WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:07.919 If you have a Bible, you can turn in your Bibles to Second Corinthians chapter three. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.400 2nd Corinthians chapter 3. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:16.640 This is part two. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:21.519 If you missed part one, let me give it to you in a nutshell. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:29.600 Paul had been showing the difference between two ways of living. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:34.079 One was built on adequacy that is from God. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:45.200 And the other was a life based off of or a ministry based on the old covenant. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:53.359 One is built on this, I've got this sense of I've got to prove myself to the world. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:57.920 The other is this dependency on God's at work. 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:02.799 God's already at work, trusting in the Lord. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:19.280 You'll recall that last week we saw that Paul was contrasting the old covenant letter of the law against the new covenant of grace and the Spirit. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:38.719 You remember that Paul calls the ministry, there's a way to do and claim that you're a follower of Jesus, but to do ministry in a way that is just causing death in people's lives. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:42.719 That's ministry according to the old covenant. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:54.159 And then Paul had talked about how he's doing ministry according to the new covenant, the Spirit of God bringing life into people. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:02:12.319 And so we asked the question: in our relationships with the people around us, are we engaging those relationships according to the old covenant and bringing death into the people, into other people's lives? 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:20.800 Or are we operating according to the new covenant, bringing life into the people around us? 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:23.599 That's what we looked at last week. 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:26.319 We ended at verse 11. 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:36.240 So in order in order to um catch y'all up, I'm going to start from verse 2 and read up through verse 18. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:46.159 You yourselves are our letter written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:55.680 You show that you are Christ's letter delivered by us, not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:05.759 Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts, such as the confidence we have through Christ before God. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:16.479 It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:25.120 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:29.919 For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:54.639 Now, if the ministry that brought death, chiseled on letters, in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses' face because of its glory, which was set aside, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 00:03:54.879 --> 00:04:05.360 For if the ministry that brought condemnation had glory, the ministry that brings righteousness overflows with even more glory. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:13.919 In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison, because the glory that surpasses it. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:20.319 For if what was set aside was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:26.079 Since then we have such a hope, we act with great boldness. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:37.920 We are not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadfastly until the end of the glory of what was being set aside. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:45.439 But their minds were hardened, for to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:50.560 It's not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:56.639 Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:01.439 But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:04.800 Now the Lord is that Spirit. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:08.959 And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:22.240 We all with unveiled faces are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, and we're being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:26.000 This is from the Lord who is the Spirit. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:27.839 Let's pray together. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:51.439 Father, as we look at these verses this morning, we ask that your Spirit would teach us that what Paul's talking about, the ministry of the Spirit, would happen in our lives, and that you'd write on the tablets of our hearts, and that you do that inward work in us as we come before your word. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:14.079 And I pray for each person here that your spirit, that you would just highlight one thing, maybe two, that Lord, you're wanting to show us this morning. 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:21.439 Teach us, Lord, as we sit and engage your word, as we study your word, please teach us, we pray. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:23.199 In Jesus' name. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:24.160 Amen. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:25.600 Amen. 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:54.480 What I want you to keep in mind as we go through this text is that the Spirit of God is at work not just to bear witness to your heart of the forgiveness brought to you by Jesus, but the Spirit of God is setting you free. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:07:11.680 The Spirit of God is bearing witness to this incredible, just unveiled, no longer needing to have a veil in your life, which we're gonna unpack a bit more as we go through this. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:26.639 The gospel doesn't, it doesn't just forgive you, it removes the veil, it frees you, and then you're being remade, you're being transformed. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.319 And you're in that process right now. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:45.680 If you have accepted Jesus' invitation to new life, if you've responded to the message about being saved and rescued, then you're in a relationship with God. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:47.439 What's happening? 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:51.839 Paul's describing what's happening in your life. 00:07:52.160 --> 00:08:00.160 But here's the reality: you may be forgiven by the work that Jesus did on the cross. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:15.519 You may have responded to that invitation, but you may be engaging God in the same way that the Jews who were not following Jesus, how they were responding to God. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:45.039 And so Paul's teaching, he's discipling, he's training the Corinthian church to be able to discern and recognize that there are people who say they are Christians, they say they're followers of Jesus, but their modus operandi, the way that they operate, is more like an unsaved, Jesus-rejecting Jew than it is like an actual disciple of Jesus. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:51.600 And so, with open hearts, we ask the Spirit of God this morning, discern my life. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:09:02.399 Where in my life am I following the old covenant in order to relate to God rather than following the new covenant grace of God? 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:30.639 And we want to be listening this morning for the Spirit to just point out, hey, when you had that conversation, when you were frustrated in your heart towards that person this week, when you were looking at that person that's very different from you and their lifestyle is different, and they're not yet a follower of Jesus, they're far from God, when you looked at that person, were you looking at them through the new covenant lens or the old covenant lens? 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:38.799 When you were scrolling through your social media this week, are you engaging it from a perspective of old covenant or new covenant? 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:46.879 Are you a legalist according to the letter of the law, or are you just this person overflowing with the grace of God? 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:59.360 And so Paul calls the Corinthian church to take some things from verse 11, basically nine. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:01.279 You could go back to eight. 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:07.840 You can go back all the way to eight, and he and that brings us up to verse 12. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:09.519 So let's look at that. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:17.600 You see that those of you that have gone through my teaching on inductive Bible study, you recognize this word here. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:18.799 What's that word? 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:20.879 Since. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:29.679 Since is an indication that there's logic that Paul is using to make his case. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:35.279 And he says, since then we have such a hope. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:40.559 So he's pointing backwards to this material we covered last week. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:43.279 He's saying, since we have this hope. 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:47.200 Well, the question then is, well, what's the hope he's talking about? 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:59.360 And it's this hope that we have been entrusted with the ministry of the new covenant that is more glorious than what ministry Moses had. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:06.080 Remember, the law, he says, is the ministry of condemnation and death. 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:14.879 And yet, when Moses came off the Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, his face was radiating. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:21.279 It's glowing because there's a glory that comes from this encounter with God. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:30.240 And yet the old covenant that Moses brought, the letter of the law, was limited in its capacity. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.919 It was external, not internal. 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:41.120 It judged and condemned rather than giving and authoring life. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:44.480 And it was performance-based. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.440 You do this and you'll receive this blessing. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:50.559 You do this and you'll be cursed. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:52.559 That was the ministry. 00:11:52.639 --> 00:12:00.240 Now it's from God, and God's establishing the nation of Israel, and it the law served a purpose, so it had glory. 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:10.159 But what Paul is telling the Corinthian church is you have something so much better than the new covenant that Jesus brought in. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:14.240 At the end of our service, we're going to take the bread and the cup. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:25.600 And that cup, Jesus inaugurated the night before he died, he said, This cup is the cup of the new covenant, in my blood, which is shed for you. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:36.799 The new covenant, which is, it took blood, the shedding of blood to make this covenant between heaven and earth, between you and God. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:45.840 Jesus' blood was shed so that you could be under the new covenant, not under Moses' covenant, the old covenant. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:50.000 And Paul's last week he said, This is a glorious thing. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:54.000 It has so much more glory than that of the old covenant. 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:57.759 And Paul talked about this veil that Moses would wear. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:00.480 Moses came down off the mountain. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:05.919 The Israelites see his face glowing and shining like a sun. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:07.840 And they're like, put a veil over it. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:09.759 We're freaked out by it. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:14.720 But then what happened was that the glory would fade. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:19.120 The glory would fade, but the veil would stay on Moses' face. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:21.600 Why did he keep the veil on his face? 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:28.960 He didn't want Israel to see that the glory was fading away. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:30.639 It was being done. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:35.120 So that's important for you to understand as we come into the text this morning. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:45.679 So Paul says, this is our hope in our relationships, in our marriages, as we're leading our kids and our grandkids. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:57.759 As we're doing all of our relationships, we're living in the Jesus New Covenant and have this incredible hope in relationships. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:03.120 What hope comes from the letter of the law when you're in relationships? 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:08.320 If you step into a relationship and you just have your list, your checklist. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:11.759 This is what it means to be a good person. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:14.639 You don't check all the boxes, then you're cursed. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:16.399 What kind of friendship is that? 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:18.080 What kind of parenting is that? 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.159 Maybe some of you had that kind of parent. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:23.039 Where you're always working off a checklist. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.399 And if you don't do it, man, you don't get approval. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:31.200 And you're always facing just this fear of judgment. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:34.720 But what Paul says is, no, no, no, no, no. 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:36.559 We're a people in Jesus. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:44.960 We've accepted this invitation to live in Jesus' kingdom under the new covenant, and we have this incredible hope. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:48.399 And so, what do we do? 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:53.440 What action comes from this great hope? 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:58.240 We act with great boldness. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:01.039 Act with great boldness. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:11.759 So in your relationships, there can be this foundational hope that leads to just a boldness. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.759 Now, what causes people to not be bold in relationships? 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:18.000 Fear. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:19.039 That's right. 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:26.639 Fear of disappointment, fear that you're not going to be approved of, fear that something's going to go wrong. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.759 And Paul says, hey, saints, you're under the new covenant. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:43.840 And so the way that I've worked with you, Corinthian church, is this just great boldness in my communication because God is at work. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:49.679 Some of you in work, like you're at work and you've got difficult people that you work with. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:51.919 Maybe you're not on the same page with them. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:55.679 You've got people that are just a pain, right? 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.240 Just to kind of put it how it is. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:15.679 As a follower of Jesus, you're stepping into that relationship, knowing that the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is in your presence and is at work in your world. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:19.440 That you're bringing with you the values of the kingdom of heaven. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:23.360 When you choose to turn the other cheek, God is honoring that. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:32.639 When you just decide to return good when you're treated evil, God's there in your presence. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:40.720 When wrong is done to you, you're holding back from judgment, knowing that God repays and takes vengeance. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.080 Can I tell you just a real quick story about this? 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:50.080 We have a brother who's in our church named Jude. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:51.679 Right back there. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:17:00.639 I had the privilege, I had the privilege of watching Jude two, probably about a month and a half ago. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:09.599 He came, he was over at the compassion center, he put his bag down next to this guy, and this guy blew up on Jude. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:11.839 So mad at him. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:15.039 How could you put your bag down here next to mine? 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:16.960 I don't know if you're dirty. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:19.359 I don't know if you got anything on your bag. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:22.160 Just cussing out Jude to his face. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:27.440 And Jude's like making trying to make peace, staying calm. 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:29.359 He's not responding. 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:31.200 The guy actually hit Jude. 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:36.880 And Jude's like not responding, just making peace with the guy. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:44.160 And Hudson was there, worked with him, responded to him, de-escalated the situation. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:46.160 But Jude was wronged. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:49.599 And I got to talk to Jude after the fact. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:59.519 And Jude, I don't remember exactly every word you said to me, Jude, but it was this you processed it through this Christian paradigm of like, that's not right. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:02.880 The man's not treating me right, it's injustice. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:11.039 But you responded without instead of fighting him, which this guy desperately wanted, was a fight, he responded with peace. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:16.319 And I watched that and I was so upset that this had happened to Jude. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:21.839 And I had no power to like execute justice against the guy. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:34.079 I had no ability to like right the wrong, but what had happened to him was just, it was so wrong, not just to Jude, but to everybody around, had to put up with this garbage behavior. 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:43.519 Yesterday um Friday, the guy who caused the conflict came to the compassion center and gave us a paper. 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:50.640 We opened it up, and it was a memorial invitation to that guy's death. 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:52.799 The guy died. 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:54.640 A month and a half later. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:55.920 That guy died. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.279 Yeah, he died about uh less than a week ago, I think. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.839 And I looked at that and I was sad because I knew this guy's story. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:11.839 He he had um he had anger problems, he told me he had anger problems, he regretted what he did, but he was still defensive. 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:14.720 He's a Muslim, yeah. 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:32.079 Yeah, and I I looked at that and I just appreciated the fact that Judeo engaged in that situation in a way that was honoring to Jesus, and look, you know, how God deals with another person, that's up to God. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:36.720 I think the guy got hit, it was a hit and run, and he was on a scooter and he died. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:42.240 And so that's the idea, right? 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:47.759 You all are in different settings, you're in different relationships, you've got stuff going on around you. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:49.359 We have this choice. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:52.240 Are we gonna take matters into our own hand? 00:19:52.400 --> 00:20:04.319 Are we gonna be like a Moses, bring in the ministry of death, or are we gonna trust Jesus in the way that we live, the way that we do things, right? 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:24.480 Paul is saying, when I do life, when I work with other people, I'm acting with a great boldness, not anger, not eye for an eye, but a great boldness in my communication because of this hope I have in the fact that Jesus is at work. 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:25.759 Yes, sir. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:48.880 Yeah, yeah. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:56.720 It is true, it is true, and we all make our own decisions, right, on how we're going to engage. 00:20:56.799 --> 00:21:05.279 And Paul's trying to encourage this church as you have these super apostles that are there that are trying to like trash Paul. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:06.799 Well, Paul's not there. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:17.759 It's just a messy situation, and Paul's just trying to say, hey, I want you to understand that there is, as a Jesus follower, we're doing life according to the new covenant, not according to the old covenant. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:18.960 Are you tracking? 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:22.079 We got to keep moving here because we're gonna run out of time. 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:37.599 Um in verse 9, if we go, if we were to go back to verse 9, it says that the ministry of the new covenant has more glory than that of the old covenant. 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:45.119 There are a few things that you need to know as you look at this passage. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:56.319 The first is that Paul is contrasting a ministry that is rooted in the old covenant against a ministry based in the new covenant, which I've said. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:59.279 You just need to know that that contrast is in play. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:13.839 In Paul's setting, he was writing a letter to a church he had helped establish, but in his absence, it was being stolen away by a group that sarcastically he called super apostles. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:21.519 In that setting, Paul was not territorial or envious. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:24.559 It wasn't like, oh, you belong to me. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:27.039 That's not Paul's issue. 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:35.039 Paul's not contending with this unnamed group of superapostles because he's a caddy. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:40.400 He's concerned for the spiritual health of the church. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:48.319 And he's hoping to help the Corinthian church see the issues with the superapostles' ministry. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:48.880 Okay? 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:58.640 So Paul has to figure out how to be a pastor when his very authority is being challenged. 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:00.559 That's really hard. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:13.759 If you're in a relationship that's like triangulated, it's not just you and a friend, but there's a third party there, and the relationship is being undercut by a bad influence. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:28.480 How you go about winning the argument in your friend's life without operating according to the Mosaic Old Covenant, it is challenging. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.799 It's challenging because it takes a lot of self-discipline. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:35.200 Naturally, we want to call down lightning from heaven. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:46.960 Remember the disciples who are like, just call down lightning from heaven, Jesus, and strike him dead, just like Elijah did with the bears that came out of the wilderness and mauled all the kids that were mocking Elijah. 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:56.640 No, Jesus came as a minister of peace, turning the other cheek, right? 00:23:57.519 --> 00:23:59.599 He came to bring life. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:05.839 And our calling as followers of Jesus is to bring life to the people around us. 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:08.559 The guy that died had the opportunity. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:13.119 Jude gave him the opportunity to have life. 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:16.960 He didn't take it, he didn't take it and run with it. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:28.079 But Jude did his job in provisioning a space for peace, for the kingdom of heaven, for God to be at work in his life. 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:31.119 Let's look at verses 13 and 14. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:47.119 Paul says, We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadily until the end of the glory of what was being set aside. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:48.960 Super simple, right? 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:52.799 Paul's like, that's not how we do ministry. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:59.599 In other words, when I show up, I'm not playing games with you. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:05.039 I'm not rolling like I rolled into the parking lot this morning in the Whole Foods truck. 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:07.200 But I don't have like a Rolls-Royce, right? 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:17.200 I'm not like trying to have authority or influence in your life as a pastor by being something awesome that I'm not. 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:18.079 I'm just normal. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:19.599 I'm just Josh, right? 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:22.240 No, thank you. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:30.880 If there's anything awesome, it's like the work that God has done in me is continuing to work in me. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:32.319 That's what makes you awesome, right? 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:36.640 Is that God's at work in us, and it's this, it's we're gonna see it in chapter four. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:38.799 It is a glory to behold. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:40.319 You guys are wonderful. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:42.240 I was watching you guys in your classes this morning. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:50.400 Scripture memorization and the feedback, going through the homework and wrestling with salvation and what does it mean? 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:50.960 All of it. 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:54.079 It's just like it's a beautiful thing to watch. 00:25:54.480 --> 00:26:03.759 But there's a way to be like Paul says, I'm not like Moses, but you and I have to ask the question: am I like Moses? 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:06.160 Am I like Moses? 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:13.839 Am I putting a veil over my face when I come to church or when I'm in my marriage or I'm with my kids? 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:16.000 Am I playing games? 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:24.079 Am I pretending that there's a glory behind the veil that's actually faded away a long time ago? 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:30.720 But the people around me think because of my veil, they think that glory's still there. 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:34.079 That's ministry according to the old covenant. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:37.039 You don't have to play those games. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:39.920 You've been liberated from playing games. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:48.000 You don't have to play, you don't have to pretend, like the glory that you have in your life, it's from Jesus. 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:53.039 It's not because of something spectacular that you've ginned up. 00:26:53.519 --> 00:27:04.640 So he says in verse 14, but their minds, again, still speaking of the Israelites, the Israelites' minds, they were hardened. 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:10.079 So Moses has a veil, and the Israelites' hearts got hard. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:13.759 Or their minds got hard. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:15.119 What's going on inside of them? 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:19.680 What does it mean to have to have a hardened mind or heart? 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:24.400 Nothing gets through. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:26.400 You know people like that. 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:29.680 We call them hard-headed. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:32.400 Yeah, we call them hard-headed. 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:36.160 And these Israelites were hard-headed. 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:38.240 They were impenetrable. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:49.920 Oh, God, save us from being impenetrable, blind, operating off of a glory long past has faded away. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:52.400 And just playing games with people. 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:57.519 That's not how we want to do friendships, relationships. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:02.240 Do you know how much energy it takes to keep that veil up in relationships? 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:03.200 Right? 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:10.000 Some of you are exhausted because you just got the veil up, trying to pretend, oh, there's a glory. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:12.480 Oh, yeah, yeah, there's a glory in there. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:21.119 But it's actually faded away, and you you're just doing relationships and ministry according to the old covenant. 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:24.720 But their minds were hardened, for to this day. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:28.559 So when you have this word here, right? 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:33.119 For, that is a flag word for his substantiation. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:39.599 He's going to explain to us what does it mean for them to have their hearts hardened? 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:45.759 For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:52.000 It's not lifted because it is not, it is set aside only in Christ. 00:28:52.720 --> 00:29:10.480 So the Israelites in Paul's day, they're engaged every Sabbath, even to this very day, yesterday, Jewish people gathered together and looked at the Hebrew Scriptures and said, This is the glory of God, this is the full glory of God. 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:14.640 And they have a veil over their hearts and minds. 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:21.200 They don't understand that the glory of the old covenant has faded away. 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:26.559 And it's only set aside in Christ. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:36.880 The veil gets taken away, your heart is unveiled as you accept the invitation to receive Jesus as your Savior. 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:39.440 Jesus is the veil remover. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.400 Remember when Jesus died on the cross, what happened? 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:49.759 The veil, the curtain in the temple was ripped. 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:53.759 Jesus is the one who takes away the veil. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:00.720 Let's go to verse 15. 00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:10.960 Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their hearts. 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:15.200 Listen, this theme comes up all throughout the script. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:18.319 Here Paul is repeating the word veil. 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:23.279 You can think of like a bride on her wedding day, she wears a veil. 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:30.640 You may think of like a Muslim woman who's, according to her religion, has to veil her face and cover her face. 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:36.960 Whatever image you need to make sense of this, Paul keeps using this word. 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.319 But go back to Genesis chapter 2. 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:50.559 In Genesis chapter 2, the very last verse, verse 24, it says that the man and woman were naked and unashamed. 00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:52.000 Remember that verse? 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:58.000 They run around Eden without any clothes on, and they felt like nothing was wrong. 00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:02.079 When did they feel like something was wrong? 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:03.440 When? 00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:06.960 They ate the fruit, and what does it say? 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:08.079 They were ashamed. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:14.079 They saw their nakedness, they were ashamed, and they sought to cover themselves. 00:31:14.799 --> 00:31:22.640 So this sense of veiling and covering up goes back to the very beginning of the sin story. 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:37.599 And what Jesus does, and all the ark, the redemptive ark of Scripture, talks about that Jesus takes away our filthy clothes and clothes us with robes of righteousness. 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:40.079 That's what you get in the book of Revelation. 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:49.279 We're heading to a place where the clothing is this, these beautiful garments that are appropriate to the setting. 00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:55.599 But in Hebrews it says that we now stand naked and unashamed in his presence. 00:31:56.240 --> 00:32:11.759 There are people around you that respond and use Christianity either as an instrument of revealing or as an instrument of disclosing, of covering up. 00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:18.319 Some of you play church to cover your nakedness. 00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:26.960 Some of you are doing what Paul has done, which is like Jesus has set me free from this veil. 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:29.599 The covering up of nakedness. 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:32.559 Now I don't have to worry about my shame. 00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:36.400 Now in Jesus I'm a liberated person. 00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:38.799 Let's go to verse. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:45.200 Well, here's Genesis 2, 24 and 3, 6, and 7. 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:49.920 They're ashamed. 00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:52.480 Right? 00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:53.440 They're ashamed. 00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:57.680 They're trying to cover it up because of their rebellion. 00:32:57.839 --> 00:32:59.359 Sowing fig leaves together. 00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:01.599 They made coverings for themselves. 00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:07.440 The gospel doesn't, again, it just doesn't, it doesn't just forgive you. 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:14.000 Like when we talk about coming to Jesus, some of you have not yet stepped in, you haven't received Jesus. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:15.920 You haven't received that invitation. 00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:19.440 And that's your next spiritual step that you need to take. 00:33:19.599 --> 00:33:21.519 And the door's wide open. 00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:22.400 We don't know. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:26.079 Are you going to die next month, like the guy we were talking about with Jude? 00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:27.279 I don't know. 00:33:27.599 --> 00:33:36.160 But I'm always surprised at how many people we do know that have come here have passed away sooner than I realized they would. 00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:38.720 But you have that open door in front of you. 00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:42.559 You have to make your own personal decision on receiving Christ. 00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:55.920 But Jesus is not just about your forgiveness of sins, it's that removing of the veil, it's this freedom, and it's the remaking of you. 00:33:56.079 --> 00:33:59.359 Let's keep going so we can see these two more pieces. 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:00.720 Verse 16. 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:07.200 Whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:09.599 Can I ask, think about this for a second? 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:15.679 What does he mean when he says, turns to the Lord? 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:17.039 Yeah. 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:18.800 Become born again. 00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:20.559 Become born again. 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:21.280 Right. 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:27.760 And you guys in your class this morning, you were talking about this process of salvation. 00:34:27.920 --> 00:34:29.920 What does salvation mean? 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:35.920 What are some of the words, what are some of the actions that we do to respond? 00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:40.159 Here the word is turn to Jesus. 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:42.159 What other words do we use? 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:43.920 What? 00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:46.159 Repent, right? 00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:54.000 Repent is I'm going in this direction, and now I'm going to go back, I'm going to change the orientation that I'm going, and I'm going to head towards Jesus. 00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:55.760 That's repentance, right? 00:34:55.840 --> 00:34:58.639 I'm turning from living for myself, turning toward Jesus. 00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:00.079 What's another word that we use? 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:00.960 Surrender. 00:35:01.920 --> 00:35:02.559 Surrender. 00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:03.519 That's a great word. 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:03.840 Yeah. 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:07.199 I'm going to surrender, living my life my way. 00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:10.639 I'm willing to let Jesus win in my life. 00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:11.519 What's another one? 00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:14.639 Okay, he's going to take over my life. 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:16.000 Yeah, that's another one. 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:17.519 Trust. 00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:18.800 That's the one I was looking for. 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:20.719 Trust, believe. 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:29.119 I'm going to believe in Jesus that he is able to save me, and the work that he did on the cross is sufficient for me. 00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:37.199 All of those words are the same activity moving you from death to life. 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:41.360 Have you, listen, think about this deeply for a second. 00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:46.480 If you don't hear anything else, have you turned to the Lord? 00:35:48.639 --> 00:35:56.800 Because if you have not yet turned to the Lord, you are not yet saved from your sins. 00:35:57.039 --> 00:36:00.320 The Bible says you're living in the kingdom of darkness. 00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:02.639 You're separated from God. 00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:08.079 You're going to be eternally separated from him when you die. 00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:13.440 You're not in a good place, but that's the bad news. 00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:17.920 Jesus came so that you could be rescued from that. 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:26.480 And when you turn to your life to him, you turn towards him, you will be forgiven, saved, set free. 00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:30.559 He's going to keep going on what happens when you turn to the Lord. 00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:33.760 The first thing is that the veil is removed. 00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:41.440 You're no longer like the Israelites, where you're blinded, the veil is up in front of your eyes. 00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:44.719 The veil is taken away from your heart. 00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:51.599 When you and I turn to Jesus, you were given a new capacity to see spiritual things. 00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:53.039 Did you know that? 00:36:53.679 --> 00:36:55.039 That's huge. 00:36:55.679 --> 00:37:00.320 Some of you went through school and learned that maybe you have a low IQ. 00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:07.039 Maybe your life reflects that maybe you're not the sharpest pencil in the box. 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:07.679 Right? 00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:08.639 That's like me. 00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:10.880 I'm not the sharpest pencil in the box. 00:37:10.960 --> 00:37:13.039 I'm kind of making my way along. 00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:20.159 But here's the thing: spiritually, when you turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:28.559 You have a capacity to see spiritual things that you could not see previous to turning to the Lord. 00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:31.760 That's a dynamic, it's a reality. 00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:34.320 It's not that you didn't go to a class to get that. 00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:42.800 It's God does this in you because Christ has paid for this on the cross. 00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:56.559 Verse 17, now the Lord, the Lord that takes away the veil, that Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 00:37:57.119 --> 00:37:59.840 So we went from being unveiled. 00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:02.960 Now Paul's talking about freedom. 00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:13.760 We've gone from Paul saying that I have this great hope, and so I'm operating, I'm acting with great boldness. 00:38:14.559 --> 00:38:28.239 So there's a number of what we call downstream effects, symptoms of coming to Jesus. 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:30.079 And this is another one. 00:38:30.639 --> 00:38:37.599 You engage, you turn to the Lord, and you are free. 00:38:38.159 --> 00:38:40.880 What's the freedom that he's talking about? 00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:44.320 Free of stress? 00:38:44.480 --> 00:38:50.239 Is that do you think Paul in this chapter is talking about freedom from stress? 00:38:51.199 --> 00:38:53.599 You're free from condemnation, okay? 00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:57.519 Free from the old covenant. 00:38:58.320 --> 00:38:59.920 That's very good. 00:39:02.880 --> 00:39:05.199 Free to walk in newness of life. 00:39:05.440 --> 00:39:06.079 Yeah. 00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:14.719