Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] We're going to turn in our Bibles. I'm actually coming back to the book of Second Corinthians. We're in chapter three and we're going to turn there this morning. Chapter three, verse one. G. Campbell Morgan was one of a hundred and fifty young men who sought entrance into the Wesleyan ministry in 1888. That's a lot of people trying to get into the ministry.
[00:00:22] He had passed his written exam, but he faced a test. The preaching of a sermon in front of a panel. When the results were released, Morgan's name was not among.
[00:00:33] Sorry. Was among those that were rejected. 105 of them were rejected and his name was one of them.
[00:00:40] So he wires his father with one word, rejected. And then he sat down and wrote in his diary. Very dark.
[00:00:47] Everything seems still. He knoweth best.
[00:00:51] The reply to the wire was quick to arrive.
[00:00:54] It read, rejected on earth, accepted in heaven, dad.
[00:00:59] As G. Campbell Morgan went on to prove. By the way, if you don't know who he is, some of us that are pastors.
[00:01:05] He became an incredible pastor of a church in London, England and wrote extensively and had a 50 year ministry. Okay, so the panel was totally out to lunch. But he went on to prove, rejection on earth is often of little consequence. As his father wisely recognized, rejection on earth is of no consequence in heaven. You know, it's amazing to discover that people that God chooses. The people that God chooses always amazes me.
[00:01:36] It's usually the people that others pass over. That's true. That happens over and over again. That was certainly true for David, the little shepherd boy who became a king. When Samuel came to anoint one one of the sons of Jesse to become the next king. Even his father didn't bother to have David stand before the prophet.
[00:01:55] He couldn't perceive that David could actually be God's choice. Isn't that amazing? Even his own dad couldn't see it. Seven, you know, there were seven boys, seven brothers. And David's the eighth. And he wasn't even asked to show up.
[00:02:09] Wow. God generally chooses the weak and the nobodies of our world through to manifest his grace and glory and power. Isn't that great? Now why does God do that?
[00:02:20] So that we would not get the credit.
[00:02:22] So that people would begin to understand it's not that person. It's actually God working through that individual.
[00:02:31] Ken Hughes says the Lord called Moses. Despite his inarticulateness, Moses had a hard time speaking and then he could not claim like all the other prophets. I don't know if you notice, this. But when God's calling these prophets, many of them have excuses why they can't be used by him. You know, Gideon talked about he was the smallest of all the clans. You know, his military weakness. Isaiah said, woe to me, I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. You know, Jeremiah says, I'm too young for the job. Ezekiel was afraid.
[00:03:04] Or the weaknesses we may offer God as valid reasons to duck God's respective calls. Isn't that true that, you know, we're saying, hey, God, I think you got the wrong number here. I think you're looking for the guy down the door downstairs or somebody else, but I'm not it. But, you know, God knows what he's doing, folks, and he's going to choose unlikely people.
[00:03:26] Scott Halfman echoes that same sentiment. He says, indeed, the call of Moses demonstrate that the very obstacles are an essential part of the call itself. Isn't that interesting, illustrating clearly that God's grace, not the prophet's strength, is the source of his or her sufficiency. The person's sufficiency, it's not of us, it's of God.
[00:03:49] Kent Hughes says it this way. Paul is able to balance his negative declaration. We're going to read this here in Second Corinthians with the positive counterpoint. But our sufficiency, he says, not that we are sufficient in ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. In other words, it's not what we can do, it's what God can do in us. This is good news, folks. You know, we got to stop looking at ourselves.
[00:04:13] You know, we look at ourselves, we go, man, there's a lot of things going on here. I can't see how God could do anything with me. And God goes, yeah, but you're just the right kind of person for me. I love, you know, taking people that don't have it all together and actually moving through their lives in a beautiful way. He goes on. Paul goes on to explain that his sufficiency comes from two things. One, the sufficiency of the New Covenant. We're going to talk about that today.
[00:04:39] The sufficiency of the Holy Spirit, God living inside of our lives. So what we discover is that God's transforming glory is expressed through human weakness. So that people will come to understand it's the power of God's grace in our lives, working in us and then working through our lives to bring about God's power and virtue inside of us. Isn't that beautiful? You know, I was sharing with the men this morning as we were praying, I said, we're going to get to this point in the sermon. You know, really, you and I have no light inside of us. We're like the moon. But how many know we can see light reflects off the moon from the sun? How many know that's true? When you see the brightness of the moon, what you're seeing is the moon reflecting the sun's light. Isn't that a beautiful thing? Here's the good news, folks. You and I are designed to reflect the light of God's glory.
[00:05:36] Whoo.
[00:05:37] You and I are like the moon. And when we turn towards the Son of God, God's glory starts reflecting off of our lives. How many think, that's a beautiful picture. We're going to look at that this morning. I love that I was deeply encouraged as I was studying for this message this week.
[00:05:56] Scott Heffelman explains this amazing grace of God's covenant with us and our need to move from our sense of self sufficiency and towards total dependency on God. You know, the biggest problem human beings have right now is we rely too much on ourselves. That's our biggest problem. We don't know it yet, but it's true. We're looking to humanity, we're looking to one another. But when we need to look higher, we need to look to God. He writes, the contemporary significance of our passage revolves around one central all determining point. God is the source and supply of our lives, as demonstrated by his calling and equipping his people for service in a covenant relationship with Him. The call of God takes place in Christ. The service takes place by means of God's spirit. This is true whether one is an apostle called to be a minister in the first century or a believer called to be faithful to serve in the 21st century.
[00:06:52] Though inherently offensive to the self reliance and self glorification that are so much a part of modern culture. And then he adds, in every culture since the fall, because we tend to do this, we look to, you know, like, look what I'm doing.
[00:07:06] No, it's not what we're doing. Paul's stark reminders that we cannot claim anything is coming from ourselves. All things come from God.
[00:07:16] Nothing we have is earned. It's all a gift.
[00:07:22] Isn't that beautiful? The word grace means gift. Did you know that in the Greek language, you know, grace is the word charis, and charisma is, is gift. It's the same basic idea. So when you and I receive from God, it's all a gift. Isn't that beautiful? Your body is a gift. Your time on Earth is a gift. The people God brings into your life is a gift. Your mental acumen is a gift.
[00:07:49] Your abilities and skills and propensities are a gift from God. Opportunities are a gift from God. All the money you have is a gift from God.
[00:07:59] Your health is a gift from God. It's all a gift, folks.
[00:08:03] We keep forgetting that time on earth is a gift. There's a reason we're stewarding all of this. That's what we need to understand.
[00:08:11] He goes on to say here we're not, as it were, God's junior partners. You're called to make our contributions to the plan. There's no synergism in the covenant which God contributes his part and we do ours in order to accomplish something together that's greater than either of us. How many know you can't make God any greater than he is?
[00:08:29] Actually, he goes on to say, God's not looking for help. Rather, God's emphasis is on the priority of the cross and salvation and on the work of the Spirit and justification and sanctification makes it evident that the initiative, inauguration, and sustenance of the new Covenant, like Sinai covenant before him, is due solely to the unilateral and merciful work of God on behalf of his people. So what is Scott really telling us here? Well, he's basically saying God's done it.
[00:08:58] Okay, so then we have to ask the question. So if God does it all, I write this down, then. So what should our response be? How should we respond to all of this? How can we experience and then manifest God's glory and grace to other people? How can we do that?
[00:09:18] How should we handle, as we're going to see there, those that reject us and often criticize our lives as what was happening to the Apostle Paul by some of the people in the city of Corinth? And by the way, when you start reflecting God's glory, it's going to attract people, but it's also going to repel people. You're going to run into critics, and I think we shouldn't be shocked by that. And Jesus, I'm teaching this on the Sermon on the Mount. I'm going to do the Beatitudes. You know, one of the Beatitudes is blessed are you. When people say all manner of evil against you and persecute you for my namesake, we're going to talk about that. You know, why does that have to happen, Pastor? Well, it happened to Jesus and it happened to every single follower of Christ. That's reflecting the Glory of God. It's all part and parcel. If you are living a godly life in Christ Jesus, Paul says you're going to suffer persecution. It's part of it. Now. I don't want you to be afraid of it. I want you to understand that you and I can triumph in the midst of it and that you can. I can overcome the evil that's coming to us. And that actually God can use that to bring the people that are persecuting us to faith in himself because of our response to them. See, God has a way of using every single thing in life.
[00:10:33] It's powerful, you know, now, and Paul was up certainly concerned about the people that had come to Corinth and were criticizing him because they were actually had a silent motivation. They were trying to take advantage of the Corinthians.
[00:10:50] That's what happens sometimes. You know, there are people that have agendas. How many know there are people out there with an agenda? And it's not always a good agenda. They're trying to, you know, enrich themselves at the expense of people. Isn't that true? They're trying to, you know, use people for their own ends. And we see that all over our world. And that's what evil does, use people for their own ends. And so you and I, we want to, you know, halt that as much as we can. And we're going to talk a little bit about what Paul says to bring that about. So Paul responds now, and this is the best response, by explaining the nature of the gospel and how God's transforming glory works in the gospel. And we find it expressed in two ways. And the first way is through people. Though God does work in us, through, though God does work in us, then as we yield and obey, God works his glory and presence through us.
[00:11:39] Basically, what God is going to do is, you know, human beings, we try to manipulate people and make them change from the outside in.
[00:11:46] That never works. Okay? How God works has changed the human heart. He works from the inside out. And we're going to see that. Isn't that beautiful? When our motivations change, when our heart changes, when we have a change of attitude, when we move and change direction in our life change. God is so gentle with us. He doesn't apply pressure, though at times he will allow circumstances to get our attention. And when we're moving in the wrong direction, God will impede our process, our progress away from him. For our sake, he'll do that. So now Paul is going to begin to use this as an argument for the credibility of his ministry. In response to his critics among the Corinthians. And in his defense, Paul says this. He doesn't appeal to the letters of recommendation that these false teachers brought. You know, because in the ancient world, when you came to a new place, you usually had letters of recommendation to say, this is who we are.
[00:12:44] But you know what Paul does?
[00:12:46] He says, no, no, I'm not going to do that. Because he didn't need a letter of recommendation. It says, are we going to begin to commend ourselves again?
[00:12:55] Remember, Paul had already been there. He already knew these people, okay? He says, why do we need a letter of recommendation?
[00:13:01] Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.
[00:13:11] You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. So what is Paul really saying here? He. He's basically saying, listen, you know these guys that are coming to distort the message, they have. Yeah, they have letters of recommendation. And we don't. We didn't bring a letter of recommendation. But in reality, our ministry among you is our letter of recommendation because it impacted your lives and because we preach the spirit of God changed you, and your salvation is our letter of recommendation. How many think that's a very beautiful letter of recommendation? Linda Belville says it this way. Paul's approach to these intruders is quite insightful. While he does not condemn their use of such letters, he does point out to the church that the reason he and his co workers had not brought any letters to Corinth was because they came as church planners ready to begin a new evangelistic work. So it is the church formed as a result of their labors. And he goes on to say, you yourselves, not a letter written with ink. That serves as really their letter of reference. And then Ken Hughes says something interesting. He says, the superiorities of these living, breathing letters are explicit and implicit in Paul's description. They are incontrovertible evidence of the power of the gospel and the fruit of ministry. Written letters may easily mislead, but living letters reveal the truth.
[00:14:42] Living heart letters are more intimate. So what is he saying? You know, you can have somebody vouch for somebody in a letter, but that doesn't mean that much. You have to kind of know who's writing the letter. And. And maybe they don't know everything about this person. They're just writing a Letter recommendation. What's the best letter? Watching a person's life, right? You can see what's really going on. And that's what Paul is saying. Look, you can see our lives, we've lived among you. You can see our ministry and you can see the fruit of our ministry, which is your salvation. He said, that's our recommendation. Paul also points out that he's not the author of this letter. Notice he says it's Christ, which is the letter is from Christ. In other words, it's Christ himself. Paul basically is saying, I'm just like the secretary copying down the letter that Christ is writing. Ken Hughes says it this way. Having done this, Paul took care to make sure the Corinthians understood that he was not the author of the letter. And you show that you are letter from Christ.
[00:15:41] A letter of recommendation must always come from a third party and the ultimate third party recommender. Here Paul is saying, is Christ the Messiah himself, who by claiming Christ as the author of Paul's letter, which is them, Paul was able to claim higher authority for his credentials than his enemies could claim for theirs. Isn't that great? He's basically saying, hey, my letter of recommendation is actually Christ himself because he changed your lives.
[00:16:09] That's his argument. Okay, so the letter was written, he says, not on stone tablets, but on human hearts.
[00:16:17] See, God is communicating to our world.
[00:16:22] Not through, you know, he's communicating through people. He's communicating through our lives.
[00:16:29] What message do we send to our family members, our neighbors and those we encounter? Because you see, you have to understand something. You're the letter now you're God's message to the world. How many? Did you understand what I'm saying? It's not that you and I just bring a message to people. You and I are the message.
[00:16:47] They're looking at our lives.
[00:16:49] Is my life consistent with the gospel? And when it is, it's a powerful message to people. You see, one of the obstacles for many people coming to faith in Christ is the lives of professing Christians who are living a sin dominated life. How many know that's true?
[00:17:04] You know, one of my prayers when I was a brand new Christian says, lord, help me not to be a barrier to people coming to faith. Help me to be a bridge.
[00:17:13] Isn't that a good prayer? In other words, God, help me not to impede, help me not to be an obstacle. Help my life to be lived in such a way that I'm helping people come to you and not hindering them from coming to you because of the Crazy stuff I'm doing, right?
[00:17:27] Isn't that what we should long to see happen? You know, think about your life. It's very short when you consider it. In light of eternity, how many go? Even if you live to be 110 years old, say we all live to 110 in light of eternity, that's a short period of time, isn't it? Okay, so let's take a look at what's really going on while we're living in this generation. There's many people living on our planet and the majority of them don't know Christ. Where are they going to spend eternity?
[00:17:53] Well, they're going to spend eternity in a state of judgment because they've rebelled against God. We're all rebels on this planet. We all deserve hell. I think we need to understand that. But God in his mercy saved us. And shouldn't we be bringing this message of rescue to the people who have not yet heard it? That's our responsibility. Jesus says, go and make disciples. He's called all of us to do that.
[00:18:16] Linda Bevel says this, explaining the difference between a heart of stone and a heart of flesh.
[00:18:24] She goes, what is qualitatively better about the new covenant? It is not a letter covenant that is an external code, but a spirit covenant, that is an internal power.
[00:18:36] She goes on to say, a covenant that is letter in nature. It kills because it makes external demands without giving the inward power for obedience. I mean, tell somebody to do something they can't do, it isn't that frustrating. You know, it's hard on people. They just can't do it. While a covenant that is spirit and character gives life because it works internally to produce a change in nature. Paul describes this change of nature elsewhere as a new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. So what God is going to do when we come to faith in Christ is he's going to change our nature.
[00:19:12] Now before that, we had a stubborn, rebellious, obstinate, I'm going to do my own thing. I'm in charge of my own life nature. And when we come to Christ, all of a sudden God puts his nature inside of us and, and we start having the nature of Christ. And here's what Jesus says when he comes to earth. I delight to do your will. Oh God, you've prepared a body for me. Isn't that great? So now all of a sudden we move from, you know, I have no interest in pleasing God to I really want to please God. And when people, even when they struggle with issues in their life are telling me, I really want to please God. I know the new nature is inside of them. That's the cry of the human heart, I want to please God. I want to do what he wants me to do. Then he goes on to say, such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we're competent, as I've already said, in ourselves, to claim anything for ourselves, but our competency comes from God. He has made us competent ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now, if the ministry that brought death, which was the old covenant, was engraved on letters of stones, came with glory, we're going to see that it did come with God's glory.
[00:20:23] So that Israelites could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses because its glory, transitory though it was, Listen, transitory means it's not going to last.
[00:20:33] It's a glory that's not lasting. And we're going to see why. And he says, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? So he's now comparing the two covenants, the old and the new. So Paul is about to contrast two approaches to explain the superiority of this new covenant.
[00:20:52] And we've looked at it. This covenant is going to flow through people. But here it is. It's a covenant through the work of the Holy Spirit. You know, there's a reason why Jesus said, I have to leave. I need to send the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, into the human hearts of people. That's why the Spirit of Christ is living inside of us. That's why Jesus can say, and I've said it before, I'm repeating myself, but it's important that I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Why can he say that? Because he's living in me. He's living in you. If you're a follower of Christ, the Spirit of God is inside of you. God mediates his work through the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of his people. Paul will explain that even though God's law is good, the issue is that we're incapable of fulfilling the law because of human sinfulness. We have a hard heart. We have a heart of stone.
[00:21:41] We need to be empowered by the Spirit of God in our lives to help us to obey. We can't do it without it. He has made us, as he said, competent ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. The letter kills. The Spirit gives life. Notice what he's emphasizing the Spirit, the Spirit, the Spirit. So why does Paul mean when he says that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life?
[00:22:06] Scott Heffelman says this for this reason. Paul is careful in verses chapter three, verse six, not to establish a contrast between law itself and the Spirit. Nor is the Spirit to be read as a code word for the gospel so that the letter spirit contrast is transformed into a law Gospel contrast. The problem with the Sinai covenant was not the law. The law is not the problem. But as Ezekiel and Jeremiah testify with the people whose hearts remained hardened under it, the law remains for Paul as it did for the Jewish tradition of his day, holy, just, good, an expression of God's covenant, of his covenant will. Indeed, Paul characterized the law as itself spiritual, as the expression of God's abiding will. God said, you know, God gave us the Ten Commandments. You know, the. These are moral laws he wants us to follow with them.
[00:23:03] You know, he wants us to understand the meaning of them.
[00:23:08] You know, the Jewish people got confused about the Sabbath. I think there's still Christians today concerned and confused about the Sabbath. It's a call to rest in God's grace and work.
[00:23:19] The Sabbath is fulfilled in a person, folks.
[00:23:22] That's where we find our rest. It's in Christ.
[00:23:26] Now he goes on to say here, devoid of God's spirit, it means, if you don't have God's spirit, the law remains to those who encounter it, merely a rejected declaration of God's saving purposes and promises, including its corresponding calls for repentance and obedience to faith. What's he saying? He's saying, listen, if our hearts are hard, we don't respond to the gospel. We don't respond to the Spirit, we don't respond to the word of God. We're not obedient to what God's calling us to because of our heart. It's our heart that's the problem here.
[00:23:58] If you really want to get down to what's the problem in the world today, it's our hearts.
[00:24:02] There's the problem that's the big problem. And when we get that squared away, everything changes.
[00:24:08] Isn't that beautiful? So we got to just say to ourselves, if I've got a problem, maybe I got to look at myself. I got to stop blaming other people. I got to start looking at my own heart and saying, where am I at in my heart? Okay?
[00:24:22] He goes on to say here, although the law declares God's will, it is powerless to help people to keep it. Only the Spirit brings life by changing the human Heart in this regard, Paul can say that the gospel too kills when it encounters those who are perishing. Isn't that true? I mean, I'm preaching the gospel. When people are hardened heart and they're rejecting it, it's actually bringing death to them.
[00:24:46] Think about that. If they keep rejecting it at the end, you know what? It's actually going to go against them. God's going to say to them when they stand before him, he says, listen, I appealed to you and you rejected it.
[00:24:57] You're without excuse. You know, people want to make excuses today, but I know, I've read the Bible carefully. You know what God says? People today are without excuse.
[00:25:06] Every human being is without excuse. You say, why is that? Because God's eternal power has been demonstrated by the created world.
[00:25:13] You know, I'm just reading a really interesting book right now. Someone gave it to me, and I'm really enjoying it. It's called, you know, I Don't have Enough Faith to be an Atheist.
[00:25:23] It's a great book because he's using the cosmological and teleological arguments. And I studied these in college, but they're powerful. You know, the fact that there's a first, there's a beginning in our universe says there has to be a first cause which is, you know, has to be outside of the universe. And it points to a supernatural beginning. And even the scientists are starting to admit that that's true. And then you have a designer. How many know that this, the fact that you and I are surviving on this little planet, it's. So we're really fragile human beings. We need an ideal environment, and God has prepared that for us. You know, this didn't just happen randomly, folks. There's a designer making it happen for us.
[00:26:05] Isn't that beautiful? So everything points to God. So people are without excuse as far as God's concerned. Wow, that's pretty strong language. So all these people out here that are rejecting this, you know, actually are defying God. Because the problem is not intellectual, folks. It's a moral issue. People want to run their own lives and not be accountable to anybody but themselves. Wow.
[00:26:29] So what is he saying? The problem is the human heart. And when our hearts are open and responsive, we act on the message. And then transformation is now possible.
[00:26:38] So now we're going to get to the good part. That's all the problem stuff. Let's get to the fun stuff, right? Okay, now, if the ministry that brought death was engraved and letters on stones came with glory, so the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses, because its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
[00:27:00] So what is he saying?
[00:27:01] He's saying we got to change our hearts. So God knew that. So what does he say to Jeremiah here, to the nation of Israel? And if I talk to a Jewish person today, I would bring them to this text of Scripture. Listen to what Jeremiah is telling us. The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt. Because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord.
[00:27:34] Wow. This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbors or say to one another, know the Lord.
[00:27:50] Because they will all know me from the least to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their wickedness and I will remember their sins no more.
[00:27:58] Is that beautiful? Listen, I don't have to. If you're a Christian, I don't have to tell. You know the Lord. You know the Lord. Isn't that great? Now, can you. I. Can I instruct you and help you grow in your faith? Yes.
[00:28:09] That's what teachers do. But you know what we can explain to you? You can come to know the Lord, and then once you get to know them, you know him. And God's Spirit is living inside of you. And as you read God's Word, it becomes alive to you, and God is changing you. I'm going to challenge you with that. So this is the work of the Holy Spirit, writing God's law in our minds and in our hearts. Listen to what Paul says in Second Corinthians now. And if that was. If what was transitory, which means not lasting, came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts? Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold, he says.
[00:28:47] From Paul's perspective, Heffelmaier says.
[00:28:53] He says, given God's justifying and the sanctifying work means making us more godlike. Okay? It's the work of the Spirit to make us obey in the lives of people, as guaranteed and brought about by the presence and power of the Spirit. There is actually no excuse for habitually failing to trust God's gracious promises and provisions. In Christ. I switched those around, but that's okay.
[00:29:18] Listen. Faith that trusts God to meet one's need invariably expresses itself through love as the fulfillment of the law. Now he gives an example. He says God commands his people not to steal because he's committed himself to meet their needs. Why should we have to steal when God says, I'll give you what you need?
[00:29:36] Isn't that a beautiful thought? Nobody has to steal anything. We have to be content with what we have. Right? God will take care of us. To steal is to disbelieve God's promise in this regard.
[00:29:47] This is powerful. God commands his people not to covet. That means I want to. I feel like I need something that I don't have. Okay, I want. Because he's already promised to satisfy their deepest longings, ultimately himself. I like that.
[00:30:05] Notice. Paul equates idolatry with covetousness.
[00:30:09] So to say, all I need to be happy is Jesus. And then something my neighbor has is to commit idolatry by failing to trust God's covenant commitment that he will be enough for us. Idolatry is simply looking to something or someone other than God as the source of our happiness and contentment for the future.
[00:30:30] Can I tell you something?
[00:30:32] All you need is Jesus.
[00:30:35] All you need is Jesus, folks.
[00:30:37] He satisfies. You know, if you have a longing in your soul, you say, you know what? I still don't feel satisfied. I'm going to challenge you today. Come to Jesus.
[00:30:47] Come to him and say, lord, I feel empty still. I feel brokenness. I feel longing in my soul. Just come to him and allow him to fill that emptiness and that brokenness and that longing inside of you. Come to Him.
[00:31:00] No person, no thing is ever going to fill that void. I'm going to tell you right now. Come to Jesus. Now we come to the heart of the issue, the glory of God both in judging sin and transforming human hearts. This is a passage that seems to imply that Moses was veiling himself to keep the Israelites from seeing the diminishing glory.
[00:31:21] Paul now explains why the Jewish people have for the most part not responded to the gospel that he had been proclaiming. He uses the illustration of Moses veil as keeping them from seeing the glory of God that transforms the human heart by the Spirit. So what did Moses do? He would come into the God's presence. He would take off his veil. Paul's going to do an exposition on Exodus. Here, I'll show you. Takes off the veil, he looks at God.
[00:31:47] And when he's looking at God, he's being transformed. When he comes out of the tent, he's glowing. The glory of God is on his face. He's radiating the glory of God. But then eventually, Moses has to put a veil above his face.
[00:32:02] Now, Paul says it's a diminishing glory. It's fading. He has to go back in the temple in order to get the glory to be rekindled inside of him.
[00:32:13] But he says, he says it this way in the text. We're not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.
[00:32:22] He didn't want them to see the fading glory.
[00:32:25] But he says, but their minds were dull.
[00:32:29] For to this day, the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. In other words, there's a veil over there, not over Moses face.
[00:32:39] It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away.
[00:32:43] So in other words, they're veiled from understanding. There's a veil that keeps people from understanding. Only when that veil is removed. How does that veil get removed? You say when we believe in Jesus, the veil is removed, okay? Even to this day, when Moses is read, that's just. Moses is the author of the first five books, the Torah. When they read the law, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. That's the answer, he says. The best explanation of the text personally that I've encountered reading from all of these commentaries this week. And I read a lot.
[00:33:19] I think I clipped, you know, over a hundred quotes.
[00:33:23] So I was doing a lot of reading on this, and I was going, okay, God, give me an understanding to explain this.
[00:33:28] This is what he said. How many know what happened was the Israelites, when they were taken and they were brought before Mount Sinai, what did they do? When Moses went up to get the law, they built the golden calf. Remember that? That's idolatry. And when Moses came down, he was upset. He threw the commandments down and the commandments broke. Because in a sense, that represents the broken commandment they were now, you know, they had turned their back on God. They were worshiping an idol, okay? Moses, by breaking the tablets of the law in response to Israel's sin with the golden calf, demonstrated that the Sinai covenant was broken from the beginning. Although Israel had been rescued from slavery, her idolatry revealed that her neck remained stiff and enslaved to sin. In other words, they weren't changed on the inside, okay? Their hearts were hardened. They were like stone. That's what Paul is saying here.
[00:34:21] So this Leads to the pressing theological problem of the passage. How can God's glory continue to dwell in the midst of Israel without destroying her?
[00:34:30] How many know that you know, if you're going to gaze at God and you're in a sinful condition, you're in trouble.
[00:34:35] Initially, God's glory was forced to dwell outside the camp in a tent of meeting. Remember that it was covered. God's glory was hidden in there, you know, lest God's presence destroyed the people.
[00:34:48] Only Moses, as part of a very small faithful remnant, could approach the presence of God. Moses is not happy with this solution.
[00:34:55] He recognizes that God's presence in Israel's midst is the only distinguish. The only thing that distinguishes Israel from all the nations around her. In other words, what makes Israel unique was the presence of God. Do you know what makes a Christian unique? The presence of God, that's the only thing that distinguishes us, is the presence of God. Okay, so Moses has no desire to enter the promised land without God's presence presence in their midst. He says to God, listen, if you're not going in, I'm not going.
[00:35:26] I want you to take us in. We can't survive without you. We can't make life without God. That's what Moses is saying.
[00:35:34] Yet Moses also knows that God cannot dwell in the midst of a stiff necked people.
[00:35:42] So in his final petition, Moses consequently pleads that he himself, as the mediator of the covenant, might experience God's glory as the solution to Israel's dilemma. Remember when Moses said, show me your glory, God says, okay, I'll put you on the cliff of the rock. And God passed by and he said, and then you heard, you know, I'm this and I'm that. Remember that little story in Exodus 33 and 34? Yeah. This is what we're talking about here.
[00:36:10] So now, because Moses found grace before God, before Yahweh, he grants Moses a startling request. In the end, therefore, Moses becomes the answer to his own prayer and the covenant is restored. Moses receives the law a second time, and with the glory of God beaming on his face, now mediates God's presence to his people. He's bringing God's presence, so he's a mediator of that presence.
[00:36:41] Now, Moses, veiled meditation of God's glory permits his presence to remain in Israel's midst without destroying her. In this regard, Moses veiling himself is actually an act of mercy. Why? At the same time, the very fact that Moses must veil his face is an act of judgment because of the hardness of Israel's heart. This veil only preserves Israel from being destroyed.
[00:37:05] But there's a problem with.
[00:37:07] Also keeps them from being transformed. Because it's God's glory that changes you. Isn't that interesting?
[00:37:14] So they get the glory of God through Moses, but they have to have a veiled glory, because if they have an unveiled glory, it's going to destroy them. So it's a veiled glory.
[00:37:26] But the problem is it doesn't totally transform their hearts. And this is what Paul's going to argue.
[00:37:36] This is the very reason why we need Christ in our lives. For as we repent and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, the veil is lifted. The Holy Spirit comes into our lives to bring about a transformation. And it is the Spirit of the living God that liberates us from our sin.
[00:37:55] That's what he does. Now listen to what these verses say. I love these verses.
[00:38:00] Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is what?
[00:38:06] Freedom. And we all who with unveiled faces, remember, our veil has been removed now because we have Christ contemplate the Lord's glory. So we're now looking at God's glory in Jesus.
[00:38:21] Okay. And are being what?
[00:38:24] Transformed. Now that word transformed.
[00:38:28] Metamorphosis.
[00:38:30] It's used only two other times in the New Testament. In Romans, it says, be transformed by the renewing of your minds. Be transformed. So the word is translated here.
[00:38:44] Transformed in the King James is changed into his likeness in his image.
[00:38:49] And then you find it in one other text of Scripture when Jesus is on the mount of transfiguration. And Jesus was what?
[00:38:57] Transfigured. He was transformed. He was changed. What happened? They saw his glory. Isn't that a beautiful picture? Now listen what happens here? We're being transformed into his image with an ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
[00:39:14] Okay, what does this really mean, Pastor?
[00:39:19] As we come into God's presence like Moses did you know what we're doing?
[00:39:23] I want you to see this. We're taking off the veil. Listen how he says it here in Exodus, when Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But when he entered the Lord's presence to speak with God, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, and then they saw his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.
[00:39:47] And Scott Heffelman explains the significance, in other words, by the power of the Spirit we're experiencing in A progressive sense more and more of this freedom to obey God. As a result, we're being changed into God's own image by becoming obedient to his will. To be in the image of God is to manifest his likeness by acting in accordance with his commands and expression of God's own nature.
[00:40:14] Okay, okay, this is another quote.
[00:40:20] Excuse me. Let me close with these quotes.
[00:40:24] David Garland explains the exciting aspect of literally looking at God's glory and being changed. He says Paul asserts that all Christians can, like Moses, approach the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces and experience the same transformation. The emphatic we all refers to all Christians.
[00:40:43] And he goes on to say, not just that of apostles or Christian ministers. Because Paul is not simply contrasting himself with Moses, it is we, as opposed to the unbelieving Jews. In contrast to the Israelites who have a veil shrouding their hearts, Christians have that veil taken away. Christians are able to bear the bold, direct revelation of God's glory because the state of their heart has been changed. It is also in contrast to the one Moses all Christians must approach may approach the Lord, as Moses did when he went up on Mount Sinai into the presence of the Lord. And the results are similar. Behold, with an unveiled face, the glory of the Lord causes us to be transformed into the same image. We can never encounter God and remain unchanged. Beholding his glory affects our transformation as we are changed into the veritable likeness of Him.
[00:41:39] I don't know about you guys, but this is really exciting to me because I want you to get a picture of this. We're going to stand now.
[00:41:48] When we come in the name of Jesus into the presence of Almighty God, I want you to see a picture in your mind. It's like walking into the tent of meeting with Moses.
[00:42:02] And we have no veil over our face and we're beholding the glory of God and that glory is shining on us and it's changing us. Is that an amazing thought?
[00:42:16] And as it changes us, you and I become more and more like Him. Or in other words, think of it this way.
[00:42:23] You and I are like the moon.
[00:42:26] And anytime you and I turn our face towards God, it's like the moon now turning towards the sun.
[00:42:35] And we see the moon reflecting the sun on earth.
[00:42:39] And what people see, you know, the moon has no light because, you know, it's in darkness. Half the moon is dark, and half of its light, the only part that's light, it's only reflecting, reflecting the light of the sun.
[00:42:52] And I'm going to tell you right now when you and I come in God's presence, you know what we're doing? We're reflecting the light of the Son of God to people.
[00:43:02] I don't know about you, but that kind of is exciting.
[00:43:05] How many think that that's pretty amazing that you and I reflect God's glory to people?
[00:43:12] Is that neat?
[00:43:13] And as you and I come into God's presence, God starts changing us.
[00:43:20] And that's why, you know what? As a pastor, I keep encouraging us. Spend time with God. Spend time with God.
[00:43:27] Spend time in his word. Spend time reflecting. Spend time worshiping Him. Spend time with God. Why? Because in his presence, it changes you. Is that encouraging?
[00:43:39] How many go, I want to be more like him. That's me.
[00:43:43] I want to be more like Him. I want to reflect the glory of God to the people around me.
[00:43:50] I certainly don't want to reflect anything of myself. I want to reflect God's glory.
[00:43:55] That's the good part.
[00:43:57] And so let's pray this year, 2026.
[00:44:01] This is our prayer. Lord, I want to reflect the glory of God. How many say, I'm with you, Pastor. I want to reflect the glory of God. I want, I want God's glory to so transform me in 2026 that I'm going to be intensifying the reflection of God's glory to my family, to my neighbors, to the people I'm encountering.
[00:44:23] I want to just reflect the glory of God. And when people look at me, you know, I still remember a thing that happened once. My Grandmother, I was 17 years old. This was just before I really, you know, I had a real encounter with God before I really started walking rightly with God at 17.
[00:44:42] You know, something happened. I had a real experience with Christ. I had an experience with the spirit. I don't talk about it very often. It was so profound, it was so life changing. And I spent a lot of time in scripture. And my grandmother, one day I went to visit her in another province and she was looking at my face and she said, you know what?
[00:45:03] No, it was my aunt who's with my grandmother.
[00:45:06] And she looked at my face and she said, you know, I can actually see the face of Christ in you.
[00:45:12] You know, she could see something. She saw the glory of God reflecting from my life.
[00:45:19] God wants to do that, folks.
[00:45:21] God wants to reflect his glory through you.
[00:45:24] I'm going to pray for us this year that that will happen. It will entire intensify because you and I are going to spend more time in the tent of meeting like Moses. I'm going to spend more time with God this year to allow that transformation and that glory to fill me and to impact the people around me. So Lord we do lift our hearts to you today.
[00:45:44] We want to have hearts of flesh not a heart of stone we want the veil to be removed from our lives we want to reflect the glory of God we want to spend time in your presence Lord so that transformation is occurring in our lives Lord and now we're reflecting that glory of God to our spouse to our children to our grandchildren if we have them Lord to our neighbors, to our siblings, to our friends Lord may we reflect your glory Father and may many people come to know the truth and come to be drawn into the love of God the hope of God, the grace of God the goodness and compassion of God because they see the grace, the goodness and the compassion and love of God reflecting through us and we thank you for that. In Jesus name amen God bless you as you leave today.
