The Covenant

[0:00] I'm so honored to be here tonight, and it's such a privilege to see each and every one of you guys smiling face. I just hope you're smiling when I get done tonight.

[0:12] Amen. I've been asking the Lord, what would you have me to share? And I've been praying and saying, Lord, fasting, and I said, Lord, what do they need?

[0:23] You know, because being a preacher, we can just jump up and preach at anything, you know. But I've been really seeking the Lord, Pastor Donna, and asked him, what does set free need?

[0:36] And I really sense in my spirit that he gave me a word, and, you know, the word that he gave me is covenant. So I'm going to do a little teaching on the covenant tonight.

[0:51] I haven't heard anybody speak on the covenant in a long, long time. I've heard Pastor Steve a number of times allude to it while he was preaching, and I've heard some other ones allude to it while they were preaching.

[1:06] But as far as talking to you about a covenant, what is a covenant? Who made the covenant and why? So I want to share a little bit of that tonight with you.

[1:18] I'm not going to be no longer than the Lord will allow. I really don't think it's going to be long at all. But I really want to just talk to you on some of the things that God requires.

[1:34] How many knows that God requires some things in us as Christians? Well, that's good. It's awful quiet in here, Pastor Kent. So that must mean that they're listening to us.

[1:45] It must mean that they're listening. I want to talk to you tonight, like I said, about the covenant. What is the biblical meaning of a covenant?

[1:57] A covenant is a contract. Anybody know what a contract is? Yep. It's a contract. In the Bible, an agreement between God and his people in which God made promises to his people and usually requires certain conducts from them.

[2:23] You know, a covenant is an agreement. It's just like a husband and a wife, Bobby, when they get married. And I'm looking at you guys because you just recently got married. You have a covenant with her and she has a covenant with you.

[2:38] There's a bond there that I'm yours and you're mine. How many knows that we belong to the Lord as Christians?

[2:50] Amen. You know, Smith Wigglesworth said a while back I heard one of his sayings was that the world is wanting to walk with Jesus, but they cannot.

[3:04] It is impossible for the world to walk with Jesus. And do you know why? Because they're walking in different directions. You can't walk with the world and be a Christian.

[3:17] There's certain requirements. And I want to talk to you tonight on just a few of those requirements that God requires us as a Christian and what the covenant is about.

[3:31] There's a few people that God made a covenant with in the Old Testament. And I just want to touch a little bit on them tonight, if I may. How many of you give me about 15 minutes?

[3:45] There's 15, 30, 45, an hour, an hour and 15 minutes. My God. Hallelujah. Glory to God. No, it's not going to take long.

[3:57] It's a lot of reading here. So just bear with me. Because when God made a covenant with Abraham, there were some requirements that Abraham had to meet up to.

[4:09] Just like a husband and a wife. You know, I'm yours and you're mine. What belongs to her belongs to me. And what belongs to me belongs to her.

[4:21] The same way with the covenant with the Lord. Amen. Amen. So I want to dive right in, if I may. Let's go to, if you have your Bible, go to Genesis chapter 17.

[4:34] I'm going to be reading from verse 9 through 14. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant. Therefore thou and thou seed after thee in the generation.

[4:48] This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thou seed after thee. Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

[5:01] Verse 11. And you shall circumcise the flesh of the foreskin. And it shall be a token of the covenant between me and you. In verse 12.

[5:12] And he that is eight days old. Think about this now. From he is that eight days old shall be circumcised among every man child in your generation.

[5:23] He that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger which is not of thine seed. He that is born in thine house and he that is bought with money must need be circumcised.

[5:40] And my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. Fourteen. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised.

[5:54] That soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant. There's a... There's some restrictions that I said earlier.

[6:09] This was the restrictions for Abraham. Now God also told Abraham that if you do this, Barry, this is what I'm going to do for you.

[6:22] He says... The first one for Abraham says according to the covenant, God would offer protection and land to Abraham and his descendants.

[6:34] But they must follow the path of God. That's what we just talked about right there. Let me tell you. Eight days old. And God sees and he knows.

[6:46] Amen. The element of the covenant are a threefold for Abraham. Number one, making Abraham into a great nation which God has.

[7:01] Two, blessing Abraham personally which he did. And three, blessing all the nations in Abraham which we are blessed because of that.

[7:16] Amen. I know it's quiet so I want you to pay very close attention to this because I could have picked out any other message and preached on it.

[7:27] And we could have been running and shouting and kicking and jerking and all the other kind of stuff that the Pentecostal people likes to do. And it's very hard for an evangelist to sit here and be still like I'm doing.

[7:40] But for some reason God really laid this on my heart, Evan, about the covenant. And it's because God, people, needs to know the importance of the covenant.

[7:54] As a body of Christ, we need to know there are certain things that we can do and certain things we can't do. You know, he got it all through the Old Testament and the New Testament.

[8:07] Over in 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14, he says, If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways.

[8:21] He's telling them, if you do this, then this is what will happen. I will hear from heaven and I will forgive them of their sins and I will heal their land. How many knows that America's land needs to be healed today?

[8:36] Look around. America needs to be healed. And it really starts with the church. Amen or owe me one.

[8:49] It starts with the church. You know, as the church goes, so does the nation really. You know, I really believe that there's a lot of people that is in church that are playing church.

[9:09] They're like Timothy says. They're having a form of God in this, Carolyn, but denying the power thereof. And I really believe that's why, Pastor Kent, we're not seeing the manifestations of the power of God in the church.

[9:25] Can I get a witness tonight? So it starts at the church. And it starts being serious about the covenant that we have with the Lord. The Lord has just been drilling this in me.

[9:39] You know, my relationship with the Lord is between me and God. But can I say my relationship between me and the Lord also affects you guys?

[9:54] And it affects everyone around you? It does. It affects everybody. So with that being said, it would really be awesome that if each one of us, under the sound of my voice, would take that covenant more sincere, more personal, and be more dedicated to that covenant in every aspect.

[10:19] I'm not just talking about one or two areas. I'm talking about across the whole board. How many would like to see more miracles in the church? Let me ask you this. How many of you need a miracle in the church?

[10:32] Amen. We all need it. I need it. You need it. And just think what would happen, Sister Leona, if we could get two or three that are in agreement.

[10:46] Just think what would happen, Maggie, if the body of Christ was to come in unity and be in the right spirit together. Just imagine what we could get accomplished, Mary.

[11:00] Just think, Nancy, what we could get accomplished here. We would be unstoppable. We would be a force to be reckoned with.

[11:12] And see, that's what the covenant is all about, to keep those guidelines, keep us straight, keep us right where we need to be. Amen? Amen. And God made Abraham a promise.

[11:25] He says, I'll bless Abraham to be a great nation. You know, make him a great nation. Bless him. Abraham to be personally. He would bless him personally.

[11:37] And also, in Genesis 12, you can go there. I'm not going to go there for time's sake. But it talks about a little bit more of the blessings of Abraham.

[11:51] Let's move to another one that I want to talk to you about is Noah. I mean, he knows that God made a covenant with Noah as well. And if you'll turn with me over to Genesis chapter 9, verse 12 through 17.

[12:09] And God said, this is a token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you.

[12:19] Think about that. Every living creature. Do you think God made a covenant with animals? Hello, somebody.

[12:34] Think about it. I didn't say that. I'm just reading what I see. You know. It's. Let's go to 13.

[12:46] Just a little food for thought. I did set my bow in the cloud. And it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

[12:58] And it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. Verse 15. And I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh.

[13:18] Think about that. Every living creature. Wow. You know, as I was studying this, that popped out to me. Did you catch that?

[13:29] Every living creature. Wow. Wow. I can see that God can make it with us as humans. But that says every living creature.

[13:42] There's some little nuggets in there, Barry. That if you just look and meditate, it'll pop out on you. Now, I haven't done the study and to see exactly what all that is. I was studying on the other stuff.

[13:53] But, you know, I'd like to go back. And let me say also on this subject here and what I'm going to like to start doing on Wednesday night is pick a topic and have two or three of us ministers to devour into that topic.

[14:14] What do you guys think about that? You know, like the covenant, for instance. And have another minister to come in and speak on that. You'll get my perspective from my teaching.

[14:26] You'll get their perspective from their teaching. And I think we'll just be able to get a good round view of what is going on in the scriptures.

[14:37] So that's something to be looking at in the future. I just thought I'd throw that out there. And in verse, let's go to verse, what was that?

[14:50] Verse 13. Let's go there again. And I did set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and you and the earth.

[15:01] And it shall come to pass, I will bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of the flesh.

[15:17] And the water shall no more become a flood to destroy the flesh. God's making a promise that he will not flood the earth anymore with water.

[15:27] Now, he did not say, he did not say, Evan, that it wouldn't flood in certain places. Listen to what he's saying. He said he would not destroy the earth with the floods.

[15:39] Amen. Like it was when Noah was here. But he goes on to say in 16, And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

[16:01] And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant which I established between me and you and all the flesh upon the earth. So God made a covenant.

[16:13] And you know what that bow is? It's a rainbow. It's what it is. You know, you can look. How many of you know where I was going with this? When you see a rainbow up in the clouds, a lot of times people can just see that.

[16:27] And you can think about, wow, that's a covenant that God made with us, Dan, that he's never going to destroy the earth with water, with a flood again.

[16:38] I think about that when I see rainbows. I had been told that a long time ago. But as I was doing the study, and I kind of put two and two together.

[16:48] And I thought, wow, that is just awesome. But with Noah, God had a relationship with the natural order, with the nature order, an act of creation whereby he promised never again to destroy the earth with love.

[17:10] That's what we just got done reading. He repeated his blessings and promised that Noah and his sons would be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.

[17:24] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I mean, you know that when God makes a covenant, it's always there's benefits in that. You know, sometimes man and a woman make a covenant, and sometimes they don't hold up to the end of their deal, their bargain.

[17:41] You know, that's why things happen in life. One don't hold up to their end of the deal. But when you're in a marriage and you're in a relationship like the body of Christ, we are the bride of Christ.

[17:56] Look around. Men, take care of your wives because you'll be a bride one day. Think about that one. Because the Lord is looking for a bride that is without spot or without wrinkle.

[18:11] He's looking for the one that's going to be faithful to him. Amen. Amen. But we need to be faithful to God. In every aspect of our life. And as I get older, Gene, I realize things that I thought was important, not really important anymore.

[18:30] How many can testify to that? Things that I thought, Barbara, was important to me is not so much important anymore. You know, the Song of Solomon, chapter 2, verse 15, said, It's the little fox that spoil the vine.

[18:46] You know, it's the little things, Donnie, that really mounts up to a big thing. It's very important that we hold our covenant and hold our position to the highest standards.

[19:00] Because there's people out there watching us. If you say you're a Christian, do me a favor. Put 110% in it.

[19:11] Don't say you're a Christian and go 50 or 75 or 85 or 95. The Lord's not pleased with that. And you're just making the rest of us look bad. Hello, amen or oh me, one.

[19:27] So I'm asking you, let's just do what the scriptures are saying. Be faithful to God. Be faithful to yourself.

[19:38] You know, Maggie, you can't give somebody something you ain't got. And if the truth's in you, you can give it to them. But if the truth ain't in you, you can't give it to them.

[19:53] But the word of God says you'll know. You'll know them by what? By the fruits that they bear. You'll know them. How? What did Jesus say? He said, you'll know they're my disciples by how?

[20:05] By the love that they have one toward another. And how does God love us? How does the Lord love us, Gene? He loves us with that agape love, that unconditional love.

[20:18] That's why he kept making covenants with these guys over and over. If you'll go back in scripture, you'll see. All through the scripture, man let him down.

[20:29] But God is faithful. Hold up. God is faithful, Elder Therese. And he wants us to be faithful. It should be a shame and disgrace for us to call ourselves Christians and not giving 100%.

[20:47] And I'm talking about every aspect. I was talking to someone the other day.

[20:58] And they said, well, how can you tell if a person really loves God? And I ain't looking at nobody. I'm looking at this pretty carpet here. I said, well, one thing is you can tell a person if they really love the Lord if they got their wallet.

[21:17] Preach on, Brother Lamar. I think I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. You can tell a person in the abundance of their heart their mouth will speak.

[21:30] It's just a matter of time. You know, it won't take long. If you're sitting around somebody, you'll know what's in their heart because they'll start talking about it. They'll start talking about it.

[21:43] And one of the things a lot of people know, one of the things that I'll ask people a lot of times, I'll say, what's God been talking to you about?

[21:56] How many of you guys have I ever asked that in here? I asked a lot. I said, what's God talking? You know why?

[22:07] Because I want to know. I want to know what God's talking to you about. I want to know if he's talking to you about some of the same things he's talking to me about.

[22:19] Should I be more faithful? You know, I really believe with all my heart that if I was to die right now, I'd go to heaven. I do.

[22:30] But that's something you've got to ask yourself. And I asked the Lord today that same question. I said, Lord, think about this now.

[22:44] I said, Lord, I said, if I was to die right now, would I go to heaven? Think about it. I'm not questioning my walk with the Lord because you guys don't know my walk with the Lord.

[23:00] I know my walk with the Lord just like I don't know your walk with the Lord. But the Bible sure says you can tell them by the fruits that they bear. And a lot of Christians are doing like 2 Timothy says, having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof.

[23:19] I just wonder. I just wonder. You know, the Bible says, blessed are those who endure to the end for the same shall be saved.

[23:30] You know, the body of Christ, we've got some enduring to do. Look around you. Look at the world. The church is wanting to be like the world.

[23:43] The world is wanting to be like the church. I mean, it's just intertwining. I mean, they want to come into the church. They don't want to be like the church, but they want to come into the church. And the sad thing is, Evan, a lot of them is letting the world come into the church.

[23:59] I don't get that. We're talking about a covenant. We're talking about God's covenant. God's going to hold us accountable. God's going to hold us accountable.

[24:10] Not just as the individuals, but as a corporate body. And for those that's in leadership, he's going to hold us even more accountable.

[24:24] The Bible said to know to do right and to still do wrong. To him, that is sin. That's just like a husband and wife.

[24:35] That husband knows he's not supposed to run around on his wife. Or that wife knows she's not supposed to run around on her husband. That's wrong. Same thing here.

[24:49] There's a covenant out there for a reason. And I just want to hit on one more of these, and I'm going to be closing it down. I'm not going to be long-winded, like I said. But I do want to just touch on a few of these.

[25:00] Another one that God made a covenant with was Moses. So God made a covenant with Abraham. He made a covenant with Noah.

[25:12] And he made a covenant with Moses. Do you all know what the covenant was that God made with Moses? I didn't think so. That's why he's having me to teach this tonight.

[25:24] This is so elementary. But we overlook stuff like this, Pastor Kent. We need to know really more of what things like this is about, whether it be the Feast of the Tabernacle or whether it be the Covenant.

[25:43] You know, those go hand in hand. And we need to get into the Word and do some studies, some teaching on stuff like this so we can really know who we are and where we stand.

[25:55] Because let me tell you, the people coming in this church, we're going to have more come in. And I'm telling you, the Lord's already given me a vision of the people coming in.

[26:07] And they're looking for a place. They're looking for something that they can't find out there. And we need to make sure, as being believers, that we're mature enough to lead them in the right direction.

[26:19] Amen? And we can't do that being half-hearted. We can't do that by just knowing a little bit of this or a little bit of that. We need to be sold out. Now, I could preach another message that would get us to running and shouting and all, but you know what?

[26:35] The running and shouting will be over with. What you going to do when the running and shouting is done and over with? I want something that's going to sustain me. I want something that's going to strengthen me.

[26:46] I want something that will strengthen my roots. That I won't be a shallow Christian. That's what the preacher preached on.

[27:01] Pastor Isaac Walker. Being a shallow Christian. That's exactly what I'm talking about here. We need to know these things and learn them. And I just wanted to encourage you.

[27:15] Ask God. What would he have you? What would he have you to do? Seek him while you still can. Because I'm going to tell you, my friend, one day there's coming a day that the same way with Noah, the ark closed up, the door closed, and there wasn't no getting in.

[27:34] Let me tell you, that time's coming. And you and I better make sure that we're ready. And we need to bring as many of them as we can into the kingdom of God.

[27:45] And you can't do that being a shallow Christian. He tells us, the deep is calling the double satire. The deep is calling the deep. Let us launch out into the deep.

[27:58] Let us get out there and mature. Let us grow in the word. Ask questions. If there's somebody around that you know has been saved longer than you and you've got a question, go to them and ask them.

[28:12] It's not a, it's not a embarrassing for you not to know. I don't know all the, all the questions. I don't know all the answers to the questions in the Bible. But I'll tell you one thing, I know a lot of ministers that I can go to and ask and if they don't know, then, and let me just be frank with you.

[28:29] There's some things that you're not going to know. But it's not because I'm not doing like Timothy says. Study to show yourself approved a workman unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[28:43] A workman, not to be ashamed, but rightly dividing the word of truth. Let's get in the word. I want people to say when they say that you are part of Set Free, that they'll say that's a, that's a, that's a good church.

[28:56] That's a mature church. And you know, I can tell that the groups here on Wednesday night and there's probably some that are not able to be here.

[29:07] But for those that are on Wednesday nights, those are the mature ones. Those are the hungry ones. Because there's a lot of places you could be. But you chose to be here tonight.

[29:19] That lets me know that you want something. Amen? Time is slipping away. I'm going to throw a little bit more out with Noah. The first appearance in Exodus chapter 3, verse 17.

[29:32] verse 17. It says, And I say, I will bring you up out of the, out of the afflictions of Egypt into a land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amakites and all the other Kites into a land flowing with milk and honey.

[29:50] Let me tell you, God is wanting to give his people something. All we have to do is say, Lord, here I am. Use me. Use me, Lord. use me.

[30:09] The general terms of this contract is, if you obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my owner, my controller of the kingdom, a priest, a holy nation, and God is also reaffirming his promises that he will keep his word to bring freedom to the Israelites.

[30:40] God did this through speaking through Moses. Isn't that something? Psalms 25 and 10 says, All the paths of the Lord are loving kindness, goodness, and truth, and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his testimony.

[31:03] To his covenant and his testimony. So I got to doing a little studying on that word testimony. So what does the Bible mean about testimony?

[31:14] The Hebrew word for testimony is basically just the word witness. That's what it is. It's witness. It has a contents in scripture as being a reliable witness in court and God's witness to man.

[31:33] A testimony is about, think about this now, I'm closing with this right here, but think about this, it's about three minutes after. Y'all gave me more time than that, so I'm cutting it short for you. But there's three things about this.

[31:45] It says a testimony is about what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will do.

[31:59] Ephesians 3 and 20 says, Now unto him that is able to do what? Exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask our thank, what? According to the power that worketh in us.

[32:12] Now there's a God that keeps his covenant right there. There's a God that keeps his covenant. Haggai 1 and 7 says this, talking about being where we need to be with God.

[32:26] He says, Just saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. My goodness, who's he talking about? He's talking to the church. He's talking to people like me and you. Amen?

[32:38] So consider your ways. There's a way that needs to be considered. God's way. Not your way. God's way. God's way. So as we close tonight, I would ask you to ask yourself a question.

[33:00] Are you where you need to be? Are there room for you to grow? Have you been asking God to show you the way he sees you?

[33:19] Ask him, say, Lord, show me the way you see me and you'll see just what kind of wreck you're in. I'm preaching to the choir right here.

[33:31] Let me tell you, I can't get it to you until it gets through me. And let me tell you, I've been messed up from the floor up. But I can tell you, I'm a whole lot closer to the Lord than I was a few months ago, much less a few years ago.

[33:49] Amen? Amen? So if you would, please stand. Amen?