New Spirit

Greetings to each and every one of you in the precious and matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You’re welcome to the second week of the series, All Things New. Last week we heard about a new creation and this week we’ll be dealing with a new spirit.

I praise and thank the Lord Almighty for the way in which the Holy Spirit orchestrates and choreographs things in such a way. This morning, Pastor Joseph Abraham started off from Psalm 89 and Pastor PB Thomas went on to speak from the book of Micah. A lot of things that were actually going through my mind as I was sitting in the presence of God praying for this message and developing this message was actually clarified and exemplified by the thorough exposition of God’s Word this morning. So if you get the time to go back and listen to the Malayalam service and if you understand Malayalam in any way, shape or form, I strongly encourage that you go back and listen to the word that the servants of God preached this morning as well.

And Joel’s message last week was such a poignant exposition of God’s Word about our everyday Christian life, especially as to what we should know about the old as we live in the new. Many times when we live in the new, we do not know what was our old. We do not think about what was our old. But when we live in the new, if we did not know what was the old of our lives, we are prone many times to be holding on to the old without even realizing the fact that we are holding on to the new.

So this morning as well, as we continue on to the new spirit, let us sit in the presence of God with a prayerful attitude so that God will speak to us in terms of where God has brought us out from and where God has brought us into. Luke 4:18-19 state, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set liberty to the arduous, and to preach the acceptable ear of the Lord.”

Jesus is quoting Isaiah 61:1-2 that signifies what happens in a jubilee year, which is a period of restoration, a period of reconciliation, a period of release, a period that occurs just once every 50 years. As I stand in Restoration Church, I do not know if this is just a coincidence that the Catholic Church also declared this year as the year of jubilee and the year of restoration. I’m not into those special significances that churches and denomination plays, but it may just be a strange coincidence. But for us as the people of the Restoration Church in this year, let this be a year of restoration. Let this be a year of reconciliation. Let this be a year of release from the things, and let this be a year where we move into the new as a new creation with a new heart and with a new spirit.

Isaiah prophesies and Jesus affirms that the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him for six purposes. Preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, preach deliverance to the captives, recover sight to the blind, liberate the oppressed, and six, preach the acceptable ear of the Lord of restoration, of regeneration, of resurrection, and reunion. It is in this context that we will be looking at the relevance of the new spirit that Ezekiel is talking about. As we go into chapter 36, which will be the meditatory chapter that I’ll be focusing on this morning. For Israel that is in Babylonian captivity, they had lost all hope, even though Jeremiah had written that they would be in exile for 70 years. Jeremiah 25:11-12 exemplifies that. The current state of affairs made them lose all human hope. Jeremiah had written that God’s thoughts were for peace and not for evil, Jeremiah 29:10. Here, but Ezekiel continued to state that God would gather His people back and take them back into their land.

In the previous chapters, in 11:17, in 20:34-42 and 28:25, Ezekiel continues to reiterate the fact that God is going to gather His people back. But in these previous chapters, Ezekiel reminded the people and rebuked them about their sins. Now in chapter 36, he provides them with the promises that can be summed up into two words. This morning, those are the two words that I will be focusing on, restoration and regeneration. After rebuking the people, after admonishing the people, after bringing the people into remembrance about the previous state of affairs, what has caused them to be in the now from where they were before.

Now the Spirit of the Lord is speaking through prophet Ezekiel that I’m going to give you a new heart. I’m going to give you a new spirit. And before that, I want to tell you about what the Lord wants to do. And those two words are restoration and regeneration. God wants to speak to the people of God. This morning from 36:26-27, the Lord says through the prophet and the Lord says to the church this morning, “I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put in you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes.”

This is why I reminded you that if you get the chance to go back on the words that were preached from this very prophet this morning, God will cause us to walk in his ways when we have a new heart. God will cause us to walk in his ways when we have a new spirit and to be careful to obey the rules of God. Hallelujah. After reminding them and rebuking them about the old and what brought them to the current state of affairs. The promise of new is given not as a blanket release of blessings, but with the prerequisites and the conditions that God has for his people. Regeneration with a new heart and new spirit takes place after restoration takes place.

Dearly beloved in Christ, regeneration with a new heart and regeneration with a new spirit takes place after the restoration takes place. Verses 1-15, the Lord is speaking through Ezekiel about the restoration. God gave the land of Israel to the Jews as a part of the Abrahamic covenant. You can see it in Genesis 12:1-3, 13-14, and 15:7-21. We know about that history. We’ve been reading about these even in our meditations and the blended reading of God’s word as a church this year. God gave the land of Israel as a promise to Abraham as a covenant that settled the ownership of the land. But the possession and the enjoyment of the land is coming with faith and obedience. Let me repeat that. God gave them the possession of the land, sorry, the ownership of the land, but the possession and the enjoyment of the land comes with obedience and the faith that we have in Jesus.

That’s the same with us as Christians, dearly beloved in Christ. We enter into God’s family, not because of any of our merits, but by faith. We have entered into God’s family, but we enjoy God’s family and the blessings of God in our lives, believing in the promises of God and obeying to do the will of the Lord this morning. Hallelujah. 2 Corinthians 6:18-7:1, it says, “I will be a father to you, you shall be my sons and daughters to me.” And says the Lord Almighty, since we have these promises, mark these words, dearly beloved, in our hearts. Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. We have been given the possession of the land only with the condition that we obey the will of God. Hallelujah.

The ownership has been given to us, but we possess the blessings of God. When we cleanse ourselves with the grace of God from every defilement of a body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of the Lord. Just as obedient children, disobedient children are chastened by the parents, God chastened the people of Israel because of rebellion and disobedience. That does not mean that the enemy can do anything that they want to do. In verse 2, the enemy says in chapter 36, the ancient high places are now our possession. The fact that the Lord allowed the people of God in captivity, does not mean that there is a blanket approval that the enemy has been given for the people of God to be trampled upon. And there God is using, therefore, multiple times, at least six times from 36:3-7, therefore, because the enemy did not understand the fact that the land belongs to the Lord, God is going to bring His wrath and judgment upon them.

Beloved in Christ, this message is not only to us, but also to the world. Hallelujah. The nations would be repaid for the way in which the people of God were treated. But the message this morning is to the people of God. Hallelujah. The people of God need to know that when we are restored, the land would produce abundant flocks and herds and harvest. The land would be safe and secure. God will multiply His people after restoration takes place. Hallelujah.

When the people obey the will of God, when the people choose to come back into obedience to the call of God and to the statutes of God, God says, “I will restore the land. I will restore my people.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name shall humble themselves and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I shall heal from heaven. I shall strengthen My hand. I shall heal the land.” Hallelujah. Just the same way after restoration, there is 36:16-38. There is a regeneration that is taking place. And that’s where the new spirit comes into play.

Really, beloved in Christ, if we did not know the old, we will not be able to live in victory in the new. Just the same way as the enemies misunderstood that the land was the possession of God, the Israelites also forget that the land belongs to God. When a fire takes place somewhere, when a mishap takes place somewhere, when a problem takes place somewhere, when a calamity takes place somewhere, more than what the Lord wants to speak to the people outside of the flock that God has gathered already in, God wants to speak to the church. And God wants to say, I want you to know who I am. I want you to know that I am the God. I am in control. I am in possession. Hallelujah.

In Leviticus 25:23, the word says, “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity for the land is mine.” If God has said it, He settles it. No man will be able to possess it without God allowing it. No man will be able to claim inheritance of it without God allowing it. If the enemy had any time of an opportunity to have a reign over our lives, it was because God allowed it. Without my God allowing it, not an eye can fall before me. Not a hand can be raised against me. Not a finger can be pointed at me. Not a life can stand against me. Not an army can come against me unless and until my God permits it. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

The regenerated, restored people of God do not belong to themselves but to God. This is something that we need to understand. As ingrained within that new heart that God gives us, the regenerated people of God, the restored people of God need to understand, “I do not belong to myself but I belong to my God.” First Corinthians 6:19-20, the all familiar verses for us. “Do you not know that you are the body? Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit within you. Those you have from God and you are not your own and you have been bought with a price.” And then Paul is reminding the church. Paul is reminding me. Paul is reminding you. Paul is reminding every member of the body of Christ. “Glorify God in your body.” Hallelujah.

When regeneration is taking place before God speaks about the new spirit, he pronounces two indictments about his people. They polluted God’s land and they profaned God’s name. Before we understand the new heart, before we understand the new spirit, hallelujah, we cannot understand and we cannot learn and we cannot live with a new heart and new spirit before we understand the indictments of God. God says in 36:16-23, “you polluted my land.” Hallelujah. “Behave like the heathens around them.” This morning the servant of God spoke about the indictment of God through Isaiah, through Ezekiel, hallelujah, and through Micah. He said, “Oh Sodom and Gomorrah are better off than my people. They have done worse than my people.” Here I am continuing on the footsteps of the Holy Spirit that spoke the same message this morning.

The word of God says from 36:16-23, “they polluted God’s land. They behaved like the people outside. They defiled the land and broke the covenant that the Lord made with the people of God.” In Leviticus 18, they worshiped idols this morning because of the brevity of time. I do not want to go into the explanation of the idols, but you know what the idols that we have in our heart, whether it be the possessions that we have, whether it be the fame that we have, whether it be the things that we have, whether it be the children and the family that we have, whether it be the positions that we have. God says one of the ways in which you polluted my land is by worshiping idols.

Then it says sacrificed innocent children’s blood. Hallelujah! Even before we had conceived in our mind about the conception of our children, God had conceived our names. God had drawn us in the palm of our hands. But the land has shed the blood of innocent lives, falsely accused the poor and the needy in court. And each act of these disobediences polluted the land more and more. Leviticus 18 says that the pollution of the land grieved the Lord so much that He says the land is going to vomit them out. Hallelujah! God says, “I want you to know this first before you know about the Spirit.”

And then He says in 36:20-23, “He profaned my name.” One, we polluted the land with the things that God says here, having idol worship, having sacrifice of innocent blood, and having the poor and the needy not being taken care of. God says, “I am going to spew you out of my heart and out of my mouth because of the fact that you polluted the land with your profanities.” But here He says, “you profaned my name in the land of captivity.” They defiled the land and instead of being godly witnesses where they were sent, they profaned the name of God in the land of exile. Psalm 137, we all sing. We know that “By the rivers of Babylon” song. And there the captives, the people who held the people captive, they are saying, “Sing a song of Zion.” And the people are saying, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in the strange land?” But the people who held them captive are looking at the people of Jerusalem and say, “You are known to be singers. You are known to be worshipers. You are known to be people of God who take the name of God. Why are you silent?”

Oh, dearly beloved in Christ, the world is deafened by the silence of the church. Let me repeat that. The world is deafened by the silence of the church. Let the church be bold to take the name of God. Let the church be bold to take the name of God. Even in the adverse conditions, even in the inclement conditions of our life, to lift up the name of God. Hallelujah! They say, “You imitated the pagans for so long that you felt right at home among them.” Haven’t we? Many times we have imitated the things of the world for so long that we feel right at home among them. Five times the Lord says to the people that you profane the holy name of God instead of using an opportunity to introduce the true and living God. They wasted it. Hallelujah! Unlike that servant girl in the house of Naaman. Unless, oh, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel in the courts of Nebuchadnezzar. Hallelujah! These people had a golden opportunity to lift up the name of God amongst the people that had held them captive to show that they still serve a living God in the workplaces that you’re part of, in the colleges that you’re part of, in the schools that you’re part of, in the places that you go to.

Dearly beloved in Christ, are we lifting up the name of God? Are we profaning the name of God? God says, before I put that new heart, I have two indictments about you. One, you polluted the land and two, you profaned my name. Then, after that indictment, the Lord declares his transformation plan in the process of restoration and regeneration, 36:24-38. He says, “I’m going to put a new heart in you. I’m going to put a new spirit in you.” Dearly beloved in Christ, let me submit to you, only a transformed people can enjoy a transformed land. Only a transformed people can enjoy a transformed land. And that’s why Paul says in Romans 12:1-2, he says, “Brethren, I beseech you by the mercies of God, oh, submit your bodies as a living sacrifice and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed and by the renewing of your mind, submit your bodies as a living sacrifice.”

God says, verses 25, 29, I will sprinkle clean water upon them and remove their idols. According to the Mosaic law, we know that every defiled Jew, after they were cleansed, before returning to the camp, they needed to be sprinkled. They needed to be washed. If you needed to know more about that, go into Leviticus 14:1-9. Every defiled Jew had to be sprinkled. But here, when we confess our sins, we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb of God. First John 1:9. He says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Hallelujah! He will cleanse us and He will give us a new heart when we are regenerated. It is a heart that Deuteronomy 5:29 talks about. “Oh, that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever.”

You do not need any explanation of that. “Oh, that they will keep my commandments after they have a new heart so that it will go well with them.” It is a command of God. It is a promise of God with a conditional clause. I always say this, I’ll repeat it again. When anything happens in my life, I ask myself two questions before I try to rebuke the enemy or I try to ask for other people’s prayers, intercession. I ask myself two questions. God, is it happening to me because I did something that I was not supposed to do? And the second question I ask myself, God, is it happening to me because I did not do something that I was supposed to do? These are two questions not a pastor is going to answer for you, not a brother is going to answer for you. You do not need a prophet to lay hands on your head. You will be able to speak to your own conscience and your conscience will convict us. Did I do something that I was not supposed to do? Or did I not do something that I was supposed to do? The sin of omission and the sin of commission. You do not need somebody else to remind us. That will be convinced to us by our own conscience. Hallelujah.

The Lord says in 36:24-7 in the book of Jeremiah, “I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord and they shall be my people. I will be their God and they shall return to me with their whole heart.” This is where Paul is bowing before the presence of God and he says, “I’m bowing before the almighty God. I am before, I’m bowing before the one who saved me” so that these people will know God, go know Jesus more and more in order for to know us, know God more and more. God says, “I will take out that heart of stone and I will put a heart of flesh.” God will bring us to a new heart with a new spirit.

Verse 27. It is a spirit that will accomplish the divine purposes of God in the lives of those who trust for salvation. Hallelujah. A spirit that preaches the good news to the poor. A spirit that heals the broken hearted. A spirit that preaches deliverance to the captives. It’s a spirit that recovers sight to the blind. It is a spirit that liberates the oppressed. It is a spirit that preaches the acceptable ear of the Lord of restoration, regeneration, reunion, resurrection. All these things will happen when the Lord puts a new heart on a restored and a regenerated life. And when that new heart is placed in a restored and a regenerated mind, God will put a new spirit upon them. The new heart and the new spirit gives a new desire to love the Lord and to obey Him. Amen. The bottom line is a new desire to love the Lord. A new desire to obey Him. And that’s what happens. The Holy Spirit is given like a refreshing water upon parched ground. And this produces fruit in our lives.

Let me move forward very quickly. I do not want to expound that. Spirits, the gifts of the Holy Spirit is bestowed on us according to the sovereignty of God. But here it talks about the fruit of the Spirit. It is not the fruits of the Spirit. It says fruit of the Spirit. It is a multiple fruit. It is a fruit within fruit. A love that is the agape of love. Joy is love rejoicing. Peace is love resting. Patience is love forbearing. Kindness is love serving. Goodness is love seeking the best of others. Faithfulness is love keeping the promises. Gentleness is love ministering to others. And self-control is love in control.

What are the signs of the new spirit? Let’s examine ourselves as we bring this message to a close. Those who have the new spirit share the divine nature of Christ. Those who have a new spirit share the divine nature of Christ. 2 Peter 1:2-4 “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and that Jesus our God, His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of whom who called us to His own glory and excellence by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature. Partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

When they had the old heart, they profaned the name of God. When they had the old heart, they polluted the land that God gave them. But when they have a new heart on a restored group of people, on a regenerated mind that God gave, they have escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. I live in a sinful world. I live in a sinful body. I live among sinful people. But the word of God says, Noah found favor in the eyes of God. Hallelujah! Even when God had repented of creating people, God’s word says, Noah was able to find favor in the eyes of God because he lived a righteous life.

Those who have divine nature will obey the will of God. Sign of the new spirit. Second, the Lord will claim them again as His people. God will be their God and they will be His people. Dearly beloved in Christ, a new heart and a new spirit means a permanent obedience to God’s will. A new heart and a new spirit means a permanent obedience to God’s will. Let’s not go back to the old of profaning the name of God, wasting the opportunity to lift up the name of God, even the time when we are being afflicted by other people. When we are being ridiculed by people, when people are saying things against us, let us be able to say, “I have a new heart and a new spirit.” The Lord will cause the land to flourish. 36:29-30, 36:33-35. The desolate land will become like the garden of Eden in a new heart, in a restored place, in a regenerated mind. God is going to fill the pews. God is going to fill the seeds. God is going to fill the people. God will give the increase to the people of God who are regenerated and reformed and reconstituted with a new heart and a new spirit. Hallelujah!

The beauty of the fruitfulness of the people of God, the beauty of the fruitfulness of the land, it’ll be a testimony to the nations. People will abhor sins. Hallelujah! Sometimes when people think of sins, they go back to it and enjoy them. But when obedient children of God with a new spirit, think of the old disobediences. You do not want to go back to it. We are ashamed and we abhor them. The greatest evidence of the Spirit’s presence inside a child of God is a growing sensitivity to sin. Hallelujah! They will have fellowship of the Lord. When Adam and Eve ran away from the presence of God because of sin, here God says, “I’m going to have fellowship with them back again because they have a new heart and a new spirit.” Hallelujah! And God will increase the population. Let’s close our eyes. When we have a new spirit, we will glorify the Lord. When we glorify the Lord, the glory of the Lord will fill the land. Preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, preaching deliverance to the captives, recovering sight to the blind, liberating the oppressed, and preaching the acceptable ear of the Lord of restoration, regeneration, resurrection, and reunion.

Let this year be a year of restoration for Restoration Church. Heavenly Father, we thank You. We thank You for reminding us about our indictments, that we profaned the name of God, that we maligned the land that You gave to us, and we forgot the fact that You brought us to the now because of the old and Your promise against the new with a new heart and a new spirit. Help us to be people with restoration. Help us to be people with regeneration, with a new heart and with a new spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.