2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 7. This is the
second letter that we have that Paul had written
to the Corinthians. However, it is believed by
some that he may have wrote as many as four letters.
And it's possible he alludes to some of those,
some of the writings, some of the things he says.
It's not certain that they really line up with
what he wrote in what we would call 1 Corinthians.
It's very possible there's some missing letters,
but nonetheless, we have enough in 1 and 2 Corinthians
to kind of know a little bit about what's going
on in Corinth and Paul's love for the people
and his desire to see them grow in the Lord.
And that's what we've seen really a lot in 1
Corinthians. We see some discipline that Paul
is taking and addressing some troubles that have
arisen in the church and giving some instruction
on the people to handle those situations. And
he continued in 2 Corinthians with the same idea,
talking about the discipline that had taken place
and that there comes a point where... The discipline
was successful, it appears, and there needs to
be love for the one who is disciplined. We also
see at the beginning of 2 Corinthians that Paul
kind of was defending himself, it appeared, as
though maybe some of the Corinthians were questioning
Paul and some of the work that he was doing or
maybe the fact that he hadn't come back. He addresses
that, that they were expecting him. He had said
he was going to come back, but he had not come
back. And one of the reasons he gives for that
is that He didn't want to come back because there
were still some things that weren't right in
Corinth, and he didn't want to come and treat
the people harshly. He didn't want to come and
just have to get on to them. And so he wants
them to do right and to do better and to not
question him but listen to him and not listen
to other people or not doubt him and not be led
astray, but to remember that he cared about the
people and that he had really poured into the
people and he had led many of these people to
Jesus Christ. and they needed to stand firm on
the truth of the gospel and not pay too much
attention to what maybe some others who had come
in and were saying, maybe questioning Paul and
causing some of the people in Corinth to question
Paul. So that's what we saw kind of in the first
couple of chapters for those of you who may not
have been here as we've gotten to this point.
And then he kind of shifted gears in chapter
3. He begins to shift gears to talk about...
The law and the spirit. And that's what we're
going to talk about tonight. We talked about
that a little bit in the verses we read last
week. That it's not about letters that are written
on stone, but it's about... what is written on
the heart. It's about having a heart change.
It's about the work of the Spirit that is so
much greater than the work of the law that we
see in the Old Testament, both the Ten Commandments
and plenty of other laws that God gave, other
commandments that he gave. Over 600 of them he
gave to his people. And so Paul is addressing
that new glory, a better glory that comes through.
the Spirit through Jesus Christ. So that's what
we're going to see in the verses tonight. So
let's pray and we'll get started. God, we come
to you. We thank you for a good night. We thank
you for these words. I pray that we would listen
to them, that you would free us of the worries
and the distractions and the thoughts of this
world, dear Lord. We got a lot that went on in
our lives today and a lot that's going to go
on tomorrow and this week and next week. But
I pray that in these few minutes, that you just
would protect our minds, that we would listen
to you, that your Holy Spirit would just give
us something in here that we need to hear. God,
you know where we are in life. You know whether
we're struggling tonight or whether we need encouragement
tonight or correction tonight or whatever it
may be, dear Lord. You know what we need, and
I pray. that your word would speak to us tonight.
I pray that you would take away any fear or pride
that I have, dear Lord. There's no good word
that I can say if it does not come from you,
so I pray that your spirit would lead me and
help each one of us to hear from you for your
glory. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen. All right,
2 Corinthians 3, verse 7. Now, if the ministry
of death... chiseled in letters on stones, came
with glory, so that the Israelites were not able
to look directly at Moses' face because of the
glory from his face, a fading glory, how will
the ministry of the Spirit not be more... Glorious.
All right. Now, he says something interesting
here. Now, the ministry of death chiseled in
letters on stone. What is he talking about there?
What is the ministry of death? Well, he's talking
about the law. He's talking about the wages of
sin is death. And the law makes us aware of our
sin. The law is God's perfect standard that God
calls us to live by. And once we are aware of
the law. it brings death upon us because it presents
to us a standard that we are not able to live
up to. It makes us aware of our sin. Now, we
may be ignorant of our sin, but the moment we
begin to read God's Word and God's commands,
and in the case of the Israelites, the law of
God, the Ten Commandments and other commandments,
their eyes are open. Now, of course, they were
sinners before the law ever came, but the law
made them aware of their sin and aware of their
state. And their state is the same of our state.
That is that we are sinners, that God has a standard
that he calls us to live by, commands that he
calls us to live by, and we fail to live by those
commands. Now, we come to church, or we read
our Bible, or we listen to our favorite preachers
and teachers online, whatever it may be, and
we hopefully are seeking to try to grow in the
Lord and trying to live by His commands, but
the truth is that sometimes we fail. And the
law is a constant reminder, what are we going
to do? We've failed. The wages of sin is death.
We've sinned. We've failed to live by God's law.
And that's how it's referred to in the New Testament.
Here we see an example of that. That the ministry
of death, he's talking about the law. How do
we know that? Well, we see it in context. That
is chiseled in letters on stone. But what does
he say? He's making a contrast here about the
glory of God. This is what he's trying to present
to his listeners, both then and both now. He
says the law has a purpose. It was chiseled in
stone. Moses brought those stone tablets down
the mountain and they had the commandments that
God had given him. They were chiseled in stone.
And it was good. It had a purpose. The law had
a purpose. It was to guide God's people. We see
that in the book of Galatians. It says that the
law was meant to kind of guide the people along
until Jesus Christ. And so the law had a purpose.
It wasn't pointless. It's what God's people needed
at that time. It made them aware of who God was,
of what God commanded. Even in the law, it shows
us who God is when he says to do things like
not murder and not steal. These are things that
God does not do. God is saying that we are to
be like him, that we are to strive to live like
him. That's our goal, but we fail at that goal.
And so he gives the law through Moses, and the
law is good. It serves a purpose, and even in
the law, there is glory. Even in the giving of
the law, we see the glory of God. We see that
reference. So the Israelites were not able to
look directly at Moses' face because of the glory
from his face. Now, this is a reference. You
can go back and study this this week. Go back
to Exodus 33 and 34. And you'll see this story
where Moses is up on the mountain with God. And
you may recall it. Some of you may have heard
it. And Moses says, God, I want to see your glory.
God, I want to see you in all your glory. I want
to see you, God. Now, Moses had certainly had
some interaction with God. And we see other people
have interactions with God in some way, shape,
or form in Scripture. But nobody had ever seen
God in his fullness. And for good reason. We
could not take it. As human beings, we could
not take it. As sinful human beings, we are not
prepared for the full glory of God. And Moses
says, God, I want to see your glory. And God
says, Moses, nobody can see my face and live.
Nobody can see me in all of my glory. But I'll
hide you in this rock and I'll pass by and I'll
let you see me from behind. Just a glimpse of
my glory. And so God does just that, and Moses
catches just a glimpse of God's glory. And when
Moses comes back down the mountain before the
people, the scripture says that his face is glowing.
Just a little exposure to the glory of God, and
that has come upon Moses, and the glory of God
is being reflected from the face of Moses. And
it says that when the Israelites saw Moses' face,
that they were afraid. And so Moses put a veil
over his face because the people weren't prepared
for the glory of God. And that's the story that's
being referenced here by Paul. He says, look,
there's glory in the giving of the law because
when God gave the law to Moses, when Moses came
back down from the mountain, the glory of God
was there on Moses for everybody to see, and
it was a scary thing to the people. But what
does he say of that glory? Fading glory. Now
this is important. This is the example he's using
for the point that he's trying to make. He's
trying to help his audience understand that the
law had a purpose for a little while, but the
law's purpose had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
That Jesus Christ has fulfilled all things. Now
we see similar language to this in the book of
Hebrews. The audience in the book of Hebrews
are being tempted to go back to the law. We see
this repeatedly in Paul's writings. We see it
here. We see it in Galatians. We see it in Hebrews,
whoever wrote Hebrews. this pulling away of the
Israelites who grew up, who knew the law. Probably
many of them could recite it and knew it very
well and had lived under it. And then Jesus has
come onto the scene and has freed us from the
law, a law that was fading away, a glory that
was fading away. Jesus has brought about a better
glory. So Paul says, don't go back to the ministry
of death. That is the law that's chiseled in
stone. It had a purpose. It had glory. It was
good. But now God has given us something better.
The law was fading away. But he's making a point.
He's setting up his point here. That God has
now given us an unfading glory in Jesus Christ.
And he says in verse 8, how will the ministry
of the Spirit not be more glorious? This is his
point. Okay, you know the law. You know that
it was good. You know the story of Moses. You
know the glory that the Lord is and that was
upon Moses when he received the law. And if there
was glory in that, that law that was fading away,
how much more glorious is the glory of the Spirit?
The Holy Spirit that now indwells in us that
through Jesus Christ we have a relationship with
God and we experience the glory of God in a different
way. And that's the point that he's making here.
He's trying to get them not to focus on the law
that leads to death, but he's trying to get them
to focus on Jesus Christ who leads to life. Verse
9. For if the ministry of condemnation had glory,
the ministry of righteousness overflows with
even more glory. Okay? We see the same kind of
language here. The ministry of death. The ministry
of condemnation. Okay? These are not glowing
terms that he's using for the law. Don't live
by the law, he says. The law is not going to
save you. The law is going to leave you lost.
Leave you lost. What about Jesus Christ? Well,
through the Spirit, he says that there's a ministry
of righteousness. Okay, so there was a little
glory, and it was good in the law. But he says,
I want to tell you there's a greater glory. There's
righteousness, not condemnation, but righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ. And that brings
with it much more glory than anything that we've
ever seen before Jesus Christ. Verse 10. In fact,
what had been glorious is not glorious now by
comparison because of the glory that surpasses
it. For if what was fading away was glorious
what endures will be even more glorious. So what
he says is you saw a glimpse of light but the
source of light The glory in its fullness you
have not experienced if you've not experienced
Jesus Christ. Is anybody, I know you have, some
of you probably got them, these little solar
lights, like you can stick them along your sidewalk,
and boy, they sit out in the sun all day, they
got a little solar panel on them, and the sun
goes down, and they produce some light, a little
bit of light. But as the night goes on, the little
battery in them don't last long, and they begin
to fade out. Now, what little light they produce
is good. They produce some light. It's a fading
light. But the real source of their power and
the real source of their light is the sun. Now,
if you never saw the sun, you'd probably be glad
to have one of those little solar lights. It'd
be very helpful at night. Help kind of guide
your way a little bit. But once you see the sun
in its fullness shining in the sky, you can't
even bear to look at it. It's so bright, you'll
go blind if you stare at it for long enough.
Once you've seen the fullness of light, that
light of the solar lamp pales in comparison.
And that's what Paul says. You saw the law, and
it seemed like it was good. It was good. But
the amount of glory that you saw in the law,
even that was too much for you. You couldn't
even bear to look at Moses' face. Even that was
too much glory. But now he says there's even
more glory that's been revealed. That Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, has come and he's died on the
cross and he's given his life so our sins could
be forgiven. And that is the glory of God in
its fullness. So why would you use something
that pales in comparison? why would you turn
to the little flickering bulb of the law, the
little bit of glory that comes with it? Jesus
Christ has come in the fullness of God's glory.
Verse 12. Therefore, having such a hope, we use
great boldness. We are not like Moses, who used
to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites
could not stare at the end of what was fading
away. But their minds were closed. For to this
day, after the reading of the old covenant, the
same veil remains. It is not lifted because it
is set aside only in Christ. Even to this day,
whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their
hearts. But whenever a person turns to the Lord,
the veil is removed. What is he saying here?
He's saying of the Jews that they still didn't
get it when he wrote these words. And they still
don't get it today. Because the Jewish people
are not followers of Jesus Christ. They are followers
of Moses. And they will tell you that they are
followers of Moses. They are followers of the
law. That's the same problem that Paul was dealing
with. And 2 ,000 years later, it's still the
problem. is covering up Jesus Christ. They need
to remove that veil to see the glory of God,
but they don't remove that veil. When they hear
the word of Moses, they still follow the word
of Moses. They still are trying to grab a hold
of what little glory that is in the law. But
there is no more glory in the law because Jesus
Christ has come. And so long as the Jews, in
the context, and anybody else for that matter,
who tries to seek the law and tries to live by
the law and tries to be redeemed and sanctified
by the law, they are in trouble because the law
will never save them. The veil is only pulled
up. The veil is only set aside through Jesus
Christ. And that's why when Jesus Christ died
on the cross, different type of veil here, but
when Jesus Christ died on the cross, the veil
that was in the temple, that curtain in the temple
that separated the temple from the most holy
place, that's why when Jesus died, that veil
was torn in two from top to bottom. Why? Because
the old system was done. The law was done away
with because Jesus Christ has fulfilled everything
in the law. The old sacrificial system was done
away with because Jesus has been the perfect
sacrifice once and for all. And the blood of
goats and bulls was not sufficient to cover people's
sins. And so when Jesus came, it's pretty clear
through the text that Jesus has done away with
these things. But yet when Paul is writing and
the author of Hebrews is writing, it was still
a struggle for the Jewish people they still wanted
to go back to the sacrificial system Hebrews
deals with this in great detail the veil was
torn when Jesus died they must have sewed it
back up because they were still living in the
sacrificial system and they desire to today,
sadly. The Jews today still long to rebuild the
temple because they have rejected Jesus Christ.
They long today to restart the priesthood because
they have rejected the high priest who is Jesus
Christ. They long today to restart the sacrificial
system because they have rejected Jesus Christ,
the perfect sacrifice. And as such, Paul says,
a veil remains. They don't see, they don't understand,
they don't fully grasp the glory of God because
it only comes through Jesus Christ. And Paul
is making a good illustration here with the example
he gives in Moses. He's making a good point here.
Don't go back to the old ways because the hope
that we seek, the hope that we need only comes
through Jesus Christ. And the same is true for
us today. Now, we may not be people in here seeking
to rebuild a temple. We may not want to sacrifice
goats and bulls. We may not have those desires.
We may not seek to live by every letter of the
law. But perhaps there are other things in our
life that sometimes draw us away from Jesus.
Maybe there are other things in our life that
we try to find glory in, that we try to find
deliverance in. But our deliverance will only
come through Jesus Christ. And once we put our
faith and trust in Jesus Christ and we begin
to live for Him, we begin to experience the glory
of God in a whole new way. We begin to experience
the glory of God just a little bit. Just a little
bit. But whatever glory we have seen of God in
our life pales in comparison to what it will
be like on the day that we... Stand before God
on the day that we are in God's presence for
all of eternity. When we see God in the fullness
of His glory, we are not even prepared for what
that will look like. And the only way we see
that is through Jesus Christ. So let us be those
today who don't seek our own glory, who don't
seek glory for ourselves and things of the world,
but only seek the glory of God. through Jesus
Christ. Let's pray. God, we thank you for these
good words, and I pray that you would help us,
dear Lord, to listen to them, to think about
them, to, God, that your Holy Spirit would just
work with them in our lives, dear Lord, that
we would be those who would seek Jesus Christ,
that we would seek your glory, dear Lord, that
we would not seek things of this world that are
fading away, that we would not seek to be made
righteous by the law, because it's not going
to work, dear Lord. We are only made righteous
through Jesus Christ because he has fulfilled
the law in all the ways that we have failed.
So we thank you, dear Lord, for who Jesus is.
We thank you for sending him. We thank you for
loving us. We thank you for your grace. We thank
you for your mercy. And I pray, dear Lord, that
you would help us to all seek Jesus Christ and
experience your glory through him. And I ask
these things in Jesus' name. Amen.