The New Covenant Unveiled [Part 1]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

This is all because of what has happened to Jesus, because He was crucified, because He was dead, because He was buried, because He'd been raised again, because anyone who would repent and believe on Him would be filled with the Holy Spirit. He realized that day that we are beholding Jesus. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, Victorious Living, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It's a book written by Pastor Alan called God Moments, and it can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.

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Here is Alan Wright. Are you ready for some good news? Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and you have come into a new covenant wherein you have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord Himself. And therefore, there is no need to ever return to the old because the new has come. It is a covenant of grace that has been made and kept by Jesus Christ, and all who are in Christ are caught up into the benefits of this new covenant. Today, we're going to look at the unveiling of the new covenant and how we, with unveiled faces, can come into the direct and immediate presence of the Lord Almighty. It is in 2 Corinthians 3. We're in a series on 2 Corinthians, and today we come to an absolutely extraordinary image that Paul brings forth from what would have been familiar to all the Jewish readers from the times of Moses, and we're going to be showing you that today. It's in 2 Corinthians. It's chapter 3, and I'm going to pick up reading at verse 5.

2 Corinthians is chapter 3, and I'll start at verse 5. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now, if the ministry of death carved in letters on stone came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses's face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.

Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end, but their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

It is a text about the difference between living under the system of the law, where you are striving by your own effort, versus the abundant Christian life that is empowered by the Holy Spirit. I was remembering some years ago, I think Abigail must have been about four and been at about eight, and we had a wonderful vacation at a little place in the Bahamas, and it had a harbor, I mean kind of a bay area you could swim in and snorkel in, and they had some watercraft there, two things that you could take advantage of, and there's some kayaks, and they also had some little sailboats. And so we got into the kayaks one of the early days, and Ann and little Abby got in one of the kayaks, we're just going to go and kind of paddle around, and you could look down, the water was clear, you could see fish and see things beneath you, and Bennett and I were the other boat. It was a little windy that day, we didn't pay much attention to that, until Ann said she looked down and she noticed that the stuff beneath her was just moving very fast. Have you ever had it where, you know, the wind is behind you, you can't really feel it very much, but if you were to turn around and feel it in your face, you're like whoa, the current was really moving, the wind was really blowing, and I hollered to Ann, I said we need to turn around. So we tried to turn around, and Ann and little Abby over there, they're paddling, we can't, Bennett and I can't get turned around, they definitely can't get turned around, they're huffing, they're puffing, they're trying to get this thing turned around, and it's headed to taking us out to sea, and so I said well only thing I know to do, I paddled over there next to their kayak, and I said we're going to swap here in the middle of the of the ocean here, well anyway Abby get over in ours, and Bennett get over there, and maybe you can get her turned around, and so we swapped up, Bennett got over there, and they still couldn't, they couldn't make anything happen, and I managed to kind of muscle the way, at least get over to the beach until I beached ourselves, and we were safe. Ann said later her only thought was, well at least they'll be able to call the coast guard when we're taken out to sea, and what began then was one of the most comical stories in our family history, is watching Ann and Bennett trying to somehow get to shore or something, they couldn't do anything, the current would just carry them, the wind was just blowing them, and down at the end of this bay area there was a jetty of rocks that came out, and finally Ann said our only hope Bennett, we're going to crash ourselves on the rocks.

Bennett's like what? She said yes, you got to go crash yourself on those rocks over there, it's the only way otherwise we're going to be taken out to the open sea, and so anyway they got right to the edge of those rocks, she said paddle hard and steer back in, and they crashed into the rocks, she said jump out Bennett, and Bennett jumped, old eight-year-old boy jumping out there holding on the rocks, trying to hold on the boats until I could run out there on those rocks and go out and rescue, we never have quit laughing about that story, and we kind of walked to the boats back up the beach, but the next day I decided to try something I'd never done, and that was I had a little, they had a little Hobie Cat catamaran, I said I've never gone sailing before, they said it's easy, said it's very stable, gave me a little quick lesson, and so we got into the little sailboat, some of you that sail, oh I can see how you could catch that bug, because as soon as we got in that, and I realized the wind could fill that sail, did you know you can even sail upwind if you just sort of tack back and forth, or even set the sail the right way, and against the force of the keel, and just feel, we were moving and going through those waters just effortlessly, because the wind was filling up a sail, we were moving, but we were moving by a different power, the exhaustion of trying to go against a current just left us crashed in the rocks, but when the wind fills your sail, you see, you are moving in a direction, but not by your own efforts, that is the difference between living under the letter, Paul calls the old covenant system, of trying to be obedient on your own strength, versus being filled with the spirit, and the new covenant, wherein you have seen Jesus, and come to understand that through simple childlike faith, and his finished work, that you are accepted, and you're his forever, and it is the importance of this distinction that Paul has some very stark things to say, I don't know as we're reading the text if it stood out to you, but think how stark the contrast is, how severe his statement really is, because he called the old covenant, he called the system of the law, the ministry of condemnation, as compared to the new he calls the ministry of righteousness, he said the old was fading into no glory by comparison to the permanent glory of the new, he said in the old minds were hardened, a veil over their hearts, but to the new it's freedom that comes in the spirit of the Lord as we directly encounter God, he said it most succinctly this way, the letter kills, but the spirit gives life, what could be such a dramatic difference between the old and the new, that Paul doesn't just say the new is a sort of improved version of the old, but instead the new is so much more glorious, that the glory of the former covenant now seems to have no glory at all, though it most certainly did have glory when it was given. That's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Ever been facing a problem when a well-meaning Christian friend said something like you just need to have more faith, the problem with such an exhortation of course is that telling someone that they ought to have more faith doesn't actually help a person have more faith, we all want more faith, but what can we do to get more faith? In his highly acclaimed book, God Moments, Pastor Alan Wright describes one of the most important biblical pathways to building your faith, remembering God's presence in your life.

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Call us at 877-544-4860 or come to our website sharingthelight.org. Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. In order to understand all this, I need to take you through the background of two stories from the life of the people of God and the life of Moses. And if you are a long time Christian, a student of the Word, you'll be familiar with these stories, but I want to show you just how deeply Paul has embraced this for an image of understanding the New Covenant. And if you're newer and newer to your Bible, then I'll explain this so that you'll see the background to what Paul is saying, and then I think it's going to really not only make sense to you, but nourish you profoundly to see what Paul is saying. Okay, the first scene that you must understand is the giving of the law in what we call the Old Covenant or the Covenant of the Law, or sometimes you'll hear it called the Mosaic Covenant.

It's in Exodus 19, if you want to glance there. In Exodus 19, God comes to Moses, and Moses is going to be the representative of God to the people, and Moses will be the representative of the people to God. So he's a mediator, and this mediator is the one who's going to mediate this covenant. And so it is God comes to him in Exodus 19 verse 5 and said, If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasure and possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. And so it was that Moses received these words, shared them with the people, and all the people said, We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.

So this was the Old Covenant, that God said, I love you, and I am going to give you a tremendous gift. I'm going to reveal my will to you. I'm going to reveal my word to you.

I'm going to reveal the law. I'm going to give you instruction for living. I'm going to give you a means by which your sins can be temporarily covered. I'm going to give you a word of wisdom. I'm going to give you the Torah.

I'm going to give you revelation. And so it's a gift, right? The giving of the law was a gift. It was never in the scripture is it something that's not a gift.

Of course it was a gift. It was part of the progressive revelation that God was bringing to his people. But he said, and this is what is distinctive about it, he said, here are the conditions of the covenant.

You will be blessed in unspeakable ways by me if you will keep my commandments and if you will be obedient. Well, that was the problem. The people just couldn't be obedient. And so therein is a wonderful gift from the Lord and yet something about this Mosaic covenant, this old covenant that would never be able to empower people.

They would be forever rowing by their own strength and yet destined and futility to never really make it and end up crashing on the rocks. And that's life of trying to live godly life apart from the power of the Spirit. And so continued in Exodus 19 with these instructions is Moses was going to go up on Mount Sinai and he's going to get the law and he's going to bring it back to the people. And Exodus 19 12, you shall set limits for the people all around saying take care not to go up to the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. And so it was that the people are not only unable to look upon God because he's too holy and too glorious and just too awesome for them to even behold and not only are they not allowed to go but they are not even allowed to be on the mountain.

They have to stay at the base and don't even touch the mountain he's saying. This is about the holiness and glory of God. Well we'll pick up reading it verse 16. On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast so all the people in the camp trembled.

And that's a picture of the people that they believe in God but they cannot see God and they're frightened by the glory of God. And it says the Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. And that's the picture of the giving of the law that was what we call the old covenant. They'd gather at the base of the mountain and this giving of the law was a tremendous gift that would be celebrated every year by the people of Israel as one of their seven feasts. They would have this summertime feast of Pentecost and the reason that it is called Pentecost is because of the meaning of 50, penti, and this event of Moses receiving the law has come 40 days after the Sabbath Passover and then Moses 10 days on the mountaintop so 50 days. And it's really important to know that because when the Christians, the followers of Jesus, were assembled in Jerusalem after Jesus had ascended to heaven it was 50 days after Passover and they were assembled there because Jesus had said wait in Jerusalem until I clothe you with power and they were assembled and suddenly on that day as we read in Acts chapter 2 when the day of Pentecost had arrived it is the day in which they are celebrating the feast of weeks or the feast of Pentecost it's called because it is the number of weeks or days after Passover and that very day that corresponded to the time in which the people originally at the first Pentecost received the word of God at Mount Sinai now they're at Mount Zion they're at a different mount and these are the followers of Jesus and when Pentecost had arrived in Acts chapter 2 verse 1 they were all together in one place and suddenly they came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting so there's this wind or it seems like a wind and they were filled and divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each other so there's wind like there was at Sinai there's fire like there was at Mount Sinai and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews devout men from every nation or ever under heaven and at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language so what's happened now is that with all of these uncanny similarities of what happened at Mount Sinai this group of people is assembled at Mount Zion and there's fire and there's wind and there's shaking but instead of them being terrified and unable to even touch the mountain much less see God instead they are filled with the Holy Spirit the direct immediate presence of the Lord himself begins to fill their their very lives and their their spirits are communing with God's Spirit and they're given heavenly languages and they're beginning to speak in languages that are known languages that other people begin to hear the word of God being proclaimed so what happened at Sinai was God gave his word and here we are at Pentecost and God is giving his word and what's so interesting if we had time we'd look at it but Peter gets up and preaches the Pentecost sermon and he says these men are not intoxicated as some were supposing he said this is that of what Joel spoke in which the prophecy said that God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh that there would be a day in which the Spirit of God would not just be poured out and the glory of God not just rest upon one mediator like Moses there'd be a day in which there wouldn't just be certain people set apart like prophets priests and kings who would be anointed but there would come a day in which the Holy Spirit would anoint anyone who believed in Jesus there would come a day in which the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon all flesh and Peter saw it all and he stood up and said this is that of which Joel preached and prophesied about he said this day has come he was saying this is the real Pentecost Sinai was a shadow of this and what's interesting is that when Peter preaches that sermon he doesn't preach specifically about the Holy Spirit he doesn't really use this as an opportunity to talk about the gifts of the Spirit the fruit of the Spirit you know what he preaches about Jesus he says this is all because of what has happened to Jesus because he was crucified because he was dead because he was buried because he'd been raised again because anyone who would repent and believe on him would be filled with the Holy Spirit he realized that day that we are beholding Jesus see the Israelites left Egypt on Passover we remember the story where they put the blood of the lamb over their doors and the destroyer comes through Egypt but the Hebrew families wherever there was the blood they were saved and they left and they were free and 40 days later they arrived at Sinai Moses went up on a mountain and 10 days later Moses came down and here it was at the Pentecost in the first century and it is likewise 50 days after the Passover it's Pentecost but here's the difference when Moses was up on the mountain receiving the 10 commandments and all the law to give the revelation to the people of God when he was gone for that long 10 days they became anxious and worried and nervous that maybe Moses was gone too long and he wouldn't come back or that God wasn't really with them so they in the midst of planning a festival to the Lord took all their jewelry and they threw it in a fire and they fashioned a golden calf and when Moses came down with the law the 10 commandments he found them dancing around a golden calf. Helen Wright in today's teaching from the series on 2 Corinthians but a little diversion here to Old Testament for clarification and by the way it's the teaching on the new covenant unveiled today. Allen is back here in the studio with additional insight on this for your life and today's final word. God's always been there in every moment you narrowly escaped from danger in every moment you were surprised by a blessing in every moment you just knew the direction to take God was there your life is defined by countless moments of God's grace perhaps they've been covered by the sands of time or have just gone unnoticed in the rush of life but your life is full of God moments when you make a gift to sharing the light ministries today we'll send you a special bundle both Pastor Alan's heart-stirring book God moments and a CD album containing all his audio messages on the subject make your gift today and start your spiritual treasure hunt to uncover your God moments how you remember yester day will determine how you live tomorrow the gospel is shared when you give to sharing the light this broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support when you give today we will send you today's special offer we are happy to send this to you as our thanks from sharing the light ministries call us at 877-544-4860 or come to our website sharingthelight.org so Allen here yeah we're going to put a bookmark here and to be clear we are in 2 Corinthians yeah well in order to understand new covenant uh we must understand what makes it new distinct and better than the old covenant yeah so uh that's the place to start is what is a covenant and what was the old covenant with Moses and what was what was the distinction or difference that came with the new covenant and what we're seeing to me Daniel and to many people that have heard of this teaching have come into these insights of the new covenant is perhaps the greatest other than just knowing Christ has been the greatest paradigm shift in my life as a Christian and to discover what makes the new covenant so new and absolutely different than the old is um well it's the kind of stuff that'll make you shout from the mountaintops because there's so much joy about this and that's what we're talking about today the distinction beauty and power of the new covenant of the grace of the Lord Jesus today's good news message is a listener supported production of allen wright ministries