Would you turn back to 2 Corinthians
chapter 3? I want to preach this morning on the subject,
able ministers of the New Testament. And tonight we're going to observe
the Lord's table together, and I'm going to be preaching out
of the book of Zechariah. And this is our subject, the
secret of success. from the book of Zechariah, Zechariah
chapter 4, verse 6 is the text, but we'll look at that fourth
chapter, Zechariah, and we'll observe the Lord's table together.
The Lord said, this do, not this refrain from doing, but this
do in remembrance of me. Book in chapter 2, beginning
in verse 15 of 2 Corinthians, For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them
that are saved and in them that perish. To the one, we are the
savor of death, unto death. And to the other, the savor of
life, unto life. And who is sufficient for these
things? For we're not as many which corrupt
the word of God. But as a sincerity, but as of
God in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. And who is sufficient
for these things? Well, Paul goes on to say not
the many which corrupt the word of God, but he says we are. Verse
five. Not that we're sufficient of
ourselves to think anything of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God, who also hath made us able ministers of the New
Testament. Not of the letter, but of the
Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the
Spirit giveth. Now look back up at the first
verse of 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Paul says, do we begin again
to commend ourselves? Do we need to recommend ourselves?
Are we trying to gain men's approval? Or need we, as some others epistles
of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? Do we need, like the false apostles,
letters of recommendation, papers stating our qualifications for
this work in order to gain your approval? I want to ask you a
question. What more credibility would I have if I went to seminary? What if I had a doctor of divinity
after my name? What would that mean? You know,
I was thinking about this. What are the two questions that
are asked to me the most? Well, the first is, how big are
you? How big is your church? And I've
got a good answer to that. It's a lot bigger than yours.
Ten thousand times ten thousand. and thousands of thousands. It's
a big church. And the second question that
I'm asked most frequently is not what do you believe or what
do you stand for, but where'd you go seminary? I didn't. I didn't. Seminary does not make a preacher. God does. And here is the only
recommendation needed. Look in chapter four. Verses
1 and 2, Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have
received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty, what not walking in craftiness, nor handling
the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth. That's all it takes. By manifestation
of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God. Paul says we don't need these
letters of commendation. There are B.A.s, B.S.s, M.D.s,
Ph.D.s, D.M., but I like what William Huntington, a preacher
from the 18th century, put after his name. William Hunter, William
Huntington, S.S. They said, what's that stand
for? William Huntington, sinner saved. Verse 2, he says, are our epistle,
written in our hearts, and known and read of all men. Now, Paul says to the Corinthians,
the fact that you believe is our epistle. When God has sent
a man to preach, sinners will be saved through that man's preaching. That's the commendation. This
is what men conceive. He says in verse 3, for as much
as you are manifestly declared to be the epistles of Christ,
ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit
of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables
of the heart. Now, the Spirit of God is the
one who writes this epistle, and the tablet is not stone like
the law. But fleshy tables of the heart. Now, would you turn with me for
a moment to Hebrews, Chapter eight, and this is a quotation
from. Jeremiah, Chapter 31, about the
writing. Of the Spirit of God upon the
heart. Hebrews, Chapter eight. Verse 10. For this is the covenant
that I'll make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord, I will put my laws into their mind and write them
in their hearts. Now, God says, I'm the one who
does the writing. You know, I can't write on somebody's
heart. I can't write on my own. Only God can do this writing.
And this is what happens in the preaching of the gospel. This
is what happens when God does something. He writes on the heart. Now, what's he write on the heart?
Ten Commandments? The Ten Commandments are already
written on everybody's heart. When you were born into this
world, you were born with God's law written on your heart. Everybody in this room knows
it's wrong to kill, don't you? You know it's wrong to steal,
don't you? You know it's wrong to lie, don't you? You know that. In your heart, you know sexual
sin is wrong. You know these things. These
things are written on your heart. You're born with this. Now, it
always kind of aggravates me when I hear people say, well,
we need to be taught to live. You already know how to live.
You don't need to be taught to live. Do you know the difference
between right and wrong? Well, we need you to be born with that
knowledge. As a matter of fact, Romans 2,
14 and 15 tells us that God's law is already written on everybody's
heart. Hold your finger there and turn
to Romans chapter 2. We need to be taught to live. Well, I'd
say we'd be coming closer to the truth if we need to be taught
to die is what we need. You know, I love that passage
of scripture that Claire just read from Ecclesiastes. The day
of one's death is better. It's the best day of all for
a believer. The day of your death is the best day of your life
if you're a believer. Now, I want to understand how
that can be, don't you? How all the experiences of life,
if you're a believer, the day of your death is the best day
of all. I want to enter into that, don't
you? In Romans chapter 2, verse 14,
for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature
the things contained in the law, these having not the law, they've
never received a copy of the Ten Commandments, are a law unto
themselves which show the work of the law written in their hearts.
Even though they've never seen the Ten Commandments, it's already
written in their hearts. also bearing witness in their
thoughts, the meanwhile, accusing, feeling guilty, or else excusing
one another. In the day when God should judge
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. So we
see the work of the law is written on everybody's heart. That's
why people feel guilty. That's why people try to come
up with excuses, because the law is already written in their
hearts. So when God says, I'll write
my laws in their hearts, it's not talking about the Ten Commandments.
And the second thing that comes to my mind about that is what
heart does he ride on? What heart does he ride on? Now,
the reason I got to ask this question is because what good
would his laws be due to be written on my natural heart? My natural
heart is no good. It's evil. It's no good. That won't do me any good. if
God writes these laws on this heart. And I thought of that
parable of our Lord, where he says, do men take new wine and
put it into old bottles? No, they take new wine and put
it into new bottles. And you'll see if God took the
wine of His grace and put it in your old heart, could your
old heart hold it? No, your old heart's no good. It can't be
improved. I need a new heart. A new heart given to me by God
himself. And he promised a new heart also
will I give thee. A heart that you did not have
before. Now this is the heart that God
does this writing on. And did you notice he says I'll
put my laws, plural, in their heart. My laws. Not just my law, but my laws. In the New Testament, We read
of six different laws. We read in Romans 7 of the law
of sin. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. I find in a law, Paul said, that
when I would do good, evil is present with me. I delight in
the law of God after the inner man, but I see another law warring
in my members. and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members. Now, the only one
who can recognize this is the new man that he's put in your
heart. If you have a new man, you recognize that you have an
old man that does nothing but sin. That's the law of sin. Now, if you don't have a new
man, you can't recognize this. It doesn't really make any sense
to you. But if you have a new man, you recognize this thing
of the law of sin warring in your members. In Romans 9, we
read of the law of righteousness. Now, when God writes in your
heart, you cannot be satisfied. Your conscience can't find any
rest in anything but perfect righteousness. You can't be satisfied
with anything else. The only thing that you can rest
in, that you can find ease in, is perfect righteousness, the
righteousness of Jesus Christ the Lord. That is your righteousness
before God. And you don't find any peace,
you don't find any rest, you don't find any joy in anything
but His righteousness. If you have His righteousness,
you can rest, can't you? Then we read in Romans 3 of the
law of faith, when God writes in your heart, you believe. Now,
there's never a time when you can't cry with that man in Mark
9, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. The old man never
believes. He never does. That's why there's
never a time when you can say in this experience, I believe. You always have to say, I believe,
help thou mine unbelief. But you also say, I believe.
I can't not believe the gospel. I said this the other day, try
to not believe. Christ is not enough. I don't believe He is.
You can't not believe. You believe the gospel. This
is when God writes in your heart. In James 2.12, we read of the
law of liberty. The law of liberty. You're a believer. When God writes
in his heart, he must have liberty. Now, what is liberty in Scripture?
Liberty. Here's what true liberty is.
Not owing anything. Isn't debt a burden? I mean,
even financial debt, isn't that a burden when you owe something? You can't feel free. But oh,
how free you feel! What liberty you feel when you
owe nothing. I owe nothing. Before God's holy law, I have
freedom. There's no condemnation because
there's nothing to condemn me for. That's freedom. Freedom
is being able to do what you want to do. Oh, there's a law
of liberty. When God writes in the heart,
there's that law of liberty. And then we read in James 2,
12 of the law of love. This is in a believer's heart.
We love God. We love him as he's revealed
in his word. We love one another. We really
do. We love those who love our Redeemer. And then we read of the law of
Christ in Romans 6. If a man be overtaken, not Romans
6, but Galatians 6, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you
which are spiritual, you which have the Holy Spirit, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness. Considering yourself, lest you
also be tempted, knowing that if you're tempted, you'll fall
just like he did. You really believe that? Bear
ye one another's burdens, which means put up with one another,
and so fulfill the law of Christ. Oh, these are the laws that God
writes in the hearts And they're permanent. They can't be erased. They're always there, written
permanently in the understanding, the affections and the will. This is God's writing. Verse
three, let's read it again. For as much as you are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written
not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not in tables
of stone, but in fleshy tables. of the heart, and such trust
have we through Christ to God. We have confidence that Christ
is the one who does this. Verse five, not that we are sufficient
of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves. Now, we're sufficient. We are
sufficient, but we're not sufficient to think Our sufficiency is generated
from us. We can't even think. No mere
man is able to write on the heart. No man has the sufficiency to
do these things, to write on the heart. You know, some men
have great gifts, brilliant, intelligent, powerful speaking
ability, a powerful presence. charismatic, the ability to persuade
and influence. Do you know how much of that
God uses? None of it. None of it. Not by might, not by men's collected
efforts, nor by power, by the ability of any one single individual,
but by my spirit, saith the Lord." That's how this is done. Not
by the ability of men. Our sufficiency, Paul says, is
of God. Now that word, sufficiency, is
the same word in Colossians 1.12, it's translated made us meat. We've been made meat to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in life. We're fit. Our fitness. He made us fit. Right now, I'm
fit. Every believer is fit to be right
there with the redeemed in heaven in white robes, singing the praises
of the Lamb in perfect holiness. Every believer has that fitness,
has that meatness right Now, our sufficiency is of God. You see, salvation is of the
Lord. I love that statement, don't
you? Salvation is of the Lord. Every aspect of salvation is
of the Lord. That means it's not of men. Election,
God's choice of His people before time began, is of the Lord. It doesn't have anything to do
with Him choosing you because of something in you. He does it
because of His free and sovereign will. And you like it that way
if you're a believer. You say amen to that. Redemption
is of the Lord. He didn't redeem you because
you deserved it. He did it because He willed to do it. Justification,
being perfect in God's sight, being righteous in God's sight,
that's of the Lord. If you're born again, It's because
He birthed you into His kingdom and He gave you life. That's
of the Lord. If you persevere, if you haven't fallen away right
now, if you're continuing looking to Christ, that's of the Lord.
When you stand before God in judgment, accepted, all you'll
know, that's of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord and
our sufficiency is of God, is of the Lord. Being an able minister
of the New Testament is of the Lord. Look in verse six. Who
also have made us able ministers. Of the New Testament, Second
Corinthians three, six. Our sufficiency is of God, who
also have made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of
the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter pilleth, but the
Spirit giveth life. He's made us able, sufficient
ministers of the New Testament. Have you all ever heard, I know
you have, maybe I've done it, I don't know, from time to time
a preacher will get up and kind of apologize for being there.
I have no business being here. I wouldn't sit down then. Nobody
wants to hear you if you don't have any business being here.
If God has called me to preach, He has made me an able minister
of the New Testament. Listen to what I'm saying. Listen,
if God has called me to preach my sufficiencies of God and he's
made me an able minister of the New Testament. But if God has
qualified me, it will be as an able minister of the New Testament.
Of the gospel, not the old. not of the letter, we're going
to get back to that in a minute, but of the spirit, but he's made
me an able minister of the New Testament. Now the word testament
means a covenant. A covenant. Now you and I deal
in covenants on an everyday basis. A covenant is a promise predicated
on a condition being met. Every time you walk into a grocery
store, there's a there's some covenant going on. You pay X
amount of dollars and that product becomes yours. It belongs to
you. That's a covenant. It's a agreement
based upon a condition being met. If you pay X amount of dollars,
it's yours. What about a last will and testament?
All of my property will one day belong to Aubrey. 2380 Millbrook Drive and all
my millions in the bank will be hers. But a condition has
to be met. I have to die. And when that
condition is met, my death, it's all hers. Now, there is the Old Testament
and there is the New Testament. Remember, a testament is a promise
predicated on a condition being met. Let me show you the Old
Testament. Turn to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. If you want
to understand the Old Testament, here it is. And behold, a certain lawyer
stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? Now notice the Lord does not
say there is nothing you can do. He met this man upon the
ground he came. Verse 26, And he said unto him,
What is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering
said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind. and thy neighbor as thyself. And I can almost see him puffing
his chest out a little bit proud at his correct answer. That's
a good answer. Verse 28, And he said unto him,
Thou hast answered right, this do, this do, and thou shalt live. If you keep the law perfectly,
if you love God with all your heart and all your soul and all
your strength and all your mind, and if you love your neighbors
yourself, hey, you'll inherit the kingdom of heaven. That is
the old covenant. Salvation dependent upon you. is conditioned upon perfect obedience
to God's holy law. Now, I want you to listen to
me real carefully. Please, please listen. If any part of salvation, beginning,
middle or end, is dependent upon you, you're under the old covenant. If you believe in free will,
listen real carefully. If you believe in free will,
you believe in salvation by works. You're under the old covenant. Now, what do I mean by believing
in free will? What am I talking about? The belief in free will
is the belief that the gospel message is God loves you. Christ died for you. God wants
to save you. He's made salvation available
to you. He's offered you His mercy. He's
offered you His grace. But it's up to you as to whether
or not you'll receive it. Salvation is dependent upon your
reception of His gift. He died for you. But salvation's
up to you. You have to decide as to whether
or not you're going to receive the forgiveness of sins and His
grace and His mercy and so on. Now that is salvation ultimately
dependent upon you. That is salvation by works. If you believe that way, you
do not believe the gospel. You don't understand the gospel. You see, if salvation is dependent
upon me or you in any way, to any degree, we will be damned
because we can't come up with the goods. If it's dependent
upon you, you're in trouble. If it's dependent upon me, and
I don't get any part Any part, if it's dependent upon me, there's
no hope. That is the old covenant, salvation
dependent upon you. Free will makes election conditional. Free will makes redemption conditional. Free will makes regeneration
conditional. conditioned upon me, doing my
part. Free will makes perseverance
conditional, my ability to persevere. Now go back to Hebrews chapter
8. Here's the new covenant. Hebrews chapter 8, the New Testament. The Old Testament is salvation
dependent upon what you do. The New Testament is salvation
dependent upon what Christ does. It's a promise. predicated upon
a condition being met. Here's the gospel of the New
Testament. Salvation is utterly and entirely
dependent upon what Christ does for you. Now, which place do
you find safety in? Hebrews chapter 8, let's read
verse 10 again. For this is the covenant, this
is the testament that I'll make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people. Here's the New Testament.
I will, and because I will, they shall. I will be to them a God. They shall be to me a people.
Nothing uncertain about that. Verse 10 or verse 11, And they
shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the Lord. For all shall know me from the
least to the greatest. And here's why. I will be merciful. That word merciful is propitious.
I will be propitious to their unrighteousness. Not I will be
if they let me. Not I will be if they decide
to receive what I'm offering them. He says I will be propitious. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. God's talking about what he shall
do. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. And their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more. You see, if he's propitious,
that means the sin has been removed. That means it's been taken away.
That's what happened on the cross. The sin was removed. Now, in
that he says the new covenant, he's made the first old. Now,
that which decayeth and waxes old is ready to vanish away. Now, turn back to 2 Corinthians
chapter 3. Verse 6. He's made us able ministers of
the New Testament. Now look at this statement. Not
of the letter. But of the spirit. Look over in verse 18 of this
same chapter. Or verse 17. Now the Lord is
that spirit. the Spirit that gives life, not
of the letter, but the Spirit. Now the Lord is that Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. He's made us able ministers of
the New Testament, verse 6, not of the letter, but of the Spirit.
For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. Now, the letter is the Old Testament. The Spirit is the New Testament. The letter is the law. The Spirit
is the gospel. The letter kills. That's all
it does. The Spirit gives life. Now, what is meant by the letter? Well, we know it means reading
and seeing what it says, and that's what it says. That's what
it must mean. Now, if you look at the history
of the word, the word actually means to trace. To trace. And I remember when I was a kid,
when the Sunday comics would come out, I would put a piece
of paper over those things and I would trace Mickey Mouse. Or
I would trace Donald Duck, and I'd pick up my work and admire
it. Look at that. I mean, that's
dead on. I traced it. What an artist. That's where you got your talent. But you know what? That wasn't
my work. My work was based upon. the other work. My salvation is, my righteousness
is based upon Christ's righteousness. That won't do you any good. That's
just a tracing. That's the letter of the law.
My salvation is His righteousness. It's not tracing. My salvation
is His righteousness. Now, you may say correct things
in the letter, but there is no impartation of life. Only the
Spirit gives life. The letter is external. The Spirit is internal. The letter
is correct spelling. Correct pronunciation. I told
you this before. I remember when we were going,
when I was having chemotherapy, Aubrey was two or three years
old. The names of the drugs were just hideous. I mean, they just,
I hated the way, I still hate the way they sound. But we would
give Aubrey those names, just kind of game in the car, you
know, and see if she could pronounce them right. She pronounced them
right, you know, but she didn't know what they meant. The letter
is the correct spelling bee. You know, you can win a spelling
bee. That's another thing. I always wanted to win one of
those things, never did. I was generally one of the first ones
set down. But you could win a spelling bee without knowing really the
meaning of any of those words you spell. That's the letter. You can give the correct definition
of doctrine. You can be a five pointer and
be able to defend it from the scriptures. You can do all those
things. That's the letter. But do you
know the meaning? I've said this so many times,
it's one thing to be able to defend the doctrine of total
depravity, and it's another thing to believe that you are totally
depraved. I tell you what, you believe
that you're totally depraved, the gospel takes on a new meaning,
doesn't it? You understand the meaning That's
the spirit. You understand the meaning. The letter doesn't understand
the intent of the law. For instance, God's given us
law. Somebody thinks, well, I'm going to try to keep it. You
don't understand the intent of the law, then. The law has one
intention, to kill you and to show you that Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness. the spirit of the law. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. The letter is assent and knowledge
to the facts. The spirit is wisdom. Here's what spirit is, faith
in Christ. You really believe that He is
your salvation. You really believe that he is
your acceptance. You really believe that he is
your sin payment. You know exactly what Simeon
meant when he said, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart
in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Christ Jesus is God's salvation. If you've seen that, that's the
Spirit. Anything else is merely letter. The letter kills. The Spirit
giveth life. Lord, by your Spirit, give me
life. What is life? Life is when I
believe that He is my life. Let's pray.