Creflo Dollar - The Holy Spirit: The Administrator of the New Testament - Part 2
God doesn't judge us based on how we behave. He judges us based on what we believe. God does not judge us based on how we behave. He judges us based on how we believe, my God. God doesn't judge us based on how we behave. He judges us based on how we believe, 'cause under this new covenant, if we believe right, that's gonna change how we behave under the new covenant. But under that old covenant everything is based on how we behave, hallelujah. Thank God for this new covenant where God judges us based on what we believe, and then what we believe will eventually change how we behave.
And so, he says that under this new way, which makes us right with God, the Holy Spirit now makes us right with God. Verse 10, he says, "In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way". So, as he said, he says if you'll take the glory of this New Testament and compare it to the old way, he says there's no comparison. There's just no way you can compare somebody working to try to be righteous and somebody believing and were made the righteousness of God. He's saying ain't no comparison. There's no comparison. And he goes on, and he says, "In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way".
Verse 11, "So if the old way, which has been replaced"... stop. And the old way, which has been replaced... stop. And the old way, which has been replaced... stop. Do you know that? Do you know that's not true with a lotta Christians? Some Christians have maintained the old way, and God is, like, saying, "I have given you a new way, I've given you a new administrator, I've given you the Holy Spirit, and you keep trying to live by the old way, based on your efforts, based on your behavior. And you're gonna set up your rules and say, 'I'm gonna keep the rules, which God will give me credit 'cause now I'm behaving right'".
But you're eventually gonna fail from that good behavior, back into bad behavior 'cause you can't do it by yourself. You need the Holy Spirit to help you, and so he says, "So if the old way, which has been replaced, if it was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which remains forever"! The new way is this: the promises of the new covenant administered by the Holy Spirit, the promises of the new covenant administered by the Holy Spirit. Again, you can't leave the Holy Spirit out. You can't turn and say, "Oh, here's a new contract. Let me go and do this". You're doing the same things you were doing on the old. In the Old Testament, you were trusting you. In the New Testament, you're trusting the Spirit. You're not gonna be successful in this New Testament trying to trust you.
You can only be successful in the New Testament trusting the Holy Spirit. You have an unseen partner who will outdo whatever it is you think you can do by yourself. When are Christian people gonna realize you can't do this by yourself? When are Christian people gonna realize that, stop trying to be like God without God. That's most of the church today, they're trying to be like God without God. They're trying to be holy like God without God. They're trying to be sanctified like God without God. You get up and preach to people, "You need to be more like God". And they can't do it. "I'm trying to love the Lord with all my heart, my soul, my mind, my strength".
Without God, you can't do that. You can't love God with all your soul, your heart, your mind, and strength without God. Excuse me for getting excited, but this new way by the Holy Spirit, he said it remains forever. Now, verse 12. We're getting closer to verse 17. "Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold". I am so confident that I'm the righteousness of God. I don't care what anybody thinks about me. I am the righteousness of God because I believe that I've been made righteous, and by the Holy Spirit, glory be to God, who administers that righteousness based on my belief, I am the righteousness of God. I'm the righteousness of God when I'm up. I'm the righteousness of God when I'm down. I'm the righteousness of God when I fail. I'm the righteousness of God when I get up. The day you start believing you're righteous, it will change your behavior.
You know, when you begin to have faith in the finished works of Jesus Christ and have faith in what Jesus has accomplished, it's just simply right believing, man. Obedience to the faith means right believing. I'm gonna be obedient to believe according to this New Testament and according to what he said. And then, he said in verse 12, "Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold". You know what it means to be bold? I can do things with liberty 'cause I have confidence that I know that I am what I am. I can boldly tell you I'm going to heaven. I can boldly pray and know that God heard my prayer. I can boldly use my authority on this earth and know that I have the right to do it because I have confidence in what this New Testament stands for and the Holy Spirit.
Watch this next verse. "We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away". So, Moses had glory on his face. He put a veil over his face, but the Bible says that that glory on his face was destined to fade away, all right? That's so good, because there are people who are still trying to live under that old way. And no matter what kind of victory it seems like they got, it's destined to fade away, all right? Now watch this. "But the people's minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read," right now, today, whenever the old covenant is being read, "the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And the veil can be removed only by believing in Christ".
All right, let's go back and look at the Scripture, 'cause this is key Scripture here. This Scripture says every time the old way is read, even when it's read, there's a veil that comes over people's mind. You obviously know he's not talking about a physical veil like covered Moses's face, but he's talking about a veil of condemnation that comes from reading the law. He's talking about a veil of shame, a veil of guilt, a veil that says "I deserve punishment," and "I deserve a cursed life". That's what he says. He said even today, when they read the old way, that veil, that condemnation comes over 'em. I read it, and condemnation comes over. I read it, and shame and guilt. I read it, and I'm convinced I should be punished. I'm convinced that I should live a cursed life.
He says every time it's read, that same veil covers their mind. It covers their mind. Condemnation in their mind. Shame and guilt in their mind. Feeling like they should be cursed and they should be punished in their mind so they can't understand the truth. Isn't that something? Wait a minute. He says reading the old ways stopped you from the truth. What truth? This grace and truth. You can't understand the truth of this new covenant. You can't understand the truth that you've been made righteous. You can't understand this truth that you are the redeemed of the Lord, not by what you did but by what he did. You can't understand the truth that God doesn't judge you by your behavior, that he judges you by what you believe.
You can't understand that truth because your mind is covered with condemnation, and that's why you're so quick to go against the message of grace, because your mind is covered with this condemnation. And he said, "And this veil can be removed", that's good news, how? "Only by believing in Christ". There's a veil over the minds of every Christian that doesn't believe in Jesus Christ. Somebody says, "Well, how did they become Christians"? Well, they became Christians, supposedly, by believing in Jesus Christ, but once they became a Christian they denied everything that Jesus Christ stands for. How does that work? I'm a Christian because I believe in Jesus Christ, but then I had to let go of the veil. And so, it's no longer Jesus is enough. It's now Jesus plus this, and Jesus plus that, and Jesus plus that, and Jesus is not enough. Jesus is not enough.
Oh, yeah, you believe in Jesus, but you know you need to pray two hours a day now. You know, you believe in Jesus, but you gotta be holy. You can't believe in Jesus and still wear that makeup, so we always had to add something to Jesus because we didn't believe in Jesus. And the believers are not believing in Jesus anymore. We don't believe that because of Jesus we are the righteousness of God. We don't, so we work hard to try to do what's right. We don't believe that because of Jesus we've been redeemed. We don't believe because of Jesus that all of our sins have been forgiven so every day, even before we go out, before the day we say, "Lord, forgive me for the sins I've not even committed yet".
Why would you pray a prayer like that? 'Cause you don't believe. And he said the only way to get the veil off of you is to believe in Jesus Christ. Believe in his death, his burial, his resurrection. Believe that through his blood he has given you this new covenant, this new and better way of living, but we don't wanna do it. We wanna stay stuck in the old way. Your tradition has made the Word of God of no effect. How is that? 'Cause we don't believe. All right, so, how do we get out of this, man? Look at this. Next verse, "Yes, even today when they read Moses's writing, their hearts are covered with that condemnation and that guilt and that shame and that belief that they should be punished". Even when they read, their hearts are covered with that. "And they do not understand", verse 16, "But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away".
Whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. That's what's supposed to be happening. You're supposed to be turning to the Lord and that new way. Whenever someone turns to the Lord, that veil is taken away. Now watch this. Verse 17, "For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom". Freedom from what? Freedom from that veil, freedom from the old covenant that puts a veil over your mind, the freedom from condemnation, the freedom from guilt. The freedom from thinking that you're supposed to live a cursed life. The freedom from that condemnation. The way of the Spirit of the Lord is there's freedom from that condemnation. If you're under that condemnation right now, I'm telling you, you can be free from that condemnation, why? Where the Spirit of the Lord is.
So, the Spirit of God has been assigned, hallelujah, to rip the veil off your face, off your mind. The Spirit of the Lord is the one who will administer the freedom from condemnation, the liberty from shame. Glory to God. The Bible talks about how he'll remove shame from you just by simply believing in Jesus. Condemnation goes the same way. Look at what he said in Galatians, Galatians chapter 5 and verse 18. I'm telling you, man, we cannot live life without the Holy Spirit. And some people might say, "Well, you're talking that Pentecostal talk". No, no, no. The Holy Spirit, he is the tutor and the administrator of this new and living way. He says, "But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law. If you are led of the Spirit, you are not under condemnation, because that's what comes with the law. If you're led of the Spirit, you're not under that veil, because that's what comes with the law. If you're led of the Spirit".
My question is, "Are you led of the Spirit? Is your life being led of the Spirit? Is your life being led of the Spirit"? If you are led of the Spirit, you are not under the law. Well, the same thing in reverse is true. If you are not being led of the Spirit, it's probably because you are under the law. If you're not being led of the Spirit, if you are struggling with allowing the leadership of the Holy Spirit to be a part of your life, if you are not led of the Spirit, you're probably being led by the law. You're probably being led by guilt, and the Bible says in Hebrews you can't even serve God like you want to because, you know, you're doing things out of guilt. You're doing things out of shame. You're doing things out of condemnation. You're trying to do things to earn the right to do certain things. I'm gonna be led by the Spirit. I'm gonna be led by the Spirit. I don't want to have this veil of condemnation.
And I tell you there are Christians, and this is the thing I don't understand. This is for us, and we wake up in the morning with the guilt, and we go to bed with the shame, and we dream about the condemnation. And the Holy Spirit's saying, "Hey, dude. I'm here to direct you. I'm here to coach you. I'm here to give you instructions. I'm here to tell you every time the guilt shows up, I'm here to tell you that that was the old way. This is the new way. Give everything to me. I will snatch the veil off your mind". But we don't see the Holy Spirit as that. Church people are ill-informed about the Holy Spirit, and we have got to learn.
Now, that's why I'm spending so much time. We've got to learn about the presence of the Holy Spirit and the part that he plays in our life, and he is the one that will escort us throughout this new and living way, tell us what we need to know, stop us from getting in trouble, tell us amazing words about the future, talk to us. I mean, that's what God's put in my heart today, man. It was explosive. He said don't think for one moment that this pandemic is Satan's victory. He said this is only a prelude to that great move of God that's getting ready to hit this planet. Oh, glory to God. And I'm telling you, man, that's the Holy Spirit, so that does something on the inside of me, because he's speaking to me. And he's instructing me. "No, no, don't do that that way. I already got that taken care of. Are you in a place where you wanna please me, or are you in a place where you're trying to please yourself"?
Man, that's a balance in my life right now, 'cause I ask myself, "All right, am I doing this to please me again? All right, if I am, Lord, help me. He's there to help me". Ain't no use you going to the Lord, ain't no use you going, listen, God already knows the truth, so ain't no use of you lying when you open your mouth up. So, when you open your mouth up you're like, "Lord, I'm having problems with this. I still got some pride lingering around that, show up every now and then. Help me, Holy Ghost". Then you look up one day and the stuff you were dealing with, it ain't even there no more. It's not even there anymore. Now, let me show you the power of the Holy Spirit in this case.
Look at Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 1:3 in the Amplified Bible, and I need to move on 'cause there are some great things I wanna show you here. O praise God, hallelujah, hallelujah. The Holy Spirit, praise God, he's available. He, like the covenant of grace, has been made available to the whole world. He, like the covenant of grace, has been made available to the entire world. The Holy Spirit is everywhere, but why is he not doing this with everybody everywhere? You know you got to appropriate that with your faith. You got to accept him. You got to, you know, permission and allow him to come in and do his work.
Now, I'm gonna say something here, and I want you to really get this. This is life-changing comment. I'm gonna read the verse of Scripture first, and then I'm gonna say this. He said, "May blessings, praise, laudation, and eulogy, be to the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who has blessed us in Christ with every", listen. Listen to this. He, the Holy Spirit, "has blessed us with every spiritual given by the Holy Spirit". See that? Every blessing. Every spiritual blessing that's given by the Holy Spirit.
There are some spiritual blessings that come from the Holy Spirit, given by the Holy Spirit, blessings. "Blessing in the heavenly realm"! The blessing from the heavenly realm that are gonna be given by the Holy Spirit, stuff you physically can't access, but the Holy Spirit is gonna give it to you. Now, listen to this now. So, through the Holy Spirit, all of God's promises are fulfilled. Through the Holy Spirit, all of God's promises are fulfilled and become a personal possession and experience to you. Through the Holy Spirit, they become a personal possession and a personal experience.
So, Holy Spirit says, "I'm gonna give you all of God's promises, and I'm gonna give you all of God's promises to the point where they become a personal possession," hallelujah, "and a personal experience". That comes by the Holy Spirit. Every promise, every promise of God, is given by the Holy Spirit to be your personal possession, that you can possess every promise that comes through the Holy Spirit, your personal possession and your personal experience, 'cause everything about this new covenant is personal. Everything about this relationship with God and you call yourself a Christian, that's personal. Christianity isn't Christianity because we can all get together in a big building. It's personal. It's personal, so while you're at home take advantage of this personal thing.
You know, Taffi and I were talking this week, and we were talking about isn't it time for each Christian to accept responsibility for their personal maturity and growth? Why do you keep sitting around waiting for us or somebody else to come and spoon-feed you? You ought to be already fed when you join me for those morning confessions, glory to God. You should already be full when you come to church. Coming to church ought to be a overflow of what you're full with. How long are we gonna be children and immature, waiting on somebody to feed you and teach you, when you have the same Holy Ghost that feeds us and teaches us? And the Scriptures become more than just reading. It becomes a personal possession, a personal experience, that the Holy Ghost is gonna give you a fulfillment of every promise so it can be yours, hallelujah, so it can be yours, so when you read it it's you, so it's your experience.
And it's time for the church to have their own experience! But that's not gonna happen if we quit... stop, I'm drunk now. I'm drunk. See, you ain't even at church, and I'm drunk, because you can't, this is right. This is something that we just can't, "Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost". It's something you gotta sit down and say, "Now, where is my relationship with the Holy Spirit that will determine me possessing this New Testament, me possessing the personal experience"? I've got a personal experience with that Scripture. You know, I was teaching on Wednesday night Bible study on the prayer of groanings, and I started thinking, "People who don't have a personal experience with this don't even know what I'm talking about. They're sitting up here trying to just, you know, get satisfied with a intellectual relationship with this". Certain things you ain't gonna know until you know.
Oh, glory to God. You ain't gonna know it till you know it. You ain't gonna know it until you know it, but when you know it and you hear it, you're like, "I got that. I possess that. I know about that, Reverendá. Personal experience with that", see? Look at this: Zechariah chapter 4:6. You remember that, Zechariah 4:6? He warns us even in the Old Testament. "Not by might," prophetically Zechariah speaking, "not by power," not by the might of any army, not by power, he said, "but by my spirit".
You're still thinking it's your might. You're still thinking it's your power. You're still thinking your... you know why I say that? Because, you know, phrases like this still exist in the world: God helps those who helps themself. See, you still think it's some of you. You still think it's some of you. God helps those that help themselves. "Now, hold on. I know God can do it, but God only helps those", no, no, no, no, no, no. God helps those who need his help. God helps those who sitting there all by themselves and say, "I don't know what to do. I'm lost. I'm pitiful. I'm a mess. I'm a low-down, good-for-nothing, selfish daddy-dawg, and I need you". And the Holy Ghost shows up, and he says, "I got you; I got you".