WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.160 Good morning, friends, family. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:04.400 Nice to see so many of you this morning. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:13.679 Russ, our pastor, who's typically up here on Sunday mornings, he is away with Christy and the girls, and they're enjoying a little bit of an extended holiday break. 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:19.120 So they'll return next week and we'll pick up the season of Advent and potentially some more in Acts as well. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.760 So if you don't know me, uh my name is Josh Teague. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:25.519 I'm just a member here at the church. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:29.039 Um to give you a little background of where I'm coming from, I'm married to my wife Lauren. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:35.039 We live here in Marietta, and we've got four girls, ages eight and under. 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:41.200 And people will often ask, you know, what is it like to have a family full of girls? 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:42.640 Give me a little glimpse of that. 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:44.079 I've got two boys or a boy and a girl. 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:45.600 What's it like to have four of a kind? 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:46.719 Is the question. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:49.359 And there's a few ways we can answer it. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:57.520 Typically, I'll say, like you know, like any house of a family at our stage in life, you know, there's dancing, there's laughter. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:59.840 Uh I get compliments, which is quite nice. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:01.359 You look so handsome, Daddy. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:03.679 That's that's a very good thing to say. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:05.680 I'm gonna repeat that for them here today. 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:07.200 Um, so that's great. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:09.040 We also have a bit of crying. 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:10.400 We deal with crying. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.840 Poor girls, there's a lot of tears, buckets of tears. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:25.519 Um but Lauren pointed out to me that there's a bit of a dynamic where where we have one of our daughters crying in the house, there will inevitably be another one crying elsewhere. 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:28.159 They have a bit of a mysterious connection between them. 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:31.920 You know, one can be upstairs in a room crying because of an issue. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:34.799 There'll be another one even outside having an issue. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:35.920 They have this thing going on. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:38.879 So we work out our feelings in our households. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:39.840 It's just a thing. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:41.599 Um, makes us unique, I think. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:44.000 So anyway, happy Thanksgiving. 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:49.439 Uh I'll be honest that this Thanksgiving, I am grateful that this is not my normal day job. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:50.799 I'll be honest to say that. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:55.599 I I am very grateful to be an elder here and serve and get to know so many of you in various ways. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:02:02.319 Um, but then I step back and consider that this is actually just one of the roles that Russ takes on week in and week out. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:03.840 Preaching is just one thing he does. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:05.439 He does it every single week. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:12.879 So um, you know, he's doing counseling with couples, individuals, working through family issues, relational things. 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:18.560 He's shepherding our student ministry as well, so he's working with people of all ages, all stages of life. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:20.639 Um he's shepherding us as a church. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:22.879 You know, where is God stretching us? 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:24.159 Where do we need to be stretched? 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:25.919 Where do we need to be resting in Christ? 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:27.039 Those kinds of things. 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:28.080 He's fundraising. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:30.800 All that kind of stuff is going on in a week, and I just have to do this. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:32.479 And this was a lot. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:38.240 Um but anyway, I am very grateful to explore uh the gospel with everybody this morning. 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:40.080 Um, so we've got a lot to get into. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:44.080 Uh, in your bulletin, you'll see the main text that we'll be pivoting around this morning. 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:52.800 We're gonna be centered in on 2 Corinthians 3, but we're gonna flip around, and so you'll your nose will be probably a little bit deeper in your Bibles as we kind of pivot around it. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:55.039 Um see if your phone's with you, that'll be helpful as well. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:56.960 Because we'll look at some other passages. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:05.280 Let me start with 2 Corinthians 3, uh, verses 4 through 6, and then we'll pray, and then we'll go in through the sermon. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:06.960 The word of the Lord. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.960 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:13.439 We have confidence in Christ. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:20.960 Because of the work he did here on earth, living the perfect life for us, dying the death that we don't have to. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:23.039 We now, because of him, we have confidence. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:25.120 And where do we get to direct that confidence? 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:26.080 To God. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:28.960 Without him, we don't have confidence in facing God. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:29.520 We don't have that. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:35.680 So that's something that we, in our unique period in time, we have that benefit to us, that grace to us. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:36.960 He goes on. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:41.599 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:42.639 We have nothing. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:44.560 We bring nothing to the table. 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:51.280 But our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant. 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:52.800 We're gonna talk about what that means to be. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:55.120 What in the world does that mean, ministers of the new covenant? 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:56.479 We're gonna look at that this morning. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:01.039 Not of the letter, this is the law, but of the spirit. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:05.840 For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:07.520 Let me pray for us. 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.240 God, thank you for this morning. 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:13.840 I thank you for this church you've given to us. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:21.279 I thank you, Lord, that your word reveals to us that it is in you, in your son, Lord, that we have our confidence. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:26.240 It's in you, Lord, where we have our sufficiency, not in ourselves. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:27.519 Thank you for that grace. 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:30.000 Thank you for this new covenant, Lord. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:37.199 I pray that you reveal what that means to us, Lord, corporately as a church and as individuals, Lord, this morning. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:42.160 Thank you that we have the Spirit, Lord, is writing directly to our hearts. 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:45.519 And no longer, Lord, are you writing to stone tablets, Lord? 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:46.959 Thank you for that grace. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:51.120 Thank you, Lord, that you've gone further and you've made us ministers of a new covenant. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:52.639 Thank you for that, Lord. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:57.120 And lastly, we'll thank you that your spirit is with us and that you are alive. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:04:58.959 And that, Lord, you're ministering to us. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:04:59.680 Thank you for that. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:00.720 Jesus' name. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:01.439 Amen. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:07.680 Okay, so what is the big picture here in 2 Corinthians 3? 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:08.240 What is Paul? 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:09.839 Paul's writing this letter to his church. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:12.959 What is he trying to express with this text? 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:18.800 At a high level, Paul is contrasting the glory of the Old Testament, and there was glory there. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:20.879 We're going to look, what in the world, like there was glory there? 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:21.360 We know that. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:23.920 We look at Moses' the stories, there's lots of glory there. 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:30.319 And he's saying there was glory there, and yet it pales in comparison to the glory that we live in today. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:33.199 We look back as those as kind of like the glory days, right? 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.560 All the stories of Moses and the people leaving Egypt out of captivity. 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:38.480 You know, the Red Sea was parting. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:40.639 We look at those as kind of the glory days. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:44.240 But Paul is saying that we have something so much greater. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:49.759 And this passage for me just tends to be one of my personal all-time favorites. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:56.000 I love how it tells the story of the relationship between God and Moses. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:01.439 The relationship between Moses and the people that he was bringing out of captivity. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:04.240 And then the relationship between the people and God. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:07.759 It was a very, very rich relationship they had there. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.360 And yet Paul says, we have so much more. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:14.079 Because what we have today is eternal. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:16.639 We'll look at that a bit. 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:22.720 And I just love kind of mentally just swimming back and coming back in every scripture and just kind of bringing it back to this. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:24.800 It just tends to be helpful for me personally. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:30.959 The core of Paul's message here is summarized in verses 9 through 11. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:31.600 I'll read it. 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:34.560 This is really the crux of everything, is what Lauren read. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:42.160 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:50.240 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:56.480 For what if was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:02.959 So he's saying the new covenant, what we have today, completely eclipses the old. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:04.079 Completely. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:05.680 Let me read the verses that follow. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:07.040 We'll stop at verse 13. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:08.560 It's in your bulletin. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.800 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:14.399 Not like Moses. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:20.800 And I love how he just kind of drags Moses right under the bus. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:24.879 I mean, I never read or read it that way until I was doing it for studying this. 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:28.879 He just totally is like, you know, we have hope and we have boldness. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:30.240 Not like Moses. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:31.199 Like that. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:33.839 Like we look at Moses like Moses, like the prophet. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:35.680 Oh my goodness, I want to meet Moses. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:39.279 And he's saying we have hope and a boldness that he didn't have. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:41.120 So that's something I think. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:42.639 Not like Moses. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:44.959 And you don't you just know Moses is like in heaven? 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:46.079 Like, why did you write that? 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:48.639 Like, what in the world? 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:50.079 Thanks. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:59.519 So, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:07.600 So, the glory of the new covenant, it gives us hope and it gives us boldness. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:12.000 These are new things that we can, we can, that God that God has given us. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:15.920 So, what is Paul talking about here with this veil, though? 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:16.639 Can we go back? 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:20.959 He's hearkening back to a story that he knew and the Jewish people knew very well. 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:27.600 Let's pop back in our Bibles to Exodus 34, and we'll start in verse 29. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:30.399 And as you go in there, I'll give you the brief backstory here. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:43.200 Is that Moses had, again, a special position among the people of Israel, where he would meet with God in person, he would meet with God and bring back messages and prophetic words to the people. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:51.120 Among the most significant things that Moses brought back were, of course, the Ten Commandments, the first inkling of the law, Capital L law. 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:57.840 And this law, at a high level, it says, you know, by your performance you will be found righteous. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:04.320 And of course, we know that the real meaning of the law is we'll talk about, Paul points out, the real meaning of the law is that we cannot uphold that. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:06.960 We are crushed by the law. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:10.480 And so we need, not ourselves, we know we can't do it. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:14.000 The law is too high of a thing, so we need a savior. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:16.399 That's the meaning of the law. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:19.200 And we'll read on in verses 29. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:26.000 When Moses came down from the Mount Sinai, now he was coming back with the Ten Commandments, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:33.679 As he came down to the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:35.200 His face is shining. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:37.360 Aaron was Moses' brother. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:45.600 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:52.879 They were thinking, oh my goodness, Moses, I know you've got something in your hand there, but you don't realize your face is a shining woe. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:53.840 Something's going on here. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:55.600 This is a miraculous thing that's happening. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:56.799 You don't even know it. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:10.240 What I understand that to me is that when we spend our time, when we spend our time gazing at God, being with him, looking at him, being in his presence, just being in his presence. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.039 His glory reflects off of us. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:16.240 He's so glorious that it just reflects off of us. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:23.600 In the case of Moses here, the glory of God literally reflected off of his body, off of his face. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:25.840 And this, I think, is what Paul is saying. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:27.919 This is what it means to be ministers of the new covenant. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:36.159 It just simply means to rest and go to God, spend your time gazing at God, understanding him, finding the glory, sitting under his majesty. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:37.200 That is what it means. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:40.159 Because then the result is people see that. 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:41.519 It's inevitable. 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:42.320 People will see that. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:44.799 They'll see, and your spirit is changing, your heart is changing. 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:47.440 There's change happening just by being in his presence. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:50.720 Our bodies and our spirit are changing. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:56.399 We're transformed into God's image by looking and gazing into his glory. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:57.279 This is what it means. 00:10:57.440 --> 00:10:59.840 The whole New Testament because about, you know, being like Christ. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:01.519 What does it mean to be like Christ? 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.080 It means to be with Him. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:06.000 And He reflects off of us. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:07.120 That's it. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:12.720 This is why we talk about Jesus at this church every single week, because we just want to know Him. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:19.840 And we know that by looking in Him, our hearts are transformed as God's name is made great, which is the whole goal of this whole thing. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:32.320 Paul repeats this many times in all of his letters, and he says in 2 Corinthians 4 that the life of Jesus, no way puts it, the life of Jesus will be manifested in our bodies. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:40.240 As an outward expression of Jesus living, and he is living, as an outward expression of that in our bodies by being with him. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:48.080 Now, maybe you look at this story of Moses and Aaron and you say, you know, it's not always great to put yourself in the middle of the scripture. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:49.440 Like, well, how do I relate to this? 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:52.320 But in this case, you know, maybe you're remembering, maybe, maybe you relate to Aaron. 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:58.399 Maybe there's somebody in your life you look towards and you think, my goodness, this is a person that that that there's something special about this person. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:04.000 Or maybe you're like uh Moses, uh, you know, has has your face ever shined? 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:06.000 Has your face ever shined? 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:07.600 Can you relate to Moses? 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:09.279 Uh mine has. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:14.000 And I'll I'll tell you how uh my face has shined. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:16.879 Uh it was the day of my wedding. 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:23.600 Uh Lauren walked down the aisle uh veiled, as tradition would have it. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:26.799 And my face is not shining in the beaming sense. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:28.879 Like this is a different kind of shining. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:37.679 Uh she removed her veil, and she saw the upper part of my face was a bit shinier than usual. 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:43.440 And uh her pupils dilated as we're up there. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:46.559 That's the that's the that's the end of the story. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:48.559 Back up about six hours. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:54.720 So, six hours earlier, I made a horrible error, a horrible personal error. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:13:00.720 I awoke that morning and suddenly decided to take notice of my own personal appearance, because this is your wedding day. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:07.600 You know, I never cared for this, I never cared for my appearance, but of all days, to look good, your wedding day is probably the right day to start trying. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:14.559 Uh so uh I looked in the mirror as I was getting ready, combing my hair, and I noticed my eyebrows. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:15.919 I'm looking at my eyebrows. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:19.279 Okay, never noticed those before. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:23.200 I could probably make that look a little better. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:28.960 Um so I took some tweezers, which I happened to have. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:29.759 I don't know where they came from. 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:32.399 I had some tweezers and I started tweezing my eyebrows. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:36.240 Uh and then I proceeded to shave around them. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:43.279 And then cut with scissors the spots that needed help. 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:48.000 By the time I was done, I looked like a monster. 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:52.639 I mean, sh just chunks of eyebrow gone. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:54.559 It's like, no hope. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:59.840 Uh we lived over here off uh in the in the Brumby lost at the time. 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:04.639 So in in a panic, I lived there, I ran up to Hair by the Square. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:06.240 I think it's still there. 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:11.279 Uh I'd never known what was other, I'd never noticed it, but I went I in a panic, I called Hare by the Square. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:12.879 I was like, I'm coming to see you. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:22.240 I walked in and they immediately saw, like, what in the world has this man done? 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:34.720 Um and they went into emergency repair mode, uh, waxing, sculpting, and the ch putting in makeup, literal makeup, were the spots I had totally blown in. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:46.159 Uh so by the end of it, my forehead was like a shining city on a hill, just red, it looked awful. 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.679 But it looked better than you know the monster I was a moment ago. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:51.519 Uh it just reflected everything, though. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:54.240 Just like, oh my god, this is just so bad. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:15:04.159 So uh in a perfect alignment with scripture, when Lauren removed her veil, she saw my bright shining face. 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:05.759 She saw it. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:13.039 And I in that moment wanted to then take her veil and put it over my head as a bit of a, you know. 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:16.000 So I'm like, I understand Moses' motivation here. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:16.799 I get it. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:18.159 I get what he's going through. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:19.919 Who wants to see that? 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:28.720 Uh so I had to, you know, I wanted her veil then to cover my shame and just complete uh overworking of trying to correct myself. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:30.879 Um anyway, I can relate to Moses. 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:33.759 Let me uh let's just keep going in scripture, though. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:39.519 Let's jump down to Exodus 30 uh verses 33 here. 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:44.240 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:47.039 It's after he's speaking with God. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:49.519 He put a veil over his face. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:56.159 Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:04.159 So he goes to see the Lord, the veil comes off, it's God and Moses, he leaves the Lord's presence, the veil comes back on. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:15.200 And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, and that the skin of his face was shining, and Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with him. 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:17.120 And I want to point out this happens repeatedly. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:18.399 This is not like a one-time thing. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:22.639 This didn't happen just the first time he went to the moat to the mountain to get the to get the Ten Commandments. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:24.000 This happened every time he went with the Lord. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:25.519 That's what Exodus is saying. 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:26.720 There was a pattern here. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.480 It's not just a one-time miraculous thing. 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:30.639 So look, we have this as well. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:38.080 Um, how can we interpret the meaning and the purpose of this veil? 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:47.279 According to this passage and what Paul is saying, I think there's probably a few ways that we can understand what that means. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:53.600 Uh, one, I think the veil, according to Paul at least, the veil in Moses' case represents fear and hopelessness. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:58.559 He said, we have a fear, we don't have fear, and we had he has a hopelessness as well. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:03.120 He was hiding the outcome of the glory fading off of his face. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:07.200 And Moses, according to Paul, didn't want that to be shown to the people. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:09.680 He wanted them to think the glory was ever present. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:12.799 But he knew that the glory was fading as he would leave God's presence. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:16.480 Uh the veil, of course, literally represents a separation. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:19.839 It's something between us and our people, us and God. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:22.319 It represents a hidden truth. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:26.319 The idea that we have something that we're hiding and we want to cover it. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:31.440 And perhaps as a result of all these, uh, the veil represents even shame. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:37.119 So, where else in Scripture do we find these themes? 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:39.119 Well, they're actually all through scripture. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:44.480 If you read any of the Bible, you'll find these themes all through it, because this is what the gospel saves us from. 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:49.839 Um let's read one example in Genesis 3, 7 through 8. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:57.920 Of course, this is Adam and Eve, they're in the garden, and uh they had had perfect relationship with God, but they had sinned. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:17:59.839 This is what we'll pick up in verse 7. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.480 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were naked. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:10.799 And they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths, they're covering themselves. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:21.519 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:29.599 So where there was once no shame, no covering, nakedness between us and God, he knew us, we knew him. 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:32.480 We ourselves build a separation. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:34.880 Um, we build a barrier to our true selves. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:44.720 And we find out later, this is a whole other, I think Russ pointed this out this out to me back in September, out to all of us, that God, God Himself then fashioned a covering for them. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:49.039 A grace, he showed them grace by fashioning a better covering for them. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:50.400 And that took a sacrifice. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:55.920 Of course, we know that there's a sacrifice coming down the road in the work of Jesus. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:04.799 But these themes of fear, hiding, uh, separation, and shame, again, these are what the gospel saves us from. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:05.440 This is why we're here. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:07.200 That's why we celebrate the gospel. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:10.960 Back in 2 Corinthians, we'll pick up there. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:12.960 Paul goes on. 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:15.440 But their minds were hardened. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:22.400 For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.759 Because only through Christ is it taken away. 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:31.839 Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:41.680 This is Paul's repeating what I said earlier, which is he's saying here that the true meaning of the law is veiled to the minds of unbelievers, Jewish, Gentile people alike. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:45.839 It's veiled to us until Jesus, until we see Jesus. 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:47.680 He removes the veil. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:54.079 The imagery here is just so stark. 00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:59.599 But when one turns to the Lord, verse 16, the veil is removed. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:08.319 So just as when Moses removed the veil when he met with the Lord, he took the veil off, the veil is removed when we meet with Jesus. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:12.960 And friends, as followers of Jesus, uh, the veil is gone. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:14.480 The veil is gone. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:16.000 And we can celebrate that. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:18.720 Uh let's finish reading 2 Corinthians 3. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:25.440 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:35.839 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:38.799 For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:42.559 In closing, I want us to look at the cross. 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:52.799 The New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke each document a series of miraculous things happening right at the moment that Christ died on the cross. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:58.720 Matthew 27, it says, And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:08.880 And then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earthquaked, and rocks were split. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:16.720 So as we review here, we have a veil in the garden covering our shame, covering our fear. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:21.680 We have the veil of Moses hiding our fear and our hopelessness. 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:31.519 The temple veil, which is again a literal separation between us and the throne of God, only the special, you know, the holiest of holies, a special place you don't have access to. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:33.440 That's a physical veil. 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:40.400 And Paul's saying we have a veil over our hearts and minds in today's age unless until we turn to Jesus, until Jesus saves us. 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:48.640 So, as believers, though, all these veils, the literal ones, the metaphorical ones over our hearts and minds, they have been removed. 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:51.519 So we can boldly approach the throne. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:54.960 Jesus loves you. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.119 He loves us so, so much. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:07.119 Like Moses, let us spend our time with him so that we may reflect God's infinite glory. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:11.599 But unlike Moses, let us do it boldly. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:19.200 Because of the everlasting spirit that is indwelling us, indwelling our very bodies through the person and the work of Jesus. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:20.720 And pray for us. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:23.839 God, thank you for this morning. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:26.160 Thank you, Lord, that you are alive. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:30.960 I thank you that your spirit is indwelling our bodies, Lord. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:38.640 You are only you're not only covering us, Lord, with your blood, you are inside of us, Lord, and you are working on our hearts, transforming us, Lord. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:42.559 God, I thank you for your word that it's true. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:44.400 For the words of Paul here. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:52.079 And God, I ask that your word continue to transform us individually and corporately as a church here in Marietta. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:54.240 Lord, let us seek your will first in all things. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:55.440 In Jesus' name, amen.