I want to start off by sharing a testimony
from a lady in Singapore and she shares:
“I am sixty-two years old.”
“Since childhood, my mother would constantly abuse me”
“with words of accusation and blame due to”
“a personality disorder.”
“As a result, I had been trapped in self-condemnation”
“and depression, and even attempted suicide”
“when I was fifteen years old.”
“I also frequently experienced migraines.”
“I started attending New Creation Church”
“about three years ago, and Pastor Prince’s messages”
“on God’s love and the gift of righteousness”
“through Christ helped me out of that self-condemnation”
“and depression.”
“Every time I felt burdened and depressed,”
“I would declare that I am the righteousness”
“of God in Christ."
"The migraines disappeared six months after I started"
"attending New Creation Church and today, I am free"
"from decades of depression.”
“Thank you for your teachings, Pastor Prince!”
Praise the Lord!
And the reason I'm sharing this is
because we started a new series on
“Condemnation kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
And we started last week, talking about how this
ministry of condemnation, otherwise known
as the ministry of death, is actually the
Old Testament ministry.
Like this lady, you know, because she
condemned herself, because of the
condemnation from her mother and all that.
And she had migraine headaches
and all that.
A lot of people are in this kind of a situation
and they don't even realize it is all because
of condemnation.
Condemnation on themselves or self-condemnation
or condemnation from others.
Maybe a husband, maybe a wife,
maybe a parent.
Amen.
Your parent might be dead but the condemnation is not.
You're still being burdened by that condemnation,
that sense of condemnation.
And it all comes from the law.
And the Bible says, the Bible calls the law
the “ministry of condemnation.”
And the “ministry of death.”
Let's go back to 2 Corinthians 3:6-7 once again.
It says here in verse 6: “God has made us"
"sufficient to be ministers of"
"a new covenant.”
Not the old.
There is no power.
God doesn't supply the power for ministers
to become ministers of the old covenant,
but “to be ministers of the new covenant,”
“not of the letter but of the Spirit.”
The letter here is the law but the Spirit is grace.
Amen.
The Spirit of grace.
“but of the Spirit.”
“For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
Amen.
The next verse tells us: “Now if the ministry of death,”
Now he calls the law “the ministry of death.”
Just now, he called it the "letter."
Now he calls it the “ministry of death,”
“carved in letters on stone.”
This word “letters” is the same one as verse 6.
“letter kills.”
Same word.
“gramma” in the Greek.
or “letters.”
Which is referring to the law because only the
Ten Commandments— some people say
“we are not under law in terms of the”
“ceremonial law, in terms of the feast,”
“in terms of those things that are the”
“613 commandments that is in the law of Moses.”
“But we are still under the Ten Commandments.”
Actually, it's the opposite!
The verse here tells us clearly that we are
not under the letters in stone,
carved in stone.
The only part of the law that was carved on stone
with the finger of God, engraved on stones
in the King James, is the Ten Commandments.
The ceremonial killing of the sacrificial animals
were never carved in stone.
Those were written on parchments of skin.
Only the Ten Commandments was written with
the finger of God.
“Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone,”
“came with such glory that the Israelites could not”
“gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory,”
“which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit”
“have even more glory?”
“For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation,"
Now he calls the law the ministry of condemnation.
So you have the letter that kills, which is the law.
Then he calls it the ministry of death.
Then now he calls it the ministry of condemnation.
“For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation,"
"the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.”
And the grace ministry is the ministry of righteousness.
It confers righteousness as a gift.
Amen.
So sinful man can stand in the presence
of a Holy God because of the gift of righteousness.
Amen.
And we have all Jesus to thank for and
to give the glory to.
Amen.
Do you know who is the last minister of condemnation?
Do you know who is the very last one?
John.
John the Baptist.
The Bible says so.
Look at Matthew 11:13.
Jesus Himself is talking.
These are Jesus' words.
Jesus said: “For all the prophets and the law prophesied”
Until who?
“John.”
So it ends— the ministry of condemnation
ends with John.
I like it because John's name means God's grace.
All the prophets and the law, alright,
culminates in God's grace.
Alright?
He was the last prophet of judgment.
He was the last prophet of condemnation,
ministry of condemnation.
By the way, the ministry of condemnation
in the Old Testament is of God!
It was sent to minister condemnation!
Amen.
But we cannot bring this ministry back, today,
in the New Covenant.
Does that mean we don't study
the Old Covenant?
No, we still study the Old Covenant, my friend.
Of course!
You know, when we study the Old Covenant—
Pastor Prince’s sermons, for most of my teaching
and preaching down through the years,
I would safely say more than fifty percent is
from the Old Testament.
It is just my calling and the ministry that God
has given me.
But the Bible says: “You shall bring forth the old"
"because of the new.”
“The treasures of the old.”
“You shall bring forth the stores or the treasures of the old”
“because of the new.”
The way Jesus interpreted the Old Testament.
Remember on the road of Emmaus
to the two discouraged disciples?
They were walking back to Emmaus?
Jesus appeared and Jesus expounded to them
the solution to their depression.
The solution to their discouragement
is for Jesus “to expound things in the Scriptures”
“concerning Himself.”
Now, friend.
In the Old Testament, it was true that many
of the prophets.
Many.
We have some exceptions but many of the prophets
are prophets of the ministry of condemnation.
Amen.
And then, the false prophets amongst them were those
who would try to preach comfort to the people.
Yes.
Amen.
And God had it so in the Old Testament.
But in the New Testament, listen.
1 Corinthians 14:3, it says: “But he who prophesies.”
This is New Testament now.
“But he who prophesies” Speaks what?
“edification”—building up.
“exhortation” means calling near.
And “comfort to men.”
Today, the prophets speak to edification,
to exhortation and to comfort.
Not just prophets but anyone who prophesies.
Amen.
And “prophesy” here is not referring to
preaching, my friend.
Every believer can prophesy and speak on behalf of God.
You know, I want to see this increase in our church.
You know, during this time, you can go on zoom
and you can just WhatsApp your friend.
You can just contact your friend, you know,
whenever you feel like someone comes
to your mind, someone comes
to your heart and you just feel like telling them:
“You know, God's light is shining on you.”
Just tell them: “You know, I feel that favor"
"is coming your way.”
“I don't know what you're going through,
"but something good is going to happen to you.”
You know, in some circles, they'll say that:
“Oh, this is the ministry of people who are about”
“easy believism and greasy grace and”
“that kind of thing.”
Actually, this is the New Testament ministry.
It is to edification, it is to exhortation,
it is to comfort.
And we do not know how many people need
to hear that word.
And when your word comes in at just at the right time.
Oh how it lifts people up!
The Bible says: “Exhort one another daily,"
"lest any of you be hardened through the"
"deceitfulness of sin.”
Amen.
In other words, every day, we need to be
encouraging one another.
Every day, we need to give a word of comfort to someone.
My friend, even though you mean well for your family.
Amen.
Above everything else, you want your family
to enjoy life more abundant.
But if you're under the law,
you cannot but minister death to them.
Amen.
You will say things that you don't mean to say.
And you will act in ways you didn't mean to act.
But friend, if you are supply-oriented.
Again, the first beneficiaries will be your family.
When you're under grace, you feel like loving them.
You can take it when they have their
flesh manifestations.
You are able to swallow that up.
Amen.
And perhaps your family will see Jesus in you
and they will see that moral glory that
shines out from you.
Amen.
And you are able to because without
the grace of God, without being under grace,
we cannot shine.
Amen.
The law kills.
It is not only a ministry of condemnation.
It is a ministry of death.
Amen.
But the Spirit gives life.
The more we teach grace, the more life is imparted to
every cell of your body.
Amen.
Life is imparted to your soul,
to your mind.
You feel like your brain comes alive!
Amen.
All the dead spots in your brain comes alive!
And the more you teach life— like this lady I shared just now,
the depression goes away.
Why?
Life swallows up death.
Hallelujah.
Amen.
The Spirit gives life.
Condemnation kills, but the Spirit gives life.