How the New Covenant Works — Robert B. Thompson

As we come to you, and it's with profound praise and thanksgiving, and we can see Lord from the reports that are coming in to us that this year that we're entering seems to be a time of great testing and so many are ill, so many have died unexpectedly, people in their 30s just go to sleep and don't get up the next day with a complete surprise to everyone and Lord it's remarkable so we know that something unusual is taking place.

So since you seem fit to allow us to keep on living into this year when so many have already been taken that we know you have a reason and so help us Lord to serve our generation by the will of God and I pray Lord you will bless each family represented here with health and strength and wisdom and help us all Lord to get a good grip on you, not to be bemused by our culture but to follow straight after the lamb, help us Jesus and we know you will help us tonight in Jesus name, Amen.

Now my mind is kind of on the beginning since I've been going back, just let me say briefly that I haven't gone into this too much but in 1948 after I received the baptism of the Spirit I had been saved since 1944 so I had only been a Christian for 4 years and I received the baptism in 1948 and it was in San Diego actually in a little Bible institute that is now defunct it was the Assembly of God and they moved all our records up to the big school in Costa Mesa and that's where Audrey and my records are is in the Assembly of God school in Costa Mesa so all of a sudden I could feel I knew evangelical doctrine quite well.

I had a good send off with the navigators, I had been given a Scofield Bible, I had been taught grace, I had been taught the rapture, I had been taught the four steps of salvation and I understood pretty well about the blood atonement and I knew at that time and this is instructive for all of us because there's people today saying oh there's going to be no great revival no more it's all going to be apostasy from now until the end that's being taught by more than one person today who are opposing the things like Toronto and that they come on opposition said no there's going to be no revival let me tell you something that's what I was taught in Bible school in 1948 but in 1950 the charismatic move swept the world bringing tongues to the historic churches.

Revival, Repentance, and Growing Doctrinal Understanding

There's been since that time a tremendous revival in Nagaland in Indonesia and in other places Billy Graham started in 1948 in Los Angeles. Oh no and we're all falling away so nonsense. We've come to the time of the good wine and while there will be great trouble according to the scripture there will also be unprecedented revival and revivals as far as I know bring three things revivals of God bring repentance which we see today.

They bring worldwide evangelism which we see today and they also bring an increase in doctrinal understanding and that third part probably the most difficult for the churches to accept there's something about doctrine that we get froze on it and we feel no one could possibly know anything we don't know and if there's something we haven't heard of it's got to be the devil.

So these three things repentance move forward in the understanding of the word not extra biblical revelation but the understanding of the word and in worldwide evangelism these three things I think since the Protestant Reformation have characterized major moves of God and we see that today and it hasn't stopped and it isn't going to stop and God is unfolding his word today.

The Speaker’s Call to Follow the Unfolding Word

Well in 1948 I being a being knowledgeable of evangelical teaching which has not changed in the present day whatever they still go to heaven by grace the Lord began. I was like someone was standing at my right hand and opening the scripture to me and of course I was nervous about this and I was checking it against the word but it continued and I threw me into a kind of a mental spin but I stayed with it and finally made up my mind well you know who was a Shakespeare said to thine own self be true and if I you know you've got to be so true to yourself if you're not you're nowhere.

And I thought I don't know whether this is right or wrong but it seems like it's God and I'm going to go that way. And so I have since that time 50 years and it has I was I taught a lot and preached a lot and people would say brother Thompson has a good spirit but we can't understand what he's talking about.

So that was the reception. So it wasn't until about 10 years before that would be 35 years ago before coming here brother cloud the Fremont First Assembly asked me to teach a deeper life class and when I began to see and I was a large church a lot of very large church when I began to see the the pillars of that church come down to my class I began to think this must be God this must certainly be God.

And before I left Fremont the some elders came up from Santa Cruz and which is the headquarters for the Northern California Nevada District of the Assemblies of God and they said we've been watching the students in your class over the past seven or eight years and they said your class is larger than the average Assembly of God in the United States and we would like to ordain you.

And so those sort of things build up a person's confidence. So so I've been going to this day and of course writing a good deal. What I want to teach on tonight is is one of the it's on the New Covenant and it's one of the original concepts that the Lord I feel it's the Lord you can always judge open to my mind is on the New Covenant and the note and it's found it's found in the eighth chapter of Hebrews starting with the I'm going to start tonight I think with the seventh verse.

But anyway I have never heard it preached the New Covenant the Christian Covenant. I have never heard it preached anywhere. I'm sure it has been in many places. I just never have heard it. Maybe you have and not to me it's astounding that the very Christian Covenant now what do we preach.

We preach what is termed the four steps of salvation. All men are sinners. All have come short of the glory of God. We cannot save ourselves by our own works. Christ died for our sins. If we receive Christ we will go to heaven.

Well that's not the New Covenant. That is what I I may say a religious a religion a religious device that we have constructed maybe to simplify things but if you'll notice there's no passage of Scripture that runs like this.

You take a verse here you take a verse here out of context the verse here take a verse here and you and you underline them in your personal workers New Testament. And after you do one it says now go to over here.

You jump over something now that you've done this now you jump over to another place and when you're all finished it says now you are a Christian and you can lead others to Christ. Well cool. I'm sure numerous people have been genuinely converted.

The Wheat and Tares, the Church’s Witness, and the Lord’s Return

But you see we're in a day when the wheat and the tares are coming to maturity and as it says in Zechariah 4 and followed up by the expansion of that in Revelation 11 God's ready now to bring his temple to completion.

And as it says in Zechariah 4 it will be not by might nor by power but by my spirit. So God's going to bypass religion. Good will keep coming from it till finally the 10 horns burn Babylon with fire. But that's not yet.

But in the meantime God is speaking to whoever has ears to hear what his word is all about the purpose being so they can grow up and be strong to bear a solid witness in our day and to be ready when the Lord returns.

So it is a time of growth and stretching and it's very important is about 40 major concepts or so that will be included in my memoirs and and of course they're in all my books and what you all have access to on the internet free of charge but nonetheless they have to be explained again and again and again.

And I'm very anxious that the young people and Brian was working on that before he left for a better world and I'm very so I want you to pay attention and learn. Is it. It's a time of learning but it also will work in conjunction with what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life at the same time it's not up here in an academic back vacuum as you learn the Holy Spirit will apply it and so on.

Hebrews 8 and the Superiority of the New Covenant

So we're in Hebrews 8 now starting with verse 6 which is probably up on the screen by now Hebrews 8 6 and I want you to notice first of all that this is the Christian Covenant. Some are saying since Hebrews are so full of works it must be written to Jews and not to Gentiles.

I mean this is the day we're in we're ready to tear up the Bible and pieces and gainsay it so we can keep our little religious formula. Hebrews is part of the New Testament canon. It's the inspired Word of God verbally plenary verbal inspiration of the scriptures the Bible school term.

So in Hebrews 8 6 we find. But the ministry Jesus has received is a superior to theirs that is referring to the law of Moses as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one and is founded on better promises.

So we are smack-dab in the Christian covenant. Right. Capiche. Okay this is not something to the Jews. This is the new covenant. That's there's only two covenants we're dealing with. There are there have been others in the way and in the Abra Abrahamic and so on.

But we're dealing with the law of Moses versus the Christian Covenant. Okay. All right. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant that is the law of Moses no place would have been sought for another.

Make sense. Okay. And by the way this is a quotation from Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31 through 34. This is quoted directly from the book of Jeremiah. Okay now I want you to notice carefully so that you can see the botchment.

If that's a word we've gotten ourselves into. If there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant the law of Moses no place would have been sought for another. Now we see from that that the new covenant is intended to be it does something that the first covenant was ineffectual concerning.

Okay. That makes sense. All right. That's the purpose of the new covenant. All right. Now. But God noticed found fault with the law of Moses. How many see that. You gotta watch me. I I tell. I want you to think.

Think now. Follow me. No it doesn't say that. And it's important that it doesn't say that. What does it say. He found fault with them now. That's important to understand. Because there's nothing whatever wrong with the law of Moses.

It's perfect. The problem is it does not address our carnal nature. It tells us put yourself up by your bootstraps. Do it. Do this you know. Don't call it don't commit adultery don't lie make God the center of your life etc.

Okay. But it doesn't give us the grace to do it. So God says it's imperfect. Well Galatians the third chapter tells why God. Why God instituted it. Knowing it wouldn't work. You remember why in Galatians 3 keeps in and check it wasn't the covenant God ever had in mind.

Why a part of the Galatians 3 the seed hadn't come to whom the promise was made. And that seed is who is who. And and those who are part of him whether or not they are Jews or Gentiles. By race we in whoever we are who are in Christ whether we are Jewish or Gentile by race are the one seed of Abraham.

Singular. That's very important. That's another thing that that current teaching does not address clearly. And they've got a Gentile church. There's no such thing as a Gentile church. There's only the seed of Abraham.

That's all. There is Galatians the third chapter. And it's also found in the second chapter of Ephesians. There's one new man Jews and Gentiles pulled together by the cross. It's also found in Romans the 11th chapter.

There's one olive tree. God isn't working with two olive trees. There's one olive tree and we were grafted into it which makes us Israel. The seed of Abraham is Israel. Whether Jew or Gentile by race is immaterial.

It is Israel. It is a seed of Abraham's what Paul calls in sixth chapter of Galatians true Israel. Now peace be upon true Israel whose circumcision is of the heart. And you want to remember true Israel is by election.

It's by promise. You know what's actually happened is and now are you see if you were right up here under my nose I could watch your eyes. You I can't even see grace. I don't know whether as you're missing that you know I can get swift and you won't be able to track me.

Whatever. These things all hang together. I mean the one seed hangs together. And the fact that Israel is a chosen nation. And then we come to another problem is if there's chosen how then can it be said that God is willing that all come to repentance and all be saved.

How do you reconcile those two things. Do you know you're sitting back there almost out of the camp. Come on guys this is what you've got to know. People are going to raise this. When you begin to repeat what I say because they do not understand.

There's such a thing as saved nations that are not part of Israel. And what we've done in evangelical teaching is we've lumped the two together. And that's why we get into these contradictions. God is willing that every member of the saved nations be saved.

Everyone is wide open whoever will. But when you come to Israel which is the church the Jews under the or the church under the Old Testament the word means called out. That means called out. That doesn't mean it's up for democratic grabs.

But people can't understand that. Listen. God has every right to take a first fruit for mankind and make them a priesthood. He has every right to do that. And you know what that's based on. Guys this will be on the tape.

So you can get the tape. If you can't afford it we'll give it to you. Okay. It's important that you get it because I get when I get in gear sometimes I forget. You know people don't have all these antecedent understandings all right.

Now listen carefully. God killed all the firstborn of Israel of Egypt. Do you remember that ever since then the firstborn has been holy to the Lord. And the firstborn of a Jew had to be redeemed with money.

The firstborn of an animal had to either be given to the priest or killed. See God said I slew their firstborn. Now from now on the firstborn is holy to the Lord. Whatever opens the womb is holy to the Lord.

So God has made the church of firstfruits. That's in the first chapter of James we're a firstfruits of mankind. We are not the only ones who are saved. Okay. That's a great misunderstanding. An evangelical teaching that salvation and participation in the church they're the same during the church age somewhat.

But in the ages to come there'll be multitudes of people who are saved into the new world. The sheep nations for example who are not part of Israel. Israel is a holy nation and true Israel which is always by promise.

Romans the ninth chapter. Israel is always by promise never by natural birth. Remember Jacob gave birth to Isaac gave birth to Jacob and Esau. They both with a bloodline of Abraham through Isaac. But God said he hated Esau and loved Jacob.

Showing that Israel is by promise and not by the natural birth. It's by the prophetic promise. And that anointing rested on the Jews before Jesus came. Okay. The olive tree was with them when Jesus came.

He's the olive tree. Some of the Jews were broken off because of unbelief. A remnant of Jews continued in the olive tree. Okay. And then a remnant of Gentiles was brought into that. And that olive tree is Israel.

That's the seed. And that's by predestination from the beginning of the world. Okay. That's not the same nations. So when a saying God is willing to everybody be saved. Right. That's what the scripture says in the scriptures always true.

And there's no contradiction as you realize that the purpose of the church age has not been the salvation of mankind. That's not the purpose of the church age. We preach the gospel to every creature so that God can take out of those people a church.

Remember what Jesus said you did not choose me. John 15 say no man can come unto me except the Father draw him. So we've been commanded to preach the gospel to every creature. But God knows who belongs in the church and he calls them out to be in his church and to be taught by the ministries of the body.

Because that's the purpose of the ministries of the body is to build the church to the stature of the fullness of Christ. In the meanwhile we bear witness to the world to the sheep nations. Then if they help us they'll be saved into the kingdom on the basis of their helping us.

That's Matthew 25. So you see there's all it's all kind of hangs together. This is on the tape. I suggest I covered a lot already so get the tape listen to it review it. You know when it clicks like Lloyd told me last week he said it finally came together.

And this is my experience with people although they used to say it took seven years to understand brother Thompson. But I'm clearer now. But it's still it's still is is new and it takes a while. But when it comes together the whole Bible will make sense.

It will all make sense. And you won't see these constant seeming inconsistencies in it like between grace and works and and predestination and free will it. They don't exist. When you get the whole picture that is a perfect seamless robe of Christ there's no contradiction or seeming inconsistencies in it which of course there couldn't be if I see inspired word of God and that's what it is now.

The rules we follow are if it's here it's right. If it isn't what's wrong. We just don't pick a verse here a verse there and everything put them in a special Bible all right now. That's kind of a background for the New Covenant.

Sin, Holiness, and the Purpose of the New Covenant

All right now God found fault with the people now. What do you suppose was wrong with the people now. This is critical to your understanding of the New Covenant. What is wrong with the people. What was wrong with them.

Larry. Yes that's true. And you can say it simply God does not want people to sin. How many believe that. Okay. The purpose of the law was to keep people from sinning. Sinning. Okay that's the purpose was that Galatians 3 was added to hold sin in check.

All right now. When it says God was not satisfied with them what does that mean. They were sinning as simple as that they were sinning now. Here's why it's critical to your thinking and runs 180 degrees contrary to the typical preaching of grace.

You're ready for this. Because this is where you will be challenged. This is where the reproach is it used to be on tongues. It isn't on tongues anymore. That's been accepted the reproach it now is on godly living.

That's that's where people say ah that's works and everything like I said at times ah that's the devil. Okay the reproach has moved from tongues. It's on godly living now and that's going to shake up the whole evangelical world and threaten their security because they've always figured well I've been saved by grace and only Christ is worthy.

And even if I sin all right now look at the logic. Well let your minds wander. Look at the logic. If the problem if God was not pleased because under the law of Moses people continue to sin and he gave a new covenant to correct that then what must be true of the new covenant.

If it's superior. Exactly exactly. All right. What we're saying is that God was not pleased with the law of Moses because people were continued to sin and God's will God's goal for man from the time he created him in Genesis 1 and said he was to be in the image of God has never changed.

The God's goal for man never changes from covenants of covenant. All that changes is the two things change. One the demands he makes on people keep getting more severe. Secondly he provides more help which we call grace.

But the goal is do justly love mercy and walk humbly with God. And never changes. But what changes is what Betsy. Two things. Remember Martha Grace get it going this college course all right. What changes is one the demands that are made on it.

See the demands under the new covenant are far greater than under the law of Moses did. No one was ever asked to present his body a living sacrifice under the law of Moses. The demands are greater. And what else is greater.

What God has given us to meet the demands namely the body and blood of Christ the Holy Spirit the born-again experience the gifts and ministries everything God has given us. Okay. What never changes.

What is it that never changes. Thinking in church I was teaching integral calculus. We're not used to that. You have to because we are because we are going into information. Alright now let's go to that again.

What never changes. Exactly. The goal is to create people in God's image that they'll do justly love mercy and walk humbly with God. That's God's goal. It never changes. What two things do change. The demands he makes on us increase their more severe we are.

The demands on us under the new covenant are far more severe than under the old. They were never told under the old to put to death their carnal nature crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof.

And what is the second Corinthians 7 and 1. I beseech therefore. But no as ago cleanse ourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness and the fear of God. They didn't have that in the old covenant.

The demands are greater. But what else is greater. The help from God. We have Jesus Christ. They didn't have Jesus Christ. But what never changes. Goal. His goal. What he wants from man never changes.

See the current evangelical teaching has changed the goal. They have changed the goal all right now. Now track this carefully. If the problem with the first God the law of Moses was that the people didn't stop sinning.

What then is true of the new covenant. My friends. Logically grace. You have a logical mind. What must be true of the new covenant. That's all. I'm not telling you something. I'm just giving you simple stuff.

A plus B plus C equals B. That's all we're doing here. So don't don't read. Well her answer was that under the new covenant we will be able to stop sinning all right now. Look what has happened. Look what has happened.

What is the teaching. What is evangelical teaching. We are evangelicals here so we're not fighting anybody. What is the evangelical teaching concerning salvation. Yes. Which is entirely incorrect because sin began in heaven.

All right. Exactly what is taught today is that no one can keep God's commandments and he's only given them to us to drive us to Christ so that we'll be saved by grace completely subverted and destroyed and corrupted God's plan.

So the new covenant instead of being the means of overcoming sin has become an alternative. We don't have to overcome sin because Christ overcame it for us and being identified with him or believing in him his righteousness is imputed to us.

Therefore it's a better covenant because we're without without guilt they and God will take us to heaven now. That's what's preached. I completely destructive of God's intention under the new covenant.

Now you can take verses here and there and prove that. But you can't take. You can't preach an expository sermon from a chapter of the Bible and prove it because it's wrong. God does not give us commandments to frustrate us.

He gives us commandments because he wants them kept and he has given us access beyond the veil. We can go straight to the mercy seat of God in heaven and get help for any sin that is causing us problems no matter what it is.

There is power in Christ that was not available under the old covenant. Because under the new covenant we have a broad base of the atonement that was made on the cross by which the sins of the whole world were forgiven according to first John the second chapter who died not only for our sins but for the sins of the whole world.

So God has made an end of the guilt on the cross. So we're not dealing with guilt that's taken care of. What we're dealing with now is victory over sin. And here therefore that was regarded as impossible.

There were several doctrines on it. We can get rid of sin root and branch with some sudden experience which doesn't work or were to reckon ourselves dead which means somehow it doesn't matter what we do and or Jesus did it all and by identification with him we're fine everything except what God wants which is people who are living a righteous holy obedient life to God.

And that is not a few super saints or a nice thing. That is the essence of the new covenant the essence of it and anything short of that short of iron righteousness short of fiery holiness short of stern obedience to the font.

It's not accepted in God's Israel. We don't even understand holiness. You know holiness went out with early Pentecost because it was mostly superficial. No lipstick long dresses buns. Most affected the women.

I don't recall any holiness teaching for men. But you know there are some things let me give you. And I was struck with this when I was doing my devotional reading is back in Leviticus and I was struck with this.

Listen to this listen to this listen to this. It was discussing the Nazarite who took a vow to be holy and it says this about the Nazarite. This struck me I mean a weak thought at me. He said if a Nazarite sins by going near a dead body.

I looked at that and then I found it again. A couple of chapters later I was talking about the priesthood and not the Nazarite. And it says if he sins by going near a dead body. Now the reason that struck me is because I'm used to thinking in terms of righteousness and see righteousness and holiness are not the same thing.

Righteousness has to do with our interaction with people. Holiness has to do with our closeness to God. So the sin of going near a dead body was what kind of sin was it. Righteousness or holiness. Holiness.

And we don't even understand that because the pendulum has swung too far from early and from early Pentecost. You know everybody said oh we don't have to do that. We can wear lipstick we can wear makeup we can dress how we want to.

We can go on the beach and press around a bikini. See those things don't have to do with righteousness but they have to do with holiness. And God counts them as sin. Not because we have interacted incorrectly with people by stealing or committing adultery or thievery but because we have gone near that which is dead spiritually.

And let me give you an example. I kind of raised the roof a year or two ago about the Titanic and several of the kids in the best kids in our church went because nobody told what was wrong. So they were not willfully disobeying anyone they went.

But when I heard it I thought wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute. Okay. So I began to review what was in that film and I asked some of the kids about it and come to find out. There were things in there that were sexually not what one would call Christian.

Is that true. Okay so people would think. But you know that's the way the world is and it's a historical fact. There's something to learn from it and it's not unrighteous. We haven't done anything unrighteous.

We didn't steal the tickets. No we didn't push anybody aside. We don't hurt anybody. So what's the problem. Now you tell me what is the problem. Holiness. And see God calls a breach of holiness sin just as he does a breach of righteousness.

Now you might say but how can I know. I'll give you a thing so simple that you could fall off a log. Just say to yourself would Jesus do this. Would Jesus be watching this. Would Jesus be listening to this.

Can you picture Jesus and the holy angels in heaven doing this. Or listening to this. And if you can't there's a good bet it's not holy. Because we have an instinct for what is holy. You know we just kind to know.

You mean imagine the Lord Jesus Christ smoking cigarettes this picture. Imagine him chewing boulder and spitting on the floor. Can you picture. Can you picture Jesus doing this. It's not unrighteous. Of course.

Now they found out that it's bad news for your health. Chewing tobacco is and pipe smoking cigar smoking and everything else they know now that's bad for your health. This is going to be searched. Well we didn't know that then.

So as many of in fact Charles Spurgeon used to smoke cigars. But you see we're moving closer to the Lord and we know that Jesus. Or can you imagine God the Father God the Father God Almighty smoking a cigar.

Why not. Aren't we being made in his image. Then we know instinctively that there's something wrong. And what is wrong is in the area of holiness not righteousness. Holiness. They say well it doesn't matter how a Christian looks you know.

Because everything God made our body and it's beautiful etc and so on. Everybody should see it. But some have advanced but you have to ask yourself you have to picture yourself before the throne of God.

I'm supposed to live before the throne of God. Yes Gordon Ephesians 2 and Colossians 3 you have already been raised in Christ to the right hand of God and God says this be holy because I am holy. And he said without holiness no man shall see the Lord.

Well you say if that isn't the biggest drag I ever heard is enough to make me quit being a Christian. Listen holiness is fun. It's fun. And when you get a passion for holiness it be it's something that grows within you and you just want to be closer to God and closer to God.

And it's something that throws you inside all to be in his fire or to be dwelling. And this is a case of oh gee I can't do that because it's not holy. It's almost a lust. You know blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

And the same is true of holiness. And so don't think it's something unpleasant when you get a hold of it boy it gets addictive. I kid you not. And it's a joy. There's more joy in the Holy Presence of God.

And there is any place else in the world. Oh yes I'm not laying a trip on you. I'm inviting you into something that boggles the mind. It's so marvelous. Yes it is purity. It's spiritual purity. And that's why it says blessed are the pure in heart that they shall see God see God.

If your picture our relationship to God is concentric circles in the nearest circle is the holy see. There are levels of holiness like in the tabernacle is a holy place to the most holy place. Priests were more holy than the Levites and the Levites were more holy than the people and all the people were more holy than the rest of the world.

These are levels of holiness. And when you get a hunger for you want to get closer that they may be with me where I am. That isn't in heaven even talking about heaven. He's talking about in the present dwelling in his Oh Lord I love it more more more more holiness.

That's where the joy is in Christianity. That's where the joy is when you get out these far circles not so much fun because you're kind of torn by the world. But when you get in those inner circles boy it's fun man so good you can eat fiery holiness which will always result in righteous behavior toward people.

The two kind of run together. But holiness has to do with the absence of unclean spirits. And when you come into God's presence he wants you holy because you belong to him. And Christ is Christ holy. He wants you part of him not coming short in anything.