Experiencing a Better Glory

2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 7. This is the

2 Corinthians 3:7

second letter that we have that Paul had written

to the Corinthians. However, it is believed by

some that he may have wrote as many as four letters.

And it's possible he alludes to some of those,

some of the writings, some of the things he says.

It's not certain that they really line up with

what he wrote in what we would call 1 Corinthians.

It's very possible there's some missing letters,

but nonetheless, we have enough in 1 and 2 Corinthians

to kind of know a little bit about what's going

on in Corinth and Paul's love for the people

and his desire to see them grow in the Lord.

And that's what we've seen really a lot in 1

Corinthians. We see some discipline that Paul

is taking and addressing some troubles that have

arisen in the church and giving some instruction

on the people to handle those situations. And

he continued in 2 Corinthians with the same idea,

talking about the discipline that had taken place

and that there comes a point where... The discipline

was successful, it appears, and there needs to

be love for the one who is disciplined. We also

see at the beginning of 2 Corinthians that Paul

kind of was defending himself, it appeared, as

though maybe some of the Corinthians were questioning

Paul and some of the work that he was doing or

maybe the fact that he hadn't come back. He addresses

that, that they were expecting him. He had said

he was going to come back, but he had not come

back. And one of the reasons he gives for that

is that He didn't want to come back because there

were still some things that weren't right in

Corinth, and he didn't want to come and treat

the people harshly. He didn't want to come and

just have to get on to them. And so he wants

them to do right and to do better and to not

question him but listen to him and not listen

to other people or not doubt him and not be led

astray, but to remember that he cared about the

people and that he had really poured into the

people and he had led many of these people to

Jesus Christ. and they needed to stand firm on

the truth of the gospel and not pay too much

attention to what maybe some others who had come

in and were saying, maybe questioning Paul and

causing some of the people in Corinth to question

Paul. So that's what we saw kind of in the first

couple of chapters for those of you who may not

have been here as we've gotten to this point.

And then he kind of shifted gears in chapter

3. He begins to shift gears to talk about...

The law and the spirit. And that's what we're

going to talk about tonight. We talked about

that a little bit in the verses we read last

week. That it's not about letters that are written

on stone, but it's about... what is written on

the heart. It's about having a heart change.

It's about the work of the Spirit that is so

much greater than the work of the law that we

see in the Old Testament, both the Ten Commandments

and plenty of other laws that God gave, other

commandments that he gave. Over 600 of them he

gave to his people. And so Paul is addressing

that new glory, a better glory that comes through.

the Spirit through Jesus Christ. So that's what

we're going to see in the verses tonight. So

let's pray and we'll get started. God, we come

to you. We thank you for a good night. We thank

you for these words. I pray that we would listen

to them, that you would free us of the worries

and the distractions and the thoughts of this

world, dear Lord. We got a lot that went on in

our lives today and a lot that's going to go

on tomorrow and this week and next week. But

I pray that in these few minutes, that you just

would protect our minds, that we would listen

to you, that your Holy Spirit would just give

us something in here that we need to hear. God,

you know where we are in life. You know whether

we're struggling tonight or whether we need encouragement

tonight or correction tonight or whatever it

may be, dear Lord. You know what we need, and

I pray. that your word would speak to us tonight.

I pray that you would take away any fear or pride

that I have, dear Lord. There's no good word

that I can say if it does not come from you,

so I pray that your spirit would lead me and

help each one of us to hear from you for your

glory. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen. All right,

2 Corinthians 3, verse 7. Now, if the ministry

2 Corinthians 3:7

of death... chiseled in letters on stones, came

with glory, so that the Israelites were not able

to look directly at Moses' face because of the

glory from his face, a fading glory, how will

the ministry of the Spirit not be more... Glorious.

All right. Now, he says something interesting

here. Now, the ministry of death chiseled in

letters on stone. What is he talking about there?

What is the ministry of death? Well, he's talking

about the law. He's talking about the wages of

sin is death. And the law makes us aware of our

sin. The law is God's perfect standard that God

calls us to live by. And once we are aware of

the law. it brings death upon us because it presents

to us a standard that we are not able to live

up to. It makes us aware of our sin. Now, we

may be ignorant of our sin, but the moment we

begin to read God's Word and God's commands,

and in the case of the Israelites, the law of

God, the Ten Commandments and other commandments,

their eyes are open. Now, of course, they were

sinners before the law ever came, but the law

made them aware of their sin and aware of their

state. And their state is the same of our state.

That is that we are sinners, that God has a standard

that he calls us to live by, commands that he

calls us to live by, and we fail to live by those

commands. Now, we come to church, or we read

our Bible, or we listen to our favorite preachers

and teachers online, whatever it may be, and

we hopefully are seeking to try to grow in the

Lord and trying to live by His commands, but

the truth is that sometimes we fail. And the

law is a constant reminder, what are we going

to do? We've failed. The wages of sin is death.

We've sinned. We've failed to live by God's law.

And that's how it's referred to in the New Testament.

Here we see an example of that. That the ministry

of death, he's talking about the law. How do

we know that? Well, we see it in context. That

is chiseled in letters on stone. But what does

he say? He's making a contrast here about the

glory of God. This is what he's trying to present

to his listeners, both then and both now. He

says the law has a purpose. It was chiseled in

stone. Moses brought those stone tablets down

the mountain and they had the commandments that

God had given him. They were chiseled in stone.

And it was good. It had a purpose. The law had

a purpose. It was to guide God's people. We see

that in the book of Galatians. It says that the

law was meant to kind of guide the people along

until Jesus Christ. And so the law had a purpose.

It wasn't pointless. It's what God's people needed

at that time. It made them aware of who God was,

of what God commanded. Even in the law, it shows

us who God is when he says to do things like

not murder and not steal. These are things that

God does not do. God is saying that we are to

be like him, that we are to strive to live like

him. That's our goal, but we fail at that goal.

And so he gives the law through Moses, and the

law is good. It serves a purpose, and even in

the law, there is glory. Even in the giving of

the law, we see the glory of God. We see that

reference. So the Israelites were not able to

look directly at Moses' face because of the glory

from his face. Now, this is a reference. You

can go back and study this this week. Go back

to Exodus 33 and 34. And you'll see this story

where Moses is up on the mountain with God. And

you may recall it. Some of you may have heard

it. And Moses says, God, I want to see your glory.

God, I want to see you in all your glory. I want

to see you, God. Now, Moses had certainly had

some interaction with God. And we see other people

have interactions with God in some way, shape,

or form in Scripture. But nobody had ever seen

God in his fullness. And for good reason. We

could not take it. As human beings, we could

not take it. As sinful human beings, we are not

prepared for the full glory of God. And Moses

says, God, I want to see your glory. And God

says, Moses, nobody can see my face and live.

Nobody can see me in all of my glory. But I'll

hide you in this rock and I'll pass by and I'll

let you see me from behind. Just a glimpse of

my glory. And so God does just that, and Moses

catches just a glimpse of God's glory. And when

Moses comes back down the mountain before the

people, the scripture says that his face is glowing.

Just a little exposure to the glory of God, and

that has come upon Moses, and the glory of God

is being reflected from the face of Moses. And

it says that when the Israelites saw Moses' face,

that they were afraid. And so Moses put a veil

over his face because the people weren't prepared

for the glory of God. And that's the story that's

being referenced here by Paul. He says, look,

there's glory in the giving of the law because

when God gave the law to Moses, when Moses came

back down from the mountain, the glory of God

was there on Moses for everybody to see, and

it was a scary thing to the people. But what

does he say of that glory? Fading glory. Now

this is important. This is the example he's using

for the point that he's trying to make. He's

trying to help his audience understand that the

law had a purpose for a little while, but the

law's purpose had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

That Jesus Christ has fulfilled all things. Now

we see similar language to this in the book of

Hebrews. The audience in the book of Hebrews

are being tempted to go back to the law. We see

this repeatedly in Paul's writings. We see it

here. We see it in Galatians. We see it in Hebrews,

whoever wrote Hebrews. this pulling away of the

Israelites who grew up, who knew the law. Probably

many of them could recite it and knew it very

well and had lived under it. And then Jesus has

come onto the scene and has freed us from the

law, a law that was fading away, a glory that

was fading away. Jesus has brought about a better

glory. So Paul says, don't go back to the ministry

of death. That is the law that's chiseled in

stone. It had a purpose. It had glory. It was

good. But now God has given us something better.

The law was fading away. But he's making a point.

He's setting up his point here. That God has

now given us an unfading glory in Jesus Christ.

And he says in verse 8, how will the ministry

of the Spirit not be more glorious? This is his

point. Okay, you know the law. You know that

it was good. You know the story of Moses. You

know the glory that the Lord is and that was

upon Moses when he received the law. And if there

was glory in that, that law that was fading away,

how much more glorious is the glory of the Spirit?

The Holy Spirit that now indwells in us that

through Jesus Christ we have a relationship with

God and we experience the glory of God in a different

way. And that's the point that he's making here.

He's trying to get them not to focus on the law

that leads to death, but he's trying to get them

to focus on Jesus Christ who leads to life. Verse

9. For if the ministry of condemnation had glory,

the ministry of righteousness overflows with

even more glory. Okay? We see the same kind of

language here. The ministry of death. The ministry

of condemnation. Okay? These are not glowing

terms that he's using for the law. Don't live

by the law, he says. The law is not going to

save you. The law is going to leave you lost.

Leave you lost. What about Jesus Christ? Well,

through the Spirit, he says that there's a ministry

of righteousness. Okay, so there was a little

glory, and it was good in the law. But he says,

I want to tell you there's a greater glory. There's

righteousness, not condemnation, but righteousness

that comes through Jesus Christ. And that brings

with it much more glory than anything that we've

ever seen before Jesus Christ. Verse 10. In fact,

what had been glorious is not glorious now by

comparison because of the glory that surpasses

it. For if what was fading away was glorious

what endures will be even more glorious. So what

he says is you saw a glimpse of light but the

source of light The glory in its fullness you

have not experienced if you've not experienced

Jesus Christ. Is anybody, I know you have, some

of you probably got them, these little solar

lights, like you can stick them along your sidewalk,

and boy, they sit out in the sun all day, they

got a little solar panel on them, and the sun

goes down, and they produce some light, a little

bit of light. But as the night goes on, the little

battery in them don't last long, and they begin

to fade out. Now, what little light they produce

is good. They produce some light. It's a fading

light. But the real source of their power and

the real source of their light is the sun. Now,

if you never saw the sun, you'd probably be glad

to have one of those little solar lights. It'd

be very helpful at night. Help kind of guide

your way a little bit. But once you see the sun

in its fullness shining in the sky, you can't

even bear to look at it. It's so bright, you'll

go blind if you stare at it for long enough.

Once you've seen the fullness of light, that

light of the solar lamp pales in comparison.

And that's what Paul says. You saw the law, and

it seemed like it was good. It was good. But

the amount of glory that you saw in the law,

even that was too much for you. You couldn't

even bear to look at Moses' face. Even that was

too much glory. But now he says there's even

more glory that's been revealed. That Jesus Christ,

the Son of God, has come and he's died on the

cross and he's given his life so our sins could

be forgiven. And that is the glory of God in

its fullness. So why would you use something

that pales in comparison? why would you turn

to the little flickering bulb of the law, the

little bit of glory that comes with it? Jesus

Christ has come in the fullness of God's glory.

Verse 12. Therefore, having such a hope, we use

great boldness. We are not like Moses, who used

to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites

could not stare at the end of what was fading

away. But their minds were closed. For to this

day, after the reading of the old covenant, the

same veil remains. It is not lifted because it

is set aside only in Christ. Even to this day,

whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their

hearts. But whenever a person turns to the Lord,

the veil is removed. What is he saying here?

He's saying of the Jews that they still didn't

get it when he wrote these words. And they still

don't get it today. Because the Jewish people

are not followers of Jesus Christ. They are followers

of Moses. And they will tell you that they are

followers of Moses. They are followers of the

law. That's the same problem that Paul was dealing

with. And 2 ,000 years later, it's still the

problem. is covering up Jesus Christ. They need

to remove that veil to see the glory of God,

but they don't remove that veil. When they hear

the word of Moses, they still follow the word

of Moses. They still are trying to grab a hold

of what little glory that is in the law. But

there is no more glory in the law because Jesus

Christ has come. And so long as the Jews, in

the context, and anybody else for that matter,

who tries to seek the law and tries to live by

the law and tries to be redeemed and sanctified

by the law, they are in trouble because the law

will never save them. The veil is only pulled

up. The veil is only set aside through Jesus

Christ. And that's why when Jesus Christ died

on the cross, different type of veil here, but

when Jesus Christ died on the cross, the veil

that was in the temple, that curtain in the temple

that separated the temple from the most holy

place, that's why when Jesus died, that veil

was torn in two from top to bottom. Why? Because

the old system was done. The law was done away

with because Jesus Christ has fulfilled everything

in the law. The old sacrificial system was done

away with because Jesus has been the perfect

sacrifice once and for all. And the blood of

goats and bulls was not sufficient to cover people's

sins. And so when Jesus came, it's pretty clear

through the text that Jesus has done away with

these things. But yet when Paul is writing and

the author of Hebrews is writing, it was still

a struggle for the Jewish people they still wanted

to go back to the sacrificial system Hebrews

deals with this in great detail the veil was

torn when Jesus died they must have sewed it

back up because they were still living in the

sacrificial system and they desire to today,

sadly. The Jews today still long to rebuild the

temple because they have rejected Jesus Christ.

They long today to restart the priesthood because

they have rejected the high priest who is Jesus

Christ. They long today to restart the sacrificial

system because they have rejected Jesus Christ,

the perfect sacrifice. And as such, Paul says,

a veil remains. They don't see, they don't understand,

they don't fully grasp the glory of God because

it only comes through Jesus Christ. And Paul

is making a good illustration here with the example

he gives in Moses. He's making a good point here.

Don't go back to the old ways because the hope

that we seek, the hope that we need only comes

through Jesus Christ. And the same is true for

us today. Now, we may not be people in here seeking

to rebuild a temple. We may not want to sacrifice

goats and bulls. We may not have those desires.

We may not seek to live by every letter of the

law. But perhaps there are other things in our

life that sometimes draw us away from Jesus.

Maybe there are other things in our life that

we try to find glory in, that we try to find

deliverance in. But our deliverance will only

come through Jesus Christ. And once we put our

faith and trust in Jesus Christ and we begin

to live for Him, we begin to experience the glory

of God in a whole new way. We begin to experience

the glory of God just a little bit. Just a little

bit. But whatever glory we have seen of God in

our life pales in comparison to what it will

be like on the day that we... Stand before God

on the day that we are in God's presence for

all of eternity. When we see God in the fullness

of His glory, we are not even prepared for what

that will look like. And the only way we see

that is through Jesus Christ. So let us be those

today who don't seek our own glory, who don't

seek glory for ourselves and things of the world,

but only seek the glory of God. through Jesus

Christ. Let's pray. God, we thank you for these

good words, and I pray that you would help us,

dear Lord, to listen to them, to think about

them, to, God, that your Holy Spirit would just

work with them in our lives, dear Lord, that

we would be those who would seek Jesus Christ,

that we would seek your glory, dear Lord, that

we would not seek things of this world that are

fading away, that we would not seek to be made

righteous by the law, because it's not going

to work, dear Lord. We are only made righteous

through Jesus Christ because he has fulfilled

the law in all the ways that we have failed.

So we thank you, dear Lord, for who Jesus is.

We thank you for sending him. We thank you for

loving us. We thank you for your grace. We thank

you for your mercy. And I pray, dear Lord, that

you would help us to all seek Jesus Christ and

experience your glory through him. And I ask

these things in Jesus' name. Amen.