New Covenant - the Shadow and Reality - Part 5

Have you repented of your sin? Not that you get all your doctrines, right? And that's why there's so much division among Christians. We think this fellow's got all his doctrines, right? He's got even his doctrine on baptism, right? And doctrine on speaking in tongues, right? He must be a wholehearted believer. Not at all.

He may even go to hell. And here's some other person who's got a lot of doctrines wrong. But he's God-fearing.

And if he trusts in Christ for his salvation, he'll be saved. Of course, there's no way of salvation apart from Christ's death and resurrection. But my point is a lot of people who claim to have that faith don't have it.

All because they've been brainwashed by a generation of preachers who've kept them under the old covenant, and they don't even know it. And I'll tell you that's the reason why even many people who sit in this church who've heard so much about the new covenant still haven't entered into the old new covenant life, because they're also listening to a lot of other people who are telling them old covenant stuff. And they are filling their mind with old covenant songs, and they're reading old covenant books.

Okay, what's the result? Defeated. Why don't you spend the next six months saying I'm only going to read about the new covenant next six months. See if it makes a difference in your life.

I'm not going to listen to anything which is old covenant. I'm going to read new covenant, new covenant, new covenant. You tell me if it doesn't make a difference in your life.

It'll change your life completely. I know because it's changed mine. I decided I'm not going to enter heaven.

You know a lot of old covenant Christians will enter heaven, no doubt. But when they get there, they'll have such regret because of the way they lived. Why is there so much controversy concerning the baptism in the Holy Spirit? Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not an old covenant experience, not at all.

The greatest prophet under the old covenant was John the Baptist. And he said I'm sorry, I can't baptize you in the Holy Spirit. That's what he said.

Turn to Matthew chapter 3 Verse 11, I baptize you with water. I can bring you this far, repentance water baptism. But there's someone coming after me who will introduce this new covenant.

He's mightier than I. I'm Jesus called John the Baptist, the greatest person born from the time of Adam. In the history of the human race right up to the birth of Jesus, the greatest person was John the Baptist. And he says sorry, I can't baptize you in the Holy Spirit.

That's got to be done by Jesus. That's the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. You can be baptized in water and be an old covenant Christian.

But when you get baptized in the Holy Spirit, really I mean, boy, you enter into another realm. And that's why there's so much controversy concerning that doctrine. Controversy in two ways.

One, some people have just rejected it completely by saying, oh, well, when you got born again, you got everything. Whether you wanted it or not, whether you knew about it or not, you got it. And some people have theologically convinced themselves, I got it.

It's like, you know, some people, some preachers tell a sick man, just believe that you're healthy. How can he believe he's healthy when he's sick? Did Jesus ever tell a sick person? No, no, no, just confess you're you're healthy. I heard of a preacher once like that who went to somebody's house.

The guy was sick like anything and he prayed for him. Of course, nothing happened. And he said, confess I'm healthy.

Say I'm healthy. You're only thinking you're sick. You're only thinking you're sick.

That man didn't know what to say. But his little boy heard it, you know. Some days later, the preacher asked him, saw this little boy on the street and said, how's your father? Well, he says he thinks he's dead now.

It's not really dead, he thinks he's dead. Because he was brainwashed by the preacher. You know, you don't think you're... You are what you think you are, okay? This new age teaching.

Don't be fooled by all this. The deception in Christendom. So just imagine, yeah, when you were born and you got it all.

No, you didn't get it all brother. If you got it all, you'd have been a little more Christ-like today. Doesn't that itself show you, you didn't get it all? How much more do you need to wake you up? And then there is the other extreme of people who say, well the main thing about speaking is baptism of the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues.

You just babble something and you got it. What do you mean you babble something and you got it? There was someone in the Old Testament who spoke in tongues. You know who it was? Balaam's donkey.

He spoke in a language that he never learned. How did it change his life? He was still a donkey after that. He spoke in a language that he never learned and it was supernatural.

But it never changed him. He was still a donkey and there are a lot of people who can speak in tongues today and speak a language they never learned and it never changes them any more than Balaam's donkey has changed. The Holy Spirit didn't just come to give us a gift.

He came to make us Christ-like. He came to conform us to the image of Christ. It says that very clearly in 2nd Corinthians 3.18. That's what the main purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is.

But if you take a little bit of holy, holy of that purpose, then that's all you'll experience. You know, it's like somebody puts 10 million rupees into your bank account and you draw out 100 rupees. Yeah, you can say you draw out 100 rupees from that gift.

And you didn't get it all. Why are you living like a beggar? Because you drew out only a little bit of that massive amount that that person gifted you. That is how it is with a lot of people today.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is supposed to lead us to a wonderful life. It gives us gifts, sure. God may give you tongues.

It's a useful gift. I found it very useful in the last 32 years. Sure.

But it's not the main thing for me. The main thing the Holy Spirit did was not give me other tongues, but control my mother tongue. And if he gives you other tongues and cannot control your mother tongue, I'd say question whether it is the Holy Spirit or some other spirit.

Do you mean the Holy Spirit can give you other tongues, but cannot control your mother tongue? How could that be possible? Something's wrong there. That's a big question mark I have about a lot of people today who speak in other tongues, but can't control their mother tongue. He does both.

He gives us power. Jesus said that. When the Holy Spirit's coming, he'll give you power.

This is a new covenant blessing. That's the other thing I want you to see here in Matthew chapter 3. You see, it's all new covenant stuff. He shall save his people from their sins.

Matthew chapter 1. Repentance. We saw that, you know, kingdom of heaven. These are all new covenant stuff right in the first chapters of Matthew.

It's all new covenant. Have you seen it? You see it now? Words which are never found in the Old Testament. Matthew 1.21. He shall save his people from their sins.

The kingdom of heaven is near. Matthew 3.2. New covenant stuff. The axe must be laid to the root of the tree.

Matthew 3.10. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. Everything in the Old Testament was a photograph. And I'll tell you, if you have an Old Testament experience, you'll have a photograph of fire.

And I'll tell you, a photograph of fire can look like a very real thing. But it won't give any light. And it won't give any warmth.

And you can have a so-called experience of the Holy Spirit that doesn't give you any light and doesn't give anybody else any warmth. That's not a real fire. You can understand the theory of fire.

And explain fire and not have the fire. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And what does he do with that fire? He's got a fork in his hand and he comes into my life.

And he does things which I can never do. He clears up his threshing floor. He gathers his wheat into the barn and burns up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

I'm glad he does that in my life. I'm glad that all the chaff and the rubbish in my life, he will burn it up with this fire. Little by little.

And he will gather what is good. Bring forth the fruit of his spirit and destroy the works of the flesh. That's why he gives me the Holy Spirit.

You know that was something old covenant people could never experience? That's what the whole purpose of this New Testament fire is. And that's why the Bible says in Galatians.