Praise the Lord! What a wonderful and Spirit-filled morning we've had. My heart is full of gratitude for all that the Lord is doing among us. I want to begin by thanking God for Brother Joel and his powerful exposition on Psalm 23. It was a tremendous blessing and a timely reminder of the Lord’s faithful and personal care over each of our lives. I was personally encouraged and uplifted.
I also thank God for the testimony and ministry of the Gideons. The report we heard today—67 million Bibles distributed in one year—is simply astonishing. Nearly one Bible for every 100 people on Earth! That’s not just a statistic; that’s the mighty hand of God at work. I want to encourage every one of us to support this ministry—whether through a financial offering, prayer, or even by considering joining the Gideons. Let’s remember to keep them in our hearts and in our prayers.
During worship, we also sang about our unchanging, eternal God. And I was reminded again that our God is El Olam, the Everlasting God. He has no beginning and no end. His glory never fades. His promises never fail. His blood still cleanses. And His Spirit still empowers. Hallelujah! What a mighty God we serve.
This morning, I want to share something that the Lord has been impressing upon my heart again and again. It comes from 2 Corinthians 5:17—“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, all things have become new.” This verse is foundational to our identity in Christ, and it’s worth going back to. We looked at it last week, and the Lord led me to it again today.
Here’s the truth: when God saves us, He doesn’t just improve us—He makes us new. He didn’t come to polish up our old selves, or to simply modify our behavior. He came to replace the old with the new. That is the heart of the New Covenant.
Throughout Scripture, we see shadows and promises of this new covenant—especially in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36. God says He will write His law on our hearts and put His Spirit within us. This is entirely different from the Old Covenant, where everything was external—laws written on stone, outward rituals, and temporary empowerment by the Spirit. Under the New Covenant, God works from the inside out.
This internal transformation is critical. If we claim to know Christ but have no inward desire to walk with Him, obey Him, or be with Him, then we must examine ourselves. The true mark of the New Covenant is a changed heart—a heart that longs for God, a heart that hates sin, and a heart that desires holiness.
In Ezekiel, God promises to remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh. And then He says, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.” This is no longer about trying harder—this is about surrendering and letting the Holy Spirit do His work in us. Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans.” He has sent us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to dwell within us permanently. Hallelujah!
Now here is where I want us to pay close attention. We see in Colossians 3:9–10 and Ephesians 4:22–24 a very important parallel that helps us understand how to walk out this new life. These passages describe the old self and the new self, and how we must actively choose to put off the old and put on the new.
Colossians 3:9–10 says:
“Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”
Ephesians 4:22–24 echoes this:
“Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
Both passages emphasize putting off the old nature and putting on the new. But they also show us how this transformation happens: by the renewing of our minds. The mind is the battlefield. That’s where change begins. If our minds are not daily renewed with the Word of God, we’ll find ourselves falling back into the patterns of the old self. We may be saved, but we’ll be living defeated lives.
Transformation is not automatic. Yes, the Spirit of God lives in us, but we must cooperate with Him. Romans 12:2 says it clearly: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Our minds must be reprogrammed—not with the patterns of the world, not with self-help philosophies, but with the living, breathing Word of God.
The old man was shaped by deceitful desires. The new man is shaped by righteousness, holiness, and truth. But if we don’t feed our minds with the truth, we’ll keep reverting to the old. This is why the Word is not optional. It is essential. It’s how we learn to think like Christ, desire what He desires, and live in a way that pleases Him—not out of duty, but out of love.
So today, I leave you with this encouragement:
You are part of the New Covenant. God has made you a new creation in Christ. Don’t go back to the old ways. Don’t rebuild the old religious systems that Jesus came to fulfill. Instead, walk in the Spirit. Let the Word renew your mind daily. Put off the old self, and put on the new—with intention, with surrender, and with joy.
Let us live as true New Covenant Christians—filled with the Spirit, grounded in the Word, and transformed from the inside out.
Amen.