The Fragrance of Christ | Rev. Paul Lawler

The Apostle Paul says every Christian carries a fragrance. Some smell life, yet others smell death. What does that mean, and how does the Spirit remove the veil so we can truly see Christ?

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Transcript

[0:18] Let me invite you to open your Bible, 2 Corinthians 2, and I'm going to read

[0:23] verses 14 into chapter 3, verse 18. If you have a Bible with you, I would encourage you to keep it open. We're going to reference, there's a lot happening here. So hear the word of God. I'll begin in verse 14, chapter 2. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one a fragrance from death to death, to another fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again, or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts to be known and read by all. And you know that you are a letter from Christ delivered from us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.

[1:34] Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be 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 of death carved in letters on stone came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since we have such hope, we are very bold, 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.

[2:43] But their minds were hardened. For this day, when they read the Old Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses had read, a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 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. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Now, church family, as we go into this time of teaching, there are a couple of things I wanna validate. One, we're going to go probably to about 1210 today. And if you've got to leave right at 12, just wanna give you liberty that I won't judge you. I can't speak for anyone else, but I won't judge you.

[3:35] But I wanna validate that because I wanna invite you to stay locked in. Second thing I want to validate is that in this passage, there's some details that I want to be faithful covering before we get to the ministry of the Word

[3:50] where the Apostle Paul takes us in this passage. So as always, we need God's help. So would you bow your heads and let's pray for a moment.

[4:05] So God, you've put a call on this church family, and that is to bring you glory and to make disciples of Jesus Christ among all peoples. And God, as we're seeking to be faithful, we've established some audacious goals of every person being engaged in discipleship in some form. And we've set goals of every person being on mission with one or more of our mission partners in the city and around the world. And God, we can't get there in our own power. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's where the Apostle Paul in this text takes us today. And so Lord, as we journey through this text as an act of worship, we call upon you to help us.

[4:58] Come alongside us and enlighten your word. Grow your family. Develop your church that you've bought with your own life at a cross. And we pray this in the name and power of Jesus. Amen.

[5:13] Now, church family, we pick up where, as Josh covered so beautifully last week, Pastor Josh, that the Corinthians are a little bit out of shape because the Apostle Paul did not come to them as quickly or as timely in person as he had first expressed. And, you know, he shares in the previous text how the enemy had kind of interfered with his travel schedule. And so the Corinthians have gotten a little bit out of shape in light of the delay.

[5:43] And what Paul does in these passages right here that we've read this morning, there's a sense in which he's saying to the people of God, does it really matter particularly in light of what God in Christ has done in your life and continues to do that I've run a little bit late? In fact, has the fact that I've been delayed a little bit, not getting to you as soon as I desire to get to you, is that so consequential that it negates

[6:11] what and all that God has God has done in your lives through Jesus Christ. And what Paul does with the Corinthians as he's reasoning with them.

[6:19] He lifts up three primary images in reasoning. And one image that he lifts up is something that most of us are not familiar with, a triumphal procession. And we're going to talk about that in a moment. He also lifts up the image of a written letter. And he does this because Paul had written to them 1 Corinthians. He had also written to them a letter that was a harder letter that we do not have a copy of. And then he's written this letter that we do have a copy of. And in light of that, he uses a letter as a metaphor to the true letter that he's written. And that is what Jesus has done in transforming their lives. And then he uses a third metaphor. he uses the image of Moses with an unveiled face coming down off Mount Sinai and after being in the Lord's presence, which is so transformative that his face glows. And he has to put a veil on so that people can be in his presence after he's been in the presence of God. Two of the metaphors are to help the people of God remember. The last metaphor is.

[7:31] Paul teaching the people of God a pathway for their own transformation. Take note of that because we're going to see that it's highly relevant for us in the present tense. So first he uses this image of a triumphal procession. So let's ask a logical question.

[7:50] What is a triumphal procession? Why is he using this as a metaphor for us and for the Corinthians? Well, a triumphal procession was utilized in Rome when a leader, a general, had conquered a land. And when he conquered a land, to meet the criteria, this is a little morbid, he had to have slain at least 5,000 soldiers of the enemy. And the triumphal procession, when it would come into Rome, it was led by the senators and magistrates of Rome. It was followed by trumpeters who would play music and then pause and give voice to the glories of the battles that had been won. And then there was a big display in the parade of all the spoils of war, gold, silver, paintings, precious metals, emeralds, on and on and so forth. Then there was a section of the parade that offered sacrifices. There would be incense burning, rose petals that were dropped along the pathway. They would pause and offer sacrifices to Roman gods.

[9:03] And all this created a very sweet aroma as the parade passed by. Then the parade contained... The captives, prisoners of war, they were in chains. Then the bodyguards of the general who had led the battle, then the general himself. Now, some of you, in the sound of my voice, have been to Rome, and you've been in the old city of Rome, and you have seen the Arch of Titus. Could we put that on the screen, tech team? Some of you've walked under this, you've walked around it. And the Arch of Titus was actually commemorating a triumphal entry that took place in Rome.

[9:44] Incidentally, it was the triumphal entry that commemorates the victory of Titus when he attacked Jerusalem in 70 CE. In fact, if you look inside this arch, you will see this inscription in which in the triumphal entry, they're holding the candlestick from the holy place, not the most holy place, but the holy place inside the temple in Jerusalem. They're parading it as a part of the spoils of war as they go into Jerusalem. So this is the metaphor that Paul is using, and he's sharing that incense would be offered on the route, flower petals were crushed underfoot. This released a sweet aroma, and he's sharing this metaphor, and this metaphor is a picture of the second coming of Christ for the people at Corinth and for us, that one day as believers, when the return of Christ happens, we will be led in a triumphal entry,

[10:50] not a literal one, a symbolic one, where Christ is the general. He is the king, king of kings and lord of lords, and he will redeem his people. And as he redeems his people, we will be led in victory as Christ's book of Revelation crushes every foe under his feet. Now, we also note that in this passage, we'll be led in victory.

[11:14] Paul says that there's an aroma, and this aroma is the aroma symbolically that Christians bring to the culture, that you are the aroma of Christ. But you may have noticed in the text, not everybody smells the aroma in the same way. Look with me at verse 16, verse chapter 2, for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one, a fragrance from death to death. From another, a fragrance from life to life. So to those who are being saved, gospel is a fragrance for life to life. For those that the gospel irritates them, they're perishing, they reject it from death to death.

[12:01] I remember, as I've shared with you from time to time, two guys at the University of Alabama that had a real influence on my life before I became a Christian. I remember that I found what God had done in their life to be appealing. It was attractive. I was not a Christian yet. But I also remember other guys at the frat house who would mock them, who would make fun of them. And so it represents what Paul's talking about right here. To some people, when they're around a Christ follower, this is a pleasing aroma. It's a beautiful thing. And for others who reject the reality of God in Christ and his redemption, Paul's sharing that it's not a pleasing aroma. But what I do want you to catch is this reality. We've made the statement sometime that I sense something different about that person.

[12:59] Remember that your sense of smell is one of the five senses, and Paul is using this as a metaphor to help us understand that your walk with Christ should be so effectual that it stirs what other people sense about you. I sense his life is different. I sense her life is different. She He doesn't get entangled in menial things. She keeps her eyes on the greater. He demonstrates a different character than the other people at my office or in the workplace or in the neighborhood or at the club. They're different. I sense something different about them. And that's the picture that Paul is sharing as he paints this picture of the triumphal perception.

[13:50] And Paul asks the question, as we're all stewarding these very sacred things, who is sufficient for these things?

[13:57] He says in verse 17, for we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word. He's acknowledging that there are persons then and there are persons today that preach the gospel with wrong motives, that do it for some reason like they're going to get personal gain from it. And he's sharing that he and his team are men of sincerity as commissioned by God, and he speaks these things in the sight of God as he speaks and lifts up Christ. That's the metaphor of the triumphal procession. Second metaphor, we're going to spend just a moment here to be faithful to the text, where Paul uses the metaphor of letters. Why does he do this? Why?

[14:39] Well, remember, there have been three letters, and one of those letters was very hard. And so the people at Corinth, it's been hard for some of them. And Paul is sharing with them, put your eyes on a greater letter. Listen to the text, preceding verse 3. Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts to be known and read by all. And you know that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us. Look at this. Written not by ink or with ink, but with the spirit of the living God. And what Paul's lifting up is the reality that God has done a work in your hearts.

[15:26] And this is proof of God working among you. That the greater letter is not what I've written to you. The greater letter doesn't come in your mailbox. The greater letter comes when you look in the mirror and you reflect on what you were before you came to know Jesus and what you are now.

[15:50] And so Paul reasons with them that there's a greater letter that's been written, not with a hand, but with the ink of the Holy Spirit. And as he's laying this groundwork of reminding them of this image of the triumphal entry, Because you're in Christ, there's a day where you're going to be victorious at a level beyond what you've imagined. No matter what trial that you have or are walking through, that you're walking in hope because hope is alive and his name is Jesus. He's now sharing, take note of the reality that your life has been changed because of Christ's.

[16:27] Then he kicks it into high gear. He's not in high gear yet. He's about to get in high gear. He gets in high gear and begins to reason with them. He begins rationalizing with them about something that's very important that they're overlooking as believers, something that's historically significant, impactfully significant, life-changing significant. So I'm going to give you the principle that he shares, and then we'll unpack it together. Here it is. He reasons with them that it's not just a matter of what you are, but when you are. I know that's really strange language. We'll unpack it. It's not just a matter of whose you are. We want to make much of that,

[17:07] but it's a matter of when you are. Because now, as you read the text, you followed along this morning, Paul begins contrasting people who were alive during the Old Covenant and the Corinthian church in all of us who are now alive under the new covenant. And he begins painting a picture in the emerging verses when he asks this question in verse 8 in chapter 3, will not the ministry of the Holy Spirit be even more glorious than anything we knew in the old covenant?

[17:43] You are alive, Corinthian church, at a limited time in history. Same thing, you Christ church, you are alive in a period of history that is a window of time. This window of time that we're in is referred to as the new covenant. The new covenant is described as a period where God will put his law within our hearts, will no longer be transformed by some type of outward conformity, but by the work of the Holy Spirit in us. God, in this age that we're living in, will give his people a new heart and a new spirit inside of you. It's no longer the law coming at you from the outside to conform you. It's God dwelling in you. God declared in this specific age that God would remove a heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, a heart that's pliable, moldable, shapeable, transformable because of the presence of Christ in our lives and the means of grace working in our lives. This was prophesied in Ezekiel in chapter 11, chapter 36. This was prophesied in Jeremiah in chapter 31 on two different occasions. And Paul is referring to it in these verses in 2 Corinthians, and he's declaring to the Corinthians.

[19:04] Be mindful, do not take for granted that you are living in an age where God is doing this new thing. And the relevancy of this passage, loved ones, is this. We too need to be reminded that we are living in an age that is limited in time. This age that we are in will not last forever. It is a window of time in which God's grace and the presence of the Spirit and what Christ has done through the cross, we are living in it in a specific period of time. This is why we would say it's not just a matter of what you are or whose you are, but when you are. God is no longer merely commanding people from the outside like he did in the Old Testament. God is transforming people from the inside. This is why, I don't know if you've ever noticed this, I think I've mentioned it on occasion, Paul never describes his ministry to the church as, you know, Jesus and me, we came along to minister to you. What Paul says, and catch this, it's Christ in me.

[20:16] And this is why Pastor Paul says to you from time to time, there can be a difference between your life being in church and being in Christ. Because for a Christian, you're designed for Christ to dwell in you. This is new covenant ministry. So Paul writes verse 7 and 8. Now, if the ministry of death carved in letters on stone, he's referring, this is metaphor for the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory. You may remember Moses came down off the mountain. He was in the presence of God with the Ten Commandments. His face is shown with radiance because he was in the presence of the glory of God. He's been affected. So listen, church, catch this principle.

[21:11] To be in the presence of God is to be transformed. And that's where Paul's taking us. You're going to see this is right where the text takes us. And so such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end. The old covenant is being brought to an end. Will not the ministry of the Spirit, which is in the new covenant, the age we're living in, oh, will it have much, much more glory? The old age with the Ten Commandments, the law, it had glory. It did for a time, but it's nothing compared to the glory of the age we live in, the new covenant that we now live in that's available to every man and woman in this room. So what Paul's describing really are end-time realities. Now, one of the questions I get asked as a pastor from time to time goes like this. Pastor Paul, do you think we're living in the end times? In fact, I've been asked that a little bit more over the last several days because of the outbreak of war in the Middle East. Do you think we're living in the end times? Church, the Bible answers that question.

[22:22] The Bible says this in terms of the new covenant, the book of Acts. It opens up with things like this. In the last days, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will proclaim the truths of God. The Bible has already answered that question. We are living in the end times, and I don't say that because of opinion. We say that because the Bible has instructed us last days. It's not just a matter of when you're alive, excuse me, if you're alive or where

[22:58] you're alive. It's when you're alive. You and I are alive in a very unique time. And Paul is saying to the Corinthian church and us, don't take that for granted.

[23:12] So why does Paul call the Old Covenant a ministry of death? That's strong language, verse 7. Why does he call the Old Covenant a ministry of condemnation, verse 9? I mean, my goodness, are those not strong words to describe the Old Testament?

[23:29] Yes. I'll just answer that for you. Yes. But the reason he describes it this way is because the age of the New Covenant surpasses the glory of the old covenant so profoundly because the old covenant could not renew you. The new covenant, what God does in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

[23:51] Has the power to renew you from the inside out, not only reconcile you to God, but renew you and transform you. When a person is in Christ and has experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit, This is why Paul talks so much about the Holy Spirit in this passage. The escalation is so decisive and so life-changing, the former glory of the old covenant had no glory at all in comparison.

[24:19] The glory of the new covenant far surpasses it. And so Paul uses the illustration of the radiance of Moses' face as he descends from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, because we recognize that when Moses was beholding the Lord in this way, that he was transformed. When Moses took the veil off to meet with God, it was transformative. So look with me, verses 12 and 13, as we keep going. Since we have such hope, we are very bold, 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. What Paul is teaching there is that so that when they look at Moses' face, they would not go, wow, this is it.

[25:10] Because Moses was veiled so that they would not make that a Mount of Transfiguration moment because Moses was modeling something that was to come. The capacity of God to transform your very life as you behold the Lord. The old covenant has been brought to an end. The new covenant now opens the door for your life to be in Christ. There's a sense in which Moses' face, his transformation, is a foretaste of what is to come. And so this veil is a metaphor for what we have in the New Testament. It's not physical.

[25:53] It's spiritual. It's in our heart. And it is a veil that every human being has the opportunity to bring down. It is a veil that hindered the Corinthian church from perceiving the Lord and being transformed by the Lord. You may remember when we started the series in 1 Corinthians, the problem at Corinth is that they're operating out of the flesh, not out of the Spirit. And because they're operating out of the flesh, it hinders their beholding of Christ. And through the hindering of beholding Christ and communing with Christ, all kinds of problems, fleshy issues are raising their heads in the Corinthian church. And so Moses would lift the veil when he met face to face with Jesus, when he sought the Lord. And this picture is that we recognize that we metaphorically must lift the veil as well. And the question you would ask is, how do we do that?

[27:02] You lift the veil with Jesus when you come to him and you're not pretentious. You lift the veil with Jesus when you come to him in a spirit of humility, confession, repentance, turning to him as your source. And as the veil is lifted, communion is created. it. Loved ones, this is not merely about pursuing more knowledge. Let me explain, because you may remember that many have had extensive knowledge of the Scripture, but not necessarily have a revelation of Jesus. I've been with many seminary graduates who can quote theologians from ages past eloquently and can quote extensive passages of Scripture.

[28:01] But haven't had the veil removed, aren't manifesting the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And you begin to say something's missing. The veil hasn't been lowered so that that person experiences union with Christ. And through Jesus, the veil is lifted. I'm mindful that I had years where I served in Birmingham. And there's a large Jewish community in Birmingham, people I love, people you would love. There's a large Jewish community here in our own community here in Memphis, people whom we love and respect and honor. All people are made in the image of God. And I have to let the needle go out here in honoring the Jewish people because anti-Semitism raises its head from time to time. God loves all people. All people are of sacred worth. But Paul addresses something here about the Jewish people that we don't need to overlook. And that is that there's a veil over the heart. Paul says in verse 14, to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, he's talking about people who adhere to the Old Covenant. The same veil remains unlifted. He says it again, verse 15, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. Now, that's not said to attack anyone. We're just being faithful to the text, and we're going to love people.

[29:29] But the picture Paul is painting here, it's like a group of millionaires in line for food stamps when the economy is booming. That Jesus is right here. But the heart is veiled. And there's a veil. Only Jesus, Paul's reasoning, only Jesus can take the veil away to draw you to himself, to draw him yourself to the Father. And this is why Paul says this verse that sometimes gets quoted in Scripture, excuse me, get quoted in churches, but we don't know the context. When Paul says, now the Lord is the Spirit, but where the Spirit of the Lord is there's freedom, that gets quoted and applied in so many ways. But his context is that we're not under the old covenant anymore,

[30:17] that we're under a new covenant through Jesus Christ that actually liberates you and transforms you. And he now moves us to the place where he shares with us how you're transformed. Everything that I've just covered is kind of informational. It's one of those, man, I'm glad I lost an hour of sleep to hear all that information. All right, I get that. But he gets here, and here's what he does. Paul now says.

[30:48] You've heard that Jesus changes lives, but let me tell you how. And that's what happens in one verse, verse 18. For we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of Jesus, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. And this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit working in you. And when Paul uses your transform from one glory to another, some of your Bibles say glory to glory. What he's saying there is that as you behold the Lord throughout your life, you behold him in prayer. You behold him in confession of sin. You behold him in scripture. You behold him in holy communion. You behold him through the means of grace. You behold him as you commune with Jesus in fellowship with other believers. As you behold him, what's happening is there's a transformation from one degree to another. Jesus is developing you. Jesus is changing you. And we begin to see God face to face. So what does it mean to remove the veil? Well, let me put it another way. Let me give you a principle.

[32:10] We become like what we behold. That's a life principle. We become like what we behold. Whatever we behold has an effect on us. If all you behold is ESPN, you're going to think a lot about.

[32:30] SportsCenter. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy that too. But if that's all you behold, if all you behold is a hobby, your heart's going to be there. I'm not saying nothing wrong with healthy hobbies. That's not Pastor Paul's point. But what I'm saying, if it's on the pinnacle of your heart, you're beholding it, and you can become a captive to it. You're not going to be transformed by that. But if you behold the Lord, if he's on the pinnacle of your heart, You behold him, you're going to be transformed by him. Now, the Bible teaches that the grace of God is available to every believer. In fact, the Bible teaches something too good to be true, too true to ignore. And here it is. God is able to make all grace abound towards you. So I want to ask you to do a mental picture for a moment. We're going to talk about what grace is. But picture you're at the beach and wave after wave after wave after wave just keep coming in. That's what God's saying. I'm able to make wave after wave after wave of empowering grace come into your life, flood into your life. I define grace this way. My brother Al Henson, I think, developed this first. All of God for all my need. All of God for all my need. He's good like that. He's your source. All of God for all my need.

[33:58] He's able, more than able, to transform your heart and your life. He's able to take circumstances that look impossible and bring possibility to them. The grace of God, all of God for all your need can come at you wave after wave after wave as you behold him. Now understand that.

[34:19] It's not just a matter of what you are, but when you are. You're in a window of time where this is possible. But remember how Paul talks, the Apostle Paul. Remember what he says. Philippians 3, he talked about the old covenant. He described it as scubala. Does anybody in here want to know what scubala is? Anybody know?

[34:41] Somebody knows what scubala is. It's animal dung. He shares that the old covenant, the old pattern of being religious, it's dung to him. Says it's dung. In fact, I quote, he says, all that was dung so that I might know Jesus, that I might have intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. And what happened is Paul removed the veil. In Isaiah 6, when Isaiah is before the Lord and he bows down before the Lord, he's in the presence of the Lord. And he says, woe is me, I'm undone. I'm a sinful man among a sinful people. Loved ones, the reason Isaiah is transformed, he's able to say with a full heart, God, whatever you want, send me. The reason, not only was God revelating his holiness, Isaiah removed the veil through his confession, through his repentance. He was in communion with God. But we have a distorted capacity for beholding. We often behold security, the things that we think will make us secure, worry, anxiety, titles, power, wealth, portfolios, on and on. We put things on the pinnacle of our heart that prevent us from beholding. Let me explain it another way. I shared with you on the front end, we were going to go over. Some of you got to go. I love you. It's okay. But here we are.

[36:08] I get concerned sometimes when we worship as a church family, and I get concerned in the Western church when we worship sometimes, that our worship is soulish. Now, why would that be a concern? Didn't Jesus say, love the Lord God with your heart, soul, mind, will, and emotions, and love your neighbor as yourself? Heart, soul. Does that matter? Yes. But let me explain what I mean. You see, the Bible teaches, Jesus teaches, that true worshipers worship in spirit and truth. Why would Jesus share? Will this hold me up? Is that legal? I don't think it's right to stand on an altar, but at least I've got your attention.

[36:54] Jesus shared, true worshipers worship me in spirit and truth. Now, that's a little S, not a capital S. What he's referring to is your spirit. When you came to Jesus, when you came to know him, before you knew him, the Bible says in Ephesians 2, your spirit was dead. But when you came to know Jesus, your spirit was made alive. Your spirit that's now alive is designed to commune with the Holy Spirit. And there's a place where I can worship where only my emotions are moved through the Bible or through prayer or through even worship through song. Sometimes in the modern church, we even think that worship is only what we do through song, and that's just not biblical. It's what we're doing right now. It's when we take communion, Romans 12, 1 and 2, all of life. And when we worship in spirit, that is, when my spirit communes with the Spirit of God in worship through our prayer, reading the Word, holy communion, fellowship with other believers, that will transform my soul.

[38:04] That kind of communion is beholding the Lord. He is spirit. Those who worship him, worship him in spirit and truth. My spirit communes with him. And then the byproduct of that is transformation. My soul gets transformed. My life gets transformed. Some of you may be reasoning. I don't know if that's possible for me, But the only impossible journey is the journey that you never begin. The Holy Spirit didn't come to your life to be a silent spectator. No, he came into your life to govern and to rule and to bless. The Holy Spirit is not your backup plan. He is your battle plan. He did not come just to give you head knowledge. He came to fill your heart. I get concerned many times that there are many Christians that have a lot of head knowledge about Christ, but they haven't encountered Christ in their hearts.

[39:08] He is drawn to you when you drop the veil. He is drawn to you when you drop the veil through repentance. He is drawn to you when you drop the veil through confession in pursuit of Him, hungering and thirsting for him, living water.

[39:28] He is drawn to you when the veil comes down through surrender. He is drawn to you when you let go of pride. He is drawn to you when you let go of your ego. He is drawn to you when you let go of fear. Perfect love casts out fear. He is drawn to you when you let go of control. He doesn't need your logic. He wants your loyalty. He doesn't need your opinion. He wants your obedience. Listen, some of you in this room, your struggle right now is with relationships and people that have hurt you. Loved one, you don't need revenge. You need revival.

[40:09] You need the Lord. You don't need more hype from the world. You don't need more hype from the flesh. You need holiness. You need the holiness of God. He is the spirit of power. He is the spirit of victory. And what God's after is not your strength. Your strength is not in your power. Your strength is in his presence. And this is why Paul writes these words that are prescriptive for your transformation, loved ones. And we all, we unveil our face. God, I don't pretend in front of you. God, I need you. God, here's my weakness. Here's my pride. I need you, God. I unveil my face. And I behold you, the glory of the Lord. And in beholding you, as you draw near to me, as I draw near to you, there's a transformation from one glory to another glory, the exposure to God himself. From one degree to another, for this comes from the Lord, who is the Holy Spirit.

[41:14] So as we close today, I want to ask that you just simply make an altar out of your chair. You can kneel there or you can just sit there, but let's take a moment just to pray into these verses. This was a little bit different today. I will acknowledge that. I just want you to know I'm self-aware, but I want to invite you just to take a moment before the Lord and let's talk to him in light of what his word has

[41:37] declared over our lives today. So let's take a moment to commune with him. So Father, help us to unveil our lives and not pretend before you or be pretentious before you.

[42:27] I want you to know that what I'm about to say, my motive is love. And you may be saying, I don't have a pride problem. But do you know, biblically, one of the symptoms of pride is prayerlessness? Because what you've been saying to God is, I've got this. Prayerless is a declaration of independence from God, maybe as you unveil your heart before the Lord you may need to confess your pride and repent of it.

[43:18] For some of you, fear, there are just so many fears that rule your life, anxiety. And the Lord loves you, and He's watched that rule in your life, some of you, for years. Why don't you unveil your life today? Just confess that to the Lord. Renounce it. Ask him to free you. Put Jesus back on the pinnacle. Let him rule. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. For some of you, it's unforgiveness. Someone has hurt you, and Jesus is compassionate about it. Why don't you unveil your heart? To say to Jesus, I'm choosing to forgive her, I'm choosing to forgive him.

[44:32] For some of you, you've just lost your first love. There was a day when your heart burned bright for the Lord, and you look back and you remember that person, and you realize something has been lost. Unveil your heart. God loves you. He's never stopped loving you. He's merciful. Just confess it to Him. Unveil your heart and behold Him. Draw near to Him.

[45:05] So God all over this room as we unveil our hearts individually and together, we pray that we behold you, we behold you God and in beholding you Lord transform us from glory to glory in Jesus name Amen.