verse 7 through verse 13. A new covenant in Christ. Hebrews chapter 8, verses 7 through 13. And reading out of the NASB.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, he says, "Behold, days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.

For they did not continue in my covenant, and I did not care for them," says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, says the Lord, "I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord, for all will know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.'" Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray for your anointing and your Holy Spirit to cause us to listen and understand and apply these truths, Lord God, in our lives.

Help us, Lord God, to have clarity of thought, clarity of heart, that you are the potter and we are the clay, that you would mold us as you desire. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You know, as a pastor, you know, Apostle Paul is one of those men that I see in Scripture that gives a tremendous encouragement.

And obviously, he wrote so many of these letters, and we, you know, dissect his personality, his writings, his vocabulary, and so we know much about Apostle Paul. And typically, when men think about going into ministry, we often talk about Apostle Paul's ministry and his strategy, how he preached the gospel, what cities did he go to, how did he handle suffering and discouragement.

But aside from Apostle Paul, there are many great men that God has used to fulfill his purpose. In fact, the majority of people's ministry doesn't look anything like Apostle Paul. When we think of Apostle Paul, you see this man, even though he lived a short life, he went from city to city and established dozens of cities.

And again, at the end of his life, I mean, he's credited to bringing the gospel to basically that whole region. But there are many people who have labored and preached without seeing any fruit in their life. In fact, I would say that more than not, people who enter into full-time ministry live their whole lives frustrated and then die frustrated because they didn't see the fruit that they desired.

And one of the men that represents that more than anybody else in the Bible is probably Jeremiah. You know, Jeremiah is known as a weeping prophet. He's the author of the book Lamentation. I mean, the book is Lamentations for a reason, because the whole book is lamenting. Book of Jeremiah is written in the context of bringing judgment to the nation of Israel, the southern kingdom.

The northern kingdom already fell into the Assyrians, and then the southern kingdom has outlasted them because they had a few good people. But in the end, their sins was going to bring about the judgment of God, and Jeremiah's whole ministry was to warn them about the judgment that's coming.

And so these verses in Jeremiah 27 through 8, it captures his heart and why he's called the weeping prophet. He says, "Oh Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed, and I have become a laughingstock all day long. Everyone mocks me, for each time I speak, I cry aloud.

I proclaim violence and destruction, because for me, the word of the Lord has resulted in reproach and derision all day long." I've only taken two verses, but this is sort of what Jeremiah's ministry was like all throughout his life. And then he never sees revival. The reward for his ministry and his suffering is that judgment does come.

And then they go into captivity, and it isn't until years later they look back and say, "Wow, Jeremiah was really speaking about God. He was the prophet, but during his life, all he saw was suffering." Who would want to go into ministry if that's what ministry looks like? Most people think of the glory, you know, the Apostle Paul planting churches, going from place to place, and revival breaking out everywhere.

But majority of the people who diligently serve God, serve God simply out of obedience, whether they bear fruit or not. But even Jeremiah, even in the book of Jeremiah, he was able to persevere, because even though he was preaching about the judgment, God was prophesying through him that he was not going to forget about them, that he's going to remain faithful.

And so the text that we're looking at about the transition from the old covenant to the new covenant comes directly out of Jeremiah's text, in Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 31. And it is a direct quote from that passage that in the midst of the darkness, in the darkest period of Israel's history, God reminds them that he is not going to forsake them, that a new covenant is coming.

And that new covenant obviously is what he is referring to in Hebrews chapter 8. So again, let me read it in verse 7 and 9. With that perspective, coming out of Jeremiah 31, it says, "For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second." And then this is the passage from Jeremiah.

"For finding fault with them, he said, 'Behold, days are coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.'" Again, he's speaking to people who are obstinate against God. In fact, the sin in Israel has gotten so bad that they were actually offering up their children as human sacrifice to the idol, Molech.

That's how bad it got. And so in the midst of proclaiming judgment upon them, he breaks in with this prophecy that even in this darkness, God is bringing light. "Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.

For they did not continue in my covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord." In other words, he says, "The covenant that I made with Moses, with the nation of Israel, was a conditional covenant, that if you obey my commandments, I will bless you. And if you disobey my commandments, curse is going to be upon you." And so, the book of Jeremiah is the fulfillment of the covenant that God made with the nation of Israel.

Because of their sin, judgment is coming. But even in that midst, he says, "But a new covenant is coming, unlike the old covenant, where it's not going to depend on you. God is going to fulfill the covenant that he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. An unconditional covenant that he will not forsake his people." You know what's just interesting, the word for covenant in Hebrew, berith, literally means to cut.

So when you're reading the Old Testament and you read the word covenant, most of the time that Hebrew word behind that word is to cut. And the reason why that word literally is cut is because of the way that they made covenants at that time, which is reflected in the way that we have weddings.

So if you know, I'm sure many of you have been to weddings, or most of you I'm assuming, and you have two aisles, or one aisle, and you have one party on one side and the other party on the other side, and then after the covenant is made, they would both hand in hand walk down that aisle.

Part of the reason why the Christian church does that is it reflects the way that they made covenants in the Old Testament. We see that reflected in Genesis chapter 15, when God makes a covenant, he would cut the animals in two pieces. And then the two parties who are entering into this covenant would walk down this aisle with the animals who are bleeding on both sides, and the significance behind that is twofold.

One, if whoever breaks this covenant is going to be like these animals, that they will also be cut and they will also die. In other words, that this covenant is to be taken seriously. But the second meaning behind that covenant is that this covenant is ratified by the blood.

So the blood that is shed by the animals and the significance behind their death is what bound this covenant together. And so what God is saying that in bringing this new covenant, and even by the by its very word pointed to the coming of Christ, that God was going to ratify this old covenant that they could not fulfill with a covenant that they cannot break because God is going to be faithful to himself, which is what he reiterates in Hebrews chapter 6.

And so the whole point of this text this morning is how and what is he doing in this new covenant. If I was to summarize, and again, you know, I'm not good at putting titles on sermons. I usually just say what it is. You know, if it was up to me, I would just say Hebrews 8, you know, verse 7 through 13.

That would be my title this morning. And then you figure it out yourself. As I was reviewing the sermon after I gave the title, if I was to re-title the sermon, I would say religion versus relationship. Religion versus relationship. Because in a nutshell, that describes what he is saying here, the old covenant versus the new covenant.

And I know it is a cliche in the Christian community. You know, it's not about religion. It is about a relationship. But it's a cliche for a reason. Because there's truth behind it. Religion is a bunch of set of rules that you follow. A relationship is what we do because of the personal relationship that we have.

So that kind of summarizes, okay, in a nutshell. So if you're going to fall asleep, at least remember the title, okay? Religion versus relationship. The old covenant versus the new covenant, okay? My preference is that you don't fall asleep. But if you do, at least remember the title, okay?

There's three things that he says about this new covenant. A renewed relationship with the law, a renewed relationship with God, and third, a renewed relationship with each other. So that's basically how this text is divided. First of all, the difference between the old and the new covenant is our relationship with the law.

In Hebrews chapter 810, it says, "I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts." And again, it's that same idea as repeated in Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 26. "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Remember when the old covenant, the Mosaic covenant was written, where was that written?

Do you remember? Plastic, metal, water, clouds? Stones. God literally wrote the old covenant law on stones. And then he says, in the new covenant, instead of writing it on the stone of your heart, he said, "I'm going to renew your flesh and your mind so that it would be embedded in you." Now, to better understand what's happening, the transition from the old and the new covenant in our relationship with the law, before Adam and Eve fell, we didn't have the Mosaic law to say, "You can't do this, and you ought to do this." It was written in their hearts.

It was written in their mind because God created them to be a reflection of his glory. So innately, they understood. They had a relationship with God and his standard and who he is, and it naturally reflected who he was or who he is. But when they fell, that innate understanding of his glory and who he is began to get tainted.

So as time went by, God chooses to write his command, his laws, on stone because they were no longer able to recognize it in their hearts. They were no longer innately in their mind. So the Mosaic law was not new law. So much of the Mosaic law, if you read prior, you could see it reflected, whether it was sacrifices, whether it was a Sabbath.

Before it was written in stone, you could see that it was some of it, that they understood it. But as time went by, God makes this covenant with them saying, "I'm going to show you what you don't understand innately anymore. And I'm going to write this in stone. So as ages go by and as you fall further and further away from understanding of who I am, you will be able to see the law and see what you have fallen short of." So now when Christ has come, he regenerates the Christians and he makes us new.

And so when we have become new, what has he done? He has restored that innate ability to understand who God is. Okay? Do you follow? And that's our relationship with the law, where we are able to understand who he is and his nature, because we lost it in our fall because of our sin, God places it externally so that people can see the standard in which we have fallen.

And then in the new covenant, because the Holy Spirit is indwelling in us, now that new law of who God is, his glory was written back into our hearts and into our minds. But you and I do not know that perfectly because we are still living in this flesh.

So the theologians call this here and not yet, meaning that we have been regenerated, but the final fulfillment of this relationship with the law is going to be up in heaven. So when we're in heaven, there aren't going to be a set of rules to follow. There isn't going to be another set of laws, like on Sunday you should do this and do not touch this and do not go here, because it says it's going to be in our hearts, it's going to be in our mind.

We are going to be able to understand and know innately in our mind, in our heart. And that's what he is saying. He says in this covenant, you no longer, the set of rules is no longer about what you do externally. It's not a bunch of check off stuff that you do and say, I did this.

And that's what a religion is, right? If I want to be a Christian, what do I need to do? And if somebody asks you that question, you may say, well, you got to find a good church. Make a good translation of the Bible. Become a member of that church.

Well, I'm a member of the church. Well, then learn how to serve. So I'm serving. Evangelize, make disciples. And we can tell them all these external things to do. But again, if you've been studying the Bible for any period of time, you know you can do all of that and not be a Christian.

Nobody has done that better than the Pharisees. Well, you have to evangelize, you have to memorize scripture, you have to give, and you have to do this, you have to do that, you have to keep the Sabbath. And nobody kept the law like the Jews, like the Pharisees. And yet when Christ came, he says, this has nothing to do with me.

Because it is not about religion. He says in the new covenant, it is not a set of rules that are external. It is a regeneration of our heart. In Romans chapter 7, he says the whole purpose of the law is so that we may understand and sin to be utterly sinful.

In other words, the law didn't make it utterly sinful. The law revealed the utter sinfulness of our heart to show us how far we have fallen from his glory. That was the purpose of the law. But now in the new covenant, what the law could not do, God did by sending his son in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8, 3. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. That's why it says in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, to describe a Christian, therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature.

The old things have passed away, behold, the new things have come. So when somebody asks, what is an identifying mark of a Christian? The first thing that this describes is our relationship with the law. Is there an innate desire to reflect his glory? Some people think salvation is just not going to hell.

You go to church and do the right things and it's nothing more than superstition because it's not biblical. You can do all of that and still go to hell. And if you've read the Bible and have been paying attention to anything that the scripture says, you know that even before I say it.

You can be a member of the church, you can serve, you can give, you can go to short-term missions, you can teach. And unless there is a regeneration of our heart where the Holy Spirit is indwelling in us, and unless there is a change in our relationship where what we do is not simply following the external rules that have been set before us, which was the old covenant, we're in a new covenant, the regeneration of our heart causes us to desire to worship him in spirit and in truth.

And that's what Jesus was saying in John chapter 4 to that Samaritan woman. Is it this mountain or that mountain we ought to be worshiping? He says no. What God is looking for are people who worship him in spirit and in truth. In other words, not just to follow the external rules, but is there a regeneration in our heart where God has written his laws in our heart and in our mind?

So Adam Clark in his commentary on this text says this, "All their affections, passions, and appetites shall be purified and filled with holiness and love to God and man, so that they shall not willingly obey and feel that love is fulfilling the law. Instead of being written on the tables of stone, they shall be written on the fleshly tables of their hearts." That's the difference between somebody who is just following rules.

And you know, there's a lot of people who are good at following rules. I'm not one of them. Right? But innately, I'm rebellious. I know that about myself. If there are rules, my first instinct is, why do I have to do that? Right? But some of you guys are not like that.

Some of you guys are A+ students. Right? And you follow one rule, and the next question is, what other rule can I follow? Right? I don't understand you, but there's some people, a lot of people are like that, especially in the Asian community. Right? What he's saying is not talking about people who are good at following rules.

He's talking about worship that's coming because we have innately changed inwardly. The Holy Spirit came inside of us. And maybe some of you, you don't remember a particular day that may have happened. To me, it was just radical. I got knocked over the head, and then I was different.

And I know that more than not, many of you just grew up in the church and gradually began to understand the glory of God and your sins, and you can't pinpoint a certain day, but you can point to a certain period of your life where your affections changed. Where it was no longer about obligation.

Maybe you did it because your parents made you do it. Maybe you did it because you just, I'm a Christian, I identify as a Christian, so that's what a Christian's supposed to do, and maybe you're just good at following rules. But at some point, at some period, if it's not some particular day, you remember when there was a regeneration of your heart, where worshiping God was no longer an obligation, but joy.

Where obedience to Him was not necessarily a sacrifice, but the very thing that I desire to do. We come to Christ, and the world won't understand why are you doing what you are doing. The world doesn't understand because they don't know the joy that it produces. They don't know that this is where we find life.

And that's what he's saying. In the new covenant, there is a new relationship with the law where it is embedded in us through the Holy Spirit. And we are attracted to the Spirit of God more than anything else in this world. So without that Spirit, the Word of God makes no sense.

Read certain parts of the Scripture, like 1 Peter, where it tells us to suffer for good. You know when you're suffering for good, you know what we call that in this world? Injustice. And we have a whole world right now crying out, "Injustice, injustice." But 1 Peter tells us to endure injustice.

This world does not understand that. Because injustice means that needs to be corrected. No one is going to sit under that. And yet, in the non-Christian perspective, that makes absolutely no sense. Yet in eternal perspective, he says, because it brings greater glory, greater light. So a non-Christian would never understand that.

As somebody who does not have the Holy Spirit, somebody who doesn't recognize the eternal hope that we have in Christ, will never understand that. And that's what he's saying. It's not about religion. If you are following religion, here's a bunch of rules that you're supposed to do. Here's a bunch of things to make things right.

But there's a lot of things in the Scripture that we are called to do in the eyes of the world is absolutely wrong. And we are called to do that in order to bring the greatest glory to God. That's the first thing that he says that happens when the new covenant, when the Holy Spirit comes.

The second thing is our relationship with God is renewed. Hebrews chapter 8, verse 10, "And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Now we may look at that and say, "Well, I mean, he uses that on the nation of Israel in the old covenant. He called them the apple of his eye.

What is different?" Let me illustrate this and what he means by here. He's not just simply talking about a legal definition, a description of the people of Israel. This is much more possessive. Let me give you an explanation. You know, some of you guys know my wife, people who've been at our church for a long period of time call her Mama Esther.

And some of you guys are like, "That's weird. There's a cult. Why is she Mama Esther? And why am I not Papa Peter?" Right? Well, there's a reason behind that because a long time ago, I mean, 15, 20 years ago, it's been a while, when our church was much smaller, I think we had about maybe 50, 50, 60 people, we had a lot of Esthers.

You know, Esther Kim is a very common name in the Korean community. So we had two Esther Kims and then two other Esthers. So in order to distinguish the Esthers, we had one Esther we called Ezlo. And the reason why we call her Ezlo, I will not get into.

Some of you guys who've been here for a while, you know why we call her Ezlo. And then we had another lady in our church, her name was Esther Song, so we called her E Song. And then we had another Esther, her name was Esther Beck, so we called her E Beck.

And then Esther will happen to be the oldest among them, and so they called her Mama Esther. So today, a lot of people don't know where this came from, and we have people much older than her calling her Mama Esther. So people from the outside is like, "It may seem weird, but that's the history behind that," right?

I remember in the beginning of that, before we had all these, you know, ways to differentiate them, people would, I would say Esther, and I'd have to re-explain. "Oh, I don't mean Esther Song. I don't mean Esther Beck. I don't mean the Esther, Esther Kim." In fact, I used to get into a lot of trouble because I used to send emails to Esther Kim.

Sometimes they were very personal emails. And then the other Esther Kim, Ezlo, would get it and said, "Okay, thank you." And then I'd look at the names, "Oh, shoot, I messed up." So I have to double check, right? And I have to change their name. But by that time, in order for me to differentiate between that, my Esther and other Esthers, I would have to say, "My Esther." And everybody knew when I said, "My Esther," that I was not referring to Esong or Ezlo or E Beck.

We're talking about Esther that I have a covenant relationship with. I personally possess her. She's my Esther. That's what distinguishes her between any other Esther in the universe. That's my Esther. And I'm her Peter, all right? So that's what I mean when I say, "My Esther." And the reason why I say all of this is when he says that I will be their God and they shall be my people, he's not simply identifying them legally.

He's possessing them. And in this new covenant, there is going to be this intimate relationship that they didn't have before. And again, Ezekiel 37, 26, "I will make a new covenant of peace." See, the old covenant was called the covenant of the law. The new covenant is called the covenant of peace.

The covenant of peace, not because that there's no turmoil, no trouble in your life if you enter into this covenant, he's talking about a peace between sinner and a holy God. And that barrier between us and God is going to be taken away. And so therefore, this new covenant that you and I are in is called the covenant of peace.

It will be an everlasting covenant. There is no other covenant coming. This is the covenant that he was leading us to. And I will place them and multiply them and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever. So in other words, there is a personal possession. So the first characteristic of this new covenant is a new relationship with the law.

But the second is a new relationship with this God. This is possessive. There are many people who come to church for years and years and years and years, have an impersonal relationship with God. He's a being. He is an it. He's a force. You can call him God. You can call him holy.

You can call him Jesus. But it is not personal. And that is a distinguishing mark between somebody who met Christ and fell in love with him versus somebody who worships him from a distance. We just kind of observe. And he's just a figure of God. He's just a great person to worship.

But it's not personal. Let me make my point here. If I say to you, "Mom is so fat." Nobody flinches. Because I'm just talking about mom. You don't have any personal connection. That could be anybody. "Mom is so fat." Okay, I'm not going to finish that. But if I said, "Yo mama." And I actually pointed finger.

"Yo mama is so fat." And I finished that sentence. And I'm sure you would take that a lot more personally. And you take that personally because the mom that I'm talking about is your mom who loved you, raised you, endured with you. And there's a personal affection for that mom.

And so you care about your mom. You care about her name being dragged through the mud. You take it personally. See, so many Christians who come to church has no personal affection for this God that they worship. And so when his name is being blasphemed, you hear it like you're hearing something that is detached from you.

Hearing news of somebody who died that you don't know. There's no personal affection. See, he says in the new covenant that not only are we his, but he is mine. That's my God. He's not a God. He's not the God. He's my God. He didn't just die for the world.

He died for me. He didn't just forgive the world. He forgave me. He's not just a refuge for the world. He's my refuge. He's my hope. And that's what initiates us from wanting to come to him. Part of the reason why so few Christians pray is because God is impersonal.

It's like going to a job interview to get things done. To say that you went, you dressed up properly, and you said the right things. But it's not personal. The way we go to a job interview, the way we go to meet a close friend is very different. One is something that you look forward to.

The other thing is just something that you have to get over with. And at the core of that is because of our relationship with God. He said in the covenant, he renews that. See, the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian in 2 Corinthians 4, 3-4 is that non-Christians are blinded by the enemy, by the God of this age, so that we do not see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's a non-Christian. They can learn about God. They can study about God. They can even talk about God. They can even evangelize about God. But the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is that a Christian has opened his eyes to see his glory. And you know what it means to see his glory?

You've seen his essence. You cannot see his glory and not fall in love. Because that's who he is. You cannot. You know, you can go and eat a sandwich and say, "I like it or I don't like it." You can go take a vacation and say, "I like this area, I don't like this area." But when our eyes become open to the glory of God, when our eyes get open to the glory of God, we fall in love.

You know why? Because every human being was created for that purpose. Every human being was created in the image of God. So when our eyes become open to see that image, we recognize that this is what we've been created for. We are restored back to what he intended. And it fits.

So we end up being attracted to him. That's why in Acts chapter 9, 18-19, Apostle Paul lived all his life in religion and obeying the laws of Pharisee among Pharisees. He said, "As to the law," he says, "he was perfect." But yet when he met Christ, what does he say?

In light of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ, all of that became rubbish. All of these external things that he was checking off. He said he was better than everybody else and he wasn't exaggerating. I mean, he was a Pharisee among Pharisees. "As to the law," he says, "he was perfect." And yet in comparison to the new covenant relationship with Christ, all of that was rubbish.

Remember what happens? He meets Christ in his glory. He falls blind for three days. And after three days, what happens in Acts chapter 9, 18 or 19? He says after three days, the scale falls off of his eyes. Right? Now, I'm not an optometrist, but most people don't walk around with scales in their eyes.

What did this mean? What blinded him was taken away. It symbolized his blindness. Then after seeing the glory of Christ, all of a sudden he was seeing for the first time. And from that moment on, he became an evangelist. He didn't go to seminary. He didn't get training. He was just telling people about what he fell in love with.

And all of a sudden, he began to love whatever he loved. Because that's what happens when you fall in love. When you fall in love, you know, I hated noodles before I met Esther. I'm not going to say I love noodles, but I like noodles. You end up liking what the other person likes.

You end up doing what that other person does when you fall in love. And that's what happened to Apostle Paul. Scales came off of his eyes, and all of a sudden, Christ's mission was his mission. He hated the Gentiles, and all of a sudden, he became the apostle of the Gentiles, and he fell in love.

That's what happened. That's why in 2 Corinthians 3, 14-18, it says, "But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ." In other words, all they see is a religion. All they see is a set of things that they're supposed to do and not do.

But they do not see, because they did not see Christ. To this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart, but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. You notice here, if you pay attention, he's describing sanctification. In the way that we do discipleship, if we get somebody who's not disciplined to be disciplined, they're better disciples.

If somebody's not memorizing scripture and they're memorizing scripture, they're being sanctified. If you're not doing what you're supposed to do, and you get them to do what they're supposed to do, they're better disciples. That's not how the Bible describes sanctification. The sanctification he describes is a greater exposure to his glory.

More and more of seeing who he is, we are being transformed as we are seeing his glory. So when we see his glory, it causes us to love the Word. It causes us to spread the gospel. It causes us to do all these things. But it happens because internally we are changing as we are seeing his glory.

That's how sanctification is described. So justification happens when the scales fall off. Sanctification happens as we see more and more of that glory. So you can have an individual who is very disciplined, who's memorizing scripture, and is very good at rule keeping, and be no closer to God than when he first started.

Because there is no transformation. There is no affection for God growing in that person. So he says the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant is not only a relationship with the law, but relationship with this God. He renews a renewed affection, which is the catalyst behind what we do.

So there's a world of difference between somebody who is regurgitating information about Christ to other people. You went to seminary, and I know this deep theology. I read a book. I was told this, so now I'm going to tell you the knowledge that I have. I'm going to give it to you.

There's a world of difference between somebody who is sharing because he heard it and then he's regurgitating it versus somebody who witnessed Christ. He saw his glory, and he's just telling you what he loves. Evangelism is night and day. When you talk to somebody who's just selling you a product versus somebody who wants you to have this because he believes that it just hasn't affected me, it will affect you.

So the catalyst behind sanctification is a growing, growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Third and finally, a renewed relationship with each other. Right now, again, we live in a world where we're all like, "We need to get this right. We need to get this relationship right. We need to get rid of racism.

We need to get rid of prejudice." All of that is true. But the scripture clearly says, "Until there is restoration and peace with God, there is no peace with man." The injustice and racism that people are so concerned about is a result of the fall of mankind. It is not simply because of certain rules and regulations that we need to change.

Again, if there are certain things that we need to change, we should change. But overall, the scripture tells us, "Peace with man does not and cannot happen until there is peace with God." See in Hebrews 8, 11, it says, "And they shall not teach everyone, his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord, for all will know me, and from the least to the greatest to them.'" Now what does he mean by that?

No one's going to teach each other. I'm teaching you now. Maybe I'm breaking the commandment. This is not part of the commandment. In fact, Hebrews 5, 12, the very author says, "You ought to be teachers by now." He says that. So is he contradicting himself? In Ephesians 4, 11-12, the pastors that you guys studied not too long ago, he says, "He established apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip so that we may have unity of the knowledge of God." James 3, 1, "Not many of you should be teachers," meaning some need to be teachers.

So what does he mean here when he says, "You shall not, they shall not teach everyone, his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord.'" What he means here is not saying that there's no need for anybody to teach anything because now since the law is written in our hearts and our mind, everybody knows what to do and we're just going to do it.

When we get to heaven, that is true. While we are here, the here and not yet, he's established teachers, apostles. In fact, he has regulations on when we establish teachers, what are the qualifications that make them teachers. In fact, an elder needs to be able to teach. What he means here is that we no longer have additional things, additional people to get to to get to God.

Remember, this is being stated in the context of the old tabernacle versus the new covenant. In the old tabernacle, there was a clear hierarchy of how they can reach God. The high priest, one person, he has the most intimate access to God. He can go to the Holy of Holies only once a year.

The priest can go to the Holies, the outer chamber, and they can make sacrifices and sprinkle the blood, but they could be around the chamber. If you were a Jewish male, you can come to the outer court and offer the sacrifices and hang around, but if you were a Jewish female, there are certain parts of the tabernacle that you couldn't go to.

If you happen to be a Gentile convert, there are certain places that you couldn't go to. If you had any kind of defect, if you were a eunuch, or if you had any kind of pores that were open, you were not allowed. There was a strict hierarchy of who had access and who you needed to go to in order for you to have access to God.

He's saying in the new covenant, all of that is broken. There is no other mediator between us and God other than Christ Jesus, and every single Christian has equal access. I don't have more access than you do, and you don't have more access than I do. Just because you get a title or I went to seminary, somehow there's some inner chamber doors that opened up for me.

We have equal access. Meaning, every single one of us, everything that we need for a life of godliness, you have. Some of the biggest hindrances in our Christian life is when we begin to convince ourselves, I am the way I am because. I am the way I am because of my upbringing.

I am the way I am because I wasn't discipled. I am the way I am because I don't have enough older people in my life. I am the way I am because we lack this program. I can't do this because of that. Once we begin to tell ourselves that I lack these things to access God, from that moment, I have an excuse.

I don't need to go to God because it wasn't me. God didn't provide the things that I need. And yet, in 2 Peter 1, 2-3, it says, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness." I want you to stop right there and just let that sink in.

Everything that you need for life and godliness has been given to you. Think about how often we think, "If I had this, if I had a better small group, if I had better pastors, if I had a better community, if I had older people in my life, if I had a better job, if my kids were more obedient, if I had a little bit more money, if I had a better job, if I had better vacation, if I lived in a better neighborhood, if I had better this and better that." And once that thought enters our mind, from that moment on, I am the way I am because of the circumstance that I'm in.

And yet, the scripture says, "No, the access has been opened to you." Everything that you need for life of godliness, you already have. You know what that means? You know what that means? Every single one of us. The gathering of people are people who have equal access to God.

You don't need to come to church simply to meet God. Church is a place where we come to celebrate what we have in Christ. Church is a gathering of people that have been regenerated, who have fallen in love with what we have in Christ, to worship together. I mean, that's what makes church beautiful.

Because it's not about the educated, it's not about what race, it's not about our background. Every single person, no matter how difficult your life, no matter how sick you are, no matter how much time you have or how little time you have, every single one of us has access to the holy of holies because of what Christ has done.

And that's what affects our relationship with each other. Because I don't need you. I don't find life in you. I don't find refuge in you. My hope is not in you. It's in Christ. So because I am satisfied in Christ, when I come to church, the overflowing joy in me can be shared with other people.

That's what the church is meant to be. But you have a church filled with people who are frustrated because I don't have this, I don't have that, and then they come to church, how come he's not giving me, nobody's reaching out to me, nobody cares about me, because we're trying to find satisfaction in each other that was meant to be fulfilled in Christ.

See, that's what affects fellowship. So even when we feel injustice, we can't squash our joy. Because my joy is not found in justice. My life is not found in making sure that I get what's mine. It's like winning the lottery, you know, and you got a billion dollar, the greatest lottery in history, and then you're complaining about the parking ticket that you got.

Now I got to go pay this, this is so unfair. And instead of celebrating the lottery that you won, a billion dollars that you didn't deserve, you spend all your time complaining about that ticket that was unjust, you know. That's not, that's not right. That can't be right. How can they be doing this to me?

Why are they doing this? I got to go to the parking, I got to go over there, wake up early and pay this ticket. You know, it's a $50 ticket and it's nothing to you compared to what you already have in Christ. That's why the greatest hindrance to true worship is a grumbling heart.

Not recognizing what it is that we have in Christ. But imagine a community of people who recognizes what they have in Christ. I don't deserve mercy. I don't deserve love. And yet he gave it to me. And so because he loved me, I can love you. Not because I know you're going to, you're going to be fair to me.

Not because you're going to love me back. Because my love is not based upon your love for me. My love is based upon his love for me. And that's how God restores peace in mankind. You fill a room or a society or a country filled with people who want fairness.

Again, perfectly understandable in the secular world. But as Christians, we're all lottery winners. So we're able to be generous. We're able to give. We're able to be gracious. So peace with God is what causes the peace with man. So let me conclude with this. Is Christ enough in this new covenant?

If you were poor and you had Jesus, I'm talking about real poverty, right? I'm not talking about not being able to drink boba whenever you want, right? I'm talking about real poverty. Like you, you can't afford an apartment. You can't buy a car. Like if you were poor and you had Jesus, would that be enough?

If you caught COVID or somebody you love caught COVID and they died, but you had Christ and they had Christ, is that enough? Would you be okay if you were imprisoned falsely and had to spend the rest of your life in prison for something that you did not do?

And yet you had Christ. Is that enough? Every single one of us has been given something that you and I could not possibly earn. So even if I become sick and homeless and die early, for the rest of eternity, God deserves my praise. The character of believers should be different than the world.

And this is why we're going to sing. In fact, let me ask the praise team to come back up. Where are you? Yeah, if you guys can come back, come back up. We're going to sing this song, "All I Have is Christ." You know, the song, "All I Have is Christ," is hard to sing sometimes when you're rich.

Yes, we're rich. Every single one of us, because we live in Orange County. You have your bills paid. You know what I mean? No one is going to leave this room and saying, "I don't have $7 to go get a hamburger." And if you do, we'll give it to you.

We have enough, right? But sometimes because we're rich, to say, "All I have is Christ," because it's not true. We have Christ. We have a good job, good relationship. We're sitting in an air-conditioned room, living in a free country, right? We don't have people breaking down doors and trying to arrest us.

You know, our persecution, at least now, our persecution is people not liking us, right? So sometimes it's rich people to say, "All I have is Christ," it's just not relatable. You know, when we sing this song, "All I Have is Christ," I think we need to be reminded, "All I need is Christ." So in our distraction, in all the blessings that God has given us, as we sing this song, let's make this our prayer.

"All I need is Christ." So let me pray for us, and then we'll let our worship team lead us. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Father, for the new covenant that you've given us. This covenant of peace. Help us, Lord God, if we have drifted in any way and have forgotten what it is that we have in you.

Help us to be reminded, even as we sing this song, that all we have is Christ, all we need is Christ. And may that be our cry, may that be our worship, may that be the source of our joy. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.