2 Corinthians 3 (New Covenant Confidence, Jeff Kliewer)

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August 20, 2019

2 Corinthians 3 (New Covenant Confidence) Second Corinthians Jeff Kliewer

2 Corinthians 3 (New Covenant Confidence, Jeff Kliewer)

00:00: The Gospel, as the Holy Spirit filled Him and empowered Him to preach the Gospel on Pentecost, we pray for the same fire to fall into each one of us.
00:10: That new covenant fire of the Holy Spirit, changing us from the inside out, that we would be ministers of the
00:17: Gospel. We pray for Your Word to accomplish this in each one of us who believe.
00:22: I also pray for those who might be in the sanctuary right now, who have not yet seen the glory that is in the face of Jesus Christ.
00:30: We pray that You would reveal glory to that person today, in Jesus' name. We pray,
00:37: Lord, that You would open our eyes to behold wondrous things out of Your Word, in Jesus' name.
00:43: Amen. Newcomer confidence is the naive expectation that everything is just going to work out fine, based on ignorance of the things that could make something complicated.
00:56: So you guys all recall the first time you were shown a Rubik's Cube, right? And you thought, oh, easy, I'm going to be able to solve this,
01:02: I'm really smart. And next thing you know, you can't even get one side to match all the same colors, because it's actually more complicated than you assume.
01:11: I had that experience playing my five -year -old nephew in checkers. At first I thought,
01:18: I'm just going to have to let him win, because he's little. That was the newcomer confidence in me,
01:23: I had never played him before. But what it turns out is, halfway through I realized I needed to go all out, and then
01:30: I still lost badly. So sometimes we just have confidence because we don't know what we're up against.
01:37: You see that in sports as well, when someone is the dominant player in high school, and all of a sudden he goes to college, and he's all confident and cocky walking around the campus, and then realizes that everybody on that team and in that league used to be dominant in high school.
01:52: And it's a whole new game. I had this happen to me this week in removing a tree branch at my house.
02:00: It was a large branch, and I thought to myself, how hard could this be? You just go and get a saw, and you cut down the branch, and you chop it up and put it on the curb.
02:10: Newcomer confidence. So when I get to Home Depot, I ask for the saw for cutting down branches.
02:18: First of all, it was a bad sign that I couldn't find it myself. But when I finally got there, he called it the
02:25: Widowmaker. And I said, oh, not scared or anything, but just more out of curiosity, why is it called the
02:34: Widowmaker? And he said, because many people just stand under the branch cutting and thinking, you know,
02:41: I'm cat -like in my reflexes. As soon as it comes down, I'm going to jump out of the way. So it's called the
02:46: Widowmaker. Well, anyway, as I started to cut this branch down, I got it halfway. The tree split, the branch split, and then just hung straight down.
02:57: And so now, because the angle changed, I could not cut this thing down with the fiskers. And I spent so long, finally my father -in -law bailed me out, got that thing swinging, and it just broke off and fell down.
03:08: But what I realized is newcomer confidence is not a good basis of confidence.
03:15: It's based on ignorance. I had never cut down a giant tree branch before. I'd never played my nephew in checkers.
03:21: I'd never tried to solve a Rubik's Cube. But the point is, often we come to things with newcomer confidence that's founded in some shifting sand.
03:32: It doesn't uphold. Contrast this with new covenant confidence.
03:39: Not based in ignorance, but based in revelation. As we sit here this morning, as the congregation gathered, many of us need new covenant confidence.
03:54: Based on knowledge of what the new covenant is, you can become confident to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ for three reasons.
04:02: We'll look at them today. Number one, the Holy Spirit now lives inside of you, and the same power that raised
04:09: Jesus from the dead now lives inside of you. If you can come to terms with the knowledge of what that implies for your life, you will minister with confidence.
04:18: Great boldness. Number two, that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to you through faith, not through merit of your own.
04:27: It's not yours to earn. And if you have imputed righteousness, you stand in the righteousness of Christ, and you can minister with confidence.
04:36: And then number three, this thing is permanent. It never fades.
04:42: And in the end, you're transformed into the image of Christ. It is a permanent change.
04:49: So, the new covenant creates a lasting and sure confidence that enables you to minister.
04:58: It enables me to stand here today. Understanding the new covenant will give you the confidence that you need.
05:05: So, let's go now to 2 Corinthians chapter 3. There were really two big reasons why
05:13: I chose 2 Corinthians for the book for us to study. One is because 2 Corinthians brings us to maturity.
05:22: And you guys need some maturing. No, we all do. We all need maturing in the faith.
05:31: But number two, ministry. 2 Corinthians calls us all to be ministers of reconciliation.
05:40: And I think our church is at a particular place of growth where every believer needs to recognize that you are called to minister.
05:49: That you have a ministry that God is calling you to in the power of the Holy Spirit. So, let's read it.
05:56: 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?
06:02: 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.
06:15: And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the
06:21: Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.
06:28: Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.
06:34: Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is 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
06:50: 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
06:59: Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the
07:09: 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.
07:20: Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.
07:29: For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
07:36: Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who had put a veil over his face so that the
07:45: Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened.
07:52: For to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.
07:59: By the way, you should love to hear the reading of Scripture. Because the veil's been lifted, the
08:05: Word itself has power. Even before I preach anything, let's read on. A few more verses, verse 15 through 18.
08:11: Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts.
08:19: But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now, the
08:24: 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
08:34: Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to another.
08:41: For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. So today, we're talking about New Covenant confidence.
08:51: And I think this passage is fit to impart that to each of us.
08:57: New Covenant confidence. Notice the first three verses. Paul's confidence does not come from the recommendation of people outside of himself.
09:07: And that was probably a criticism of Paul. Where did this guy come from? He sailed in from another continent and told you
09:14: Corinthians about the Jesus that he worships. But now some false teachers have come into Corinth, and they bring with them letters of recommendation.
09:25: Perhaps they were schooled at Athens, and they have the recommendation of some famous Stoic philosopher.
09:33: They come with their letters of recommendation. But here's what Paul says. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?
09:40: Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you?
09:46: Make no mistake. That was a burn. That.
09:53: He just eviscerated his opponents with his rhetoric at that point in the text.
10:00: These are people who have, behind the scenes, been criticizing Paul for the lack of scholarly recommendation behind his name.
10:09: And he says, do we need that? As some do, implying the false teachers who remain among them in Corinth.
10:15: He takes direct aim at them and says, look, we don't need that. Why? Because, Corinthians, you are our letter.
10:26: They themselves are the letter of recommendation, meaning Paul came to Corinth when all they knew was the worship of pagan deities.
10:36: And this stranger, like Jonah, coming in to Nineveh, Paul comes into this pagan city and proclaims
10:44: Christ. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, one after another, they come to believe.
10:50: And for 18 months, he preaches among them. And when he leaves, he leaves a church.
10:56: So Paul doesn't need a letter from some stoic philosopher. He says, here's my letter.
11:02: It's you. The very church that was planted by the power of the
11:07: Holy Spirit. It shows that what was written on their hearts was deep.
11:13: It was the Holy Spirit. He didn't need ink to write. The Holy Spirit. You see, this is the first reference now to the spirit of the living
11:21: God in verse 3. The letter is transformed hearts.
11:28: Changed hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. That validates him. Guys, I would take a powerful ministry that bears fruit for the kingdom over a
11:40: PhD from Harvard. Or Princeton or Yale. Or any school that can put letters by your name.
11:48: Paul did not appeal to that as his commendation. He appeals to the power of the
11:54: Holy Spirit. In our churches, we don't need more intellect.
12:00: Humanly speaking. We need the intellect of the scripture. We need the knowledge of God. But what seems so lacking in churches and pulpits is the power of the
12:11: Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit. I don't need more books.
12:17: I need more of this book. And if I'm going to preach, I don't need more of me. I need more of him filling me to proclaim the truth that's written in this book.
12:27: We need the Holy Spirit. And that goes for each one of us in the ministries we're called to.
12:32: Let's see that. Such is the confidence, verse 4 to 6, that we have through Christ toward God.
12:40: This is the confidence. It's not self -sufficiency. It's not how wise or brilliant.
12:47: It's not how your personality enables you to work situations. It is a competence that comes from above.
12:57: In verse 5, not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us. Don't you love how
13:03: Paul deflects glory? He deflects all the glory back to the one who's doing this work through him.
13:09: It's not of him. It's not Paul. Our sufficiency is from God who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant.
13:19: It doesn't apply to clergy alone. There is a such thing as clergy.
13:26: It applies to the priesthood of all believers. To everyone who names the name of Christ and has the
13:32: Holy Spirit. You are a minister of reconciliation. And you are sufficient to a ministry to which you're called by the
13:38: Spirit that now lives inside of you. He has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant.
13:45: Not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now a lot of people have run wild with this verse.
13:52: Thinking that it refers to a juxtaposition of God's Word versus the more personal, non -religious, spiritual aspects.
14:01: That is not the dichotomy here. It's not the Word versus the Spirit. Because the next verse is going to reveal this.
14:08: The letters here refers to the Law of Moses. Outward obedience to moral code.
14:17: As if you can obey the letters of the Law. The person who thinks they can earn righteousness by the
14:24: Law, dies by the Law. That's the juxtaposition with letter and Spirit.
14:30: So the Word itself is good. And the new covenant is being promoted here as better than the old covenant of Moses.
14:40: Before we move on to that in verse 7, I did want to point out one other thing. Notice the Trinitarian nature of this relationship.
14:48: The Father in verse 4 and the Son are in verse 4. They're the ones who give the
14:56: Spirit. The confidence we have through Christ toward God. God the
15:01: Father. What is that confidence? That God has done this work in us and given us
15:07: His Holy Spirit. All of the Trinity is exalted and each member is distinguished one from another.
15:15: This is the ministry of the Triune God. It's His competence in us. So now verse 7, the next thing
15:21: I want you to notice. The new covenant, the first thing really. The first big promise of the new covenant.
15:29: Remember I said there's three promises of the new covenant that change us and give us the confidence we need to minister.
15:36: The first one is that the Spirit will be working inside of us to accomplish what we can't do on our own.
15:46: The inward work of the Spirit. A powerful work of the Holy Spirit. Spurgeon said, A man who is really saved by grace does not need to be told that he is under solemn obligations to serve
16:00: Christ. The new life within him tells him that. The man who's been born again knows and desires ministry.
16:14: 7 and 9. Now if the ministry of death carved in letters on stone came with such glory that the
16:22: Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the
16:30: Spirit have even more glory? So to understand that comparison, you have to go back and remember
16:39: Exodus 34. Remember when Moses comes down from the mountain? His face is literally shining with the glory of God.
16:46: Probably like Stephen's was right before he was stoned. His face is shining with the glory of God so bright that the people of Israel were afraid to look at him.
16:58: Turning away for fear of that glory. Hiding their eyes.
17:04: That's how glorious this ministry was. But what Moses carried was a ministry of death.
17:13: How so? The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. He brought them a moral code.
17:21: The Ten Commandments that not one of them were able to keep, including
17:26: Moses. An outward set of rules that the heart of fallen man was unable to attain to.
17:37: Thou shalt not commit murder. But Jesus heightens that and pushes it to the heart and says, if you even have hatred in your heart towards a brother, you're violating the deeper meaning of thou shalt not commit murder.
17:53: And so the letter kills. That's the concept here. No one can keep it.
17:59: It's made of stone and you break yourself against that stone. But the ministry of the
18:07: Spirit is different. The New Covenant promises what the
18:13: Old Covenant could not accomplish. And that is an inward heart change that cannot be explained by outward religion.
18:24: It can only be explained by God himself entering into the heart of a person.
18:29: Now, don't miss this part because this New Covenant teaching is crucial. Jeremiah 31 promised it.
18:36: Ezekiel 36 promised it. Now, like a sprinkling of water, a changing of the heart to keep the law not just outwardly but from the heart.
18:49: The Holy Spirit now is promised to come and live inside of the believer and change us from the inside out.
18:58: The promise of the New Covenant is that the Spirit himself will live with us and dwell with us and never leave.
19:07: Ezekiel 36 says, I will put my Spirit within you, inside of you.
19:14: Probably the clearest illustration that I can come up with to show the difference between Old Covenant and New Covenant with regard to the power of the
19:23: Spirit. Is Peter BC versus Peter AD. Still under the
19:32: Old Covenant when Christ was being led away to be killed. Peter denied
19:38: Christ three times. Three days later in 40 until Pentecost came.
19:46: The day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on him. That same man stood before the same people who crucified the
19:55: Lord in Christ and boldly proclaimed that Jesus is Lord. Without fear of being killed.
20:04: With a boldness that did not come from himself. This is what I'm trying to communicate. The Holy Spirit in the
20:10: New Covenant is promising a power in you that is not your own. To give you the boldness to witness to your friend at the gym.
20:22: To witness to the guy walking down the street. Or at the grocery store.
20:28: The power to do what you would not do in and of yourself. The power comes from above. It comes from the
20:34: Holy Spirit. They say D .L. Moody. I think he was a shoe salesman. Just a regular guy.
20:40: On some trip to New York City. I think he was from Chicago. He went to New York City and as he was walking through Brooklyn.
20:47: He was praying and had such a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit that his life was turned upside down.
20:53: He became kind of the preacher. The Billy Graham before there was a Billy Graham. D .L.
20:59: Moody. That power to preach did not come from himself. It came from the living
21:06: God. And that same power that D .L. Moody met that day in Brooklyn is available to us in Mount Laurel right now in 2019.
21:17: He is here. The Holy Spirit. And if you have prayed and believed in your heart that Jesus is
21:23: Lord. Trusting Him. That Spirit lives in you already. The New Covenant promises that He is now in you.
21:33: The same Spirit that caused Peter to stand up and preach. And 3 ,000 believed in one day.
21:41: That same Spirit lives in you. Now, there is a second great truth here. If you look in verses 9 and 10.
21:49: Not only are we promised the indwelling Spirit. How confident should we be if the Spirit of the living
21:54: God lives in us? How bold should we be? But secondly, the righteousness that we have before God is given to us.
22:06: It's not something you're earning. It's not something you're maintaining with your works. It is imputed.
22:12: It's credited to you from Christ. So, this is part of the New Covenant. Verses 9 and 10.
22:20: For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation. So, there's a parallel there to verse 7 with the ministry of death.
22:29: That's the Old Covenant. The ministry of death is also a ministry of condemnation. So, now we're speaking in legal terms.
22:37: You're condemned on account of your sin. A ministry. So, a diakonos. A serving up.
22:43: Of what? What are you served up if all you have is the law? You're served up condemnation because you will not keep it.
22:53: If there was glory in the ministry of condemnation. If Moses' face was shining because God spoke.
23:00: It's powerful. If there was glory there. The ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.
23:09: Isn't that beautiful? Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all.
23:16: Because of the glory that surpasses it. What is the glory that has surpassed the
23:23: Old Covenant? Carved in stone. What is more glorious than that?
23:29: Could it be the Word made flesh? And dwelling among us.
23:35: And living a perfect life. And dying a sinner's death. And rising from the dead.
23:41: And ascending to the Father. And now imputing His righteousness to you and I who believe.
23:47: In Romans chapter 3, we see how desperate we are. How wicked we are.
23:55: No one seeks God. Our mouths are like poison. And our hearts are far from Him.
24:05: But now, Romans 3 .21, a righteousness from God is revealed.
24:13: What does that mean? No longer a righteousness that's attempted to be earned.
24:22: It's a righteousness that's credited to my account. On the basis of Jesus having satisfied the penalty for sin.
24:31: Having made propitiation for my sin. He dies the death that I deserve.
24:36: And now His righteousness is credited to me. My sin was imputed to Him and so He died.
24:44: And now all of His righteousness is given to me. And I'm regarded as if I never sinned.
24:51: My sin is taken away. And I'm clean. What does this have to do with the
24:57: New Covenant? Well there was imputed righteousness in the Old Covenant but it wasn't fully revealed.
25:03: The people who were trusting in sacrifices because they knew they were sinners. They were making sacrifices that only pointed forward to the shed blood of Jesus.
25:13: So the Law and Prophets did testify to this. But now,
25:19: Christ has come. We live on the AD side of the cross. We can look back into the
25:25: Gospels and read about Jesus and the life that He lived and the death that He died. And we can say
25:33: His righteousness is given to me on the basis of faith.
25:38: That's the promise of Romans 3. If that's the case, we are very bold.
25:47: Because we know, every one of us here knows, that we do not deserve to minister the
25:52: Gospel. And therefore we fall silent. Who am
25:57: I to go tell somebody else about the Jesus of the Scripture? I'm not living up to that.
26:04: I'm falling short of that. And so we think, I need to get my act together.
26:09: I need to really pull it together. Become a good strong Christian and then I'll go tell my friends.
26:18: You'll never get there. But if you'll receive this truth right now, you're free.
26:25: You're free to minister. Now it doesn't mean you're necessarily free to teach, because there are disqualifying things.
26:31: Not everybody should presume to be a teacher. James chapter 3 verse 1. There's a stricter judgment associated with that.
26:38: But every person in here is free to minister the Gospel. If you believe in Christ.
26:45: Because your merit to do so is not how perfect you are.
26:53: How well you're living up to the standard. Your merit to preach Christ is given to you.
27:01: It was accomplished and it is finished. So you should be very bold.
27:08: That's the second reason. Your righteousness is an imputed righteousness. It's all
27:14: Christ given to you. All of His righteousness given to you. And finally, the third thing.
27:22: This blows my mind. Can make you bolder than Moses who stood before Pharaoh. And said, let my people go.
27:31: And led the people out of Egypt and into the wilderness. Verse 9.
27:41: Sorry, now verse 11. We did 9 and 10. For if what was being brought to an end.
27:48: There's three repetitions of this phrase. Verse 7, brought to an end. Verse 11, brought to an end.
27:53: Verse 13, brought to an end. If what was being brought to an end. Came with glory.
28:01: Much more will what is permanent. Have glory. We read in verse 12.
28:10: Since we have such a hope. We are very bold. Not like Moses. Who would put a veil over his face.
28:17: So that the Israelites might not gaze. At the outcome. Of what was being brought to an end.
28:23: You ever wondered. What is this veil that Moses wore? What was the purpose of that? The veil.
28:31: Was. A covering that he put over his face. Because. The glory that would appear on his face.
28:40: When he met with God. First of all on the mountain. And then whenever he'd go into the tent of meeting. And the cloud of glory would overshadow.
28:46: And he would talk to God. Face to face. As a friend talks to a friend. His face would be shining.
28:52: When he would come out of that meeting. But it was. Not permanent. That's the point. It began.
29:00: To fade. As soon as he left the presence of God. And so he would put the veil over his face.
29:08: So that the Israelites would not see. The fading glory. Isn't there a line of clothing called faded glory?
29:17: The glory is fading. In the old covenant. It's not permanent.
29:24: It's pointing to something permanent. The new covenant. But it's not permanent.
29:29: Why does this matter so much? Because in this new covenant. Where you believe in Christ.
29:35: His righteousness is given to you. His spirit comes to live inside. This ministry.
29:41: Is. Permanent. It is permanent. He will never leave you.
29:47: And you say wait a minute. I've really stumbled pretty bad here. I've fallen into sin. I'm sure he's done with me.
29:55: No he's not. That new covenant. Is a permanent covenant. He will never be done with you.
30:04: Jude 24 says. He will present you faultless. Before his throne with great joy. He can keep you from stumbling.
30:11: He has keeping power. And it's not like Moses. Moses was stricken by anxiety.
30:18: Because he saw that the glory was fading. We do not have to live.
30:24: With that anxiety any longer. We can stand on the promise here. In the scripture.
30:30: You can see it yourself. This covenant. Verse 11. Is permanent. It came with glory.
30:36: Much more will what is permanent. Have glory. I was watching
30:42: Mike Huckabee. The other day. And he had a funny one. He said that. This doctor.
30:48: Was a veterinarian. But also. A taxidermist. And the sign on his door.
30:57: His little motto said. Either way. You get to take your dog home. Listen.
31:05: That's not the kind of permanence. We're talking about here. We are talking about a permanence.
31:12: That comes from God. That never leaves you. Nor forsakes you.
31:18: A boldness. That's greater. Than the boldness that Moses had. Can you imagine that?
31:25: The one who led the people. In the wilderness. We have such a hope.
31:31: We are very bold. But not like Moses. Who would put a veil. So then. Next. Whatever came of that veil.
31:39: Moses died. Figuratively speaking. That veil. Remains over the eyes.
31:47: And the heart. Of those who reject. And don't see the glory.
31:53: In the face of Christ. So we'll see that now. You'll notice that. When you go out preaching. A lot of people reject.
31:59: What you have to say. Probably the majority. Right? And you think. Well maybe I'm just not. A good and powerful minister.
32:05: No. That's not the problem. You do your part. And preach. But here's where the problem lies. Their minds.
32:12: Were hardened. For to this day. When they read the old covenant. That same veil.
32:18: Remains unlifted. What same veil? The veil that was over Moses. To hide the glory.
32:25: From the people seeing it. Now on an individual basis. Every person. Who has not yet received.
32:32: That glory. Hasn't seen it. It's because there's a veil. It says.
32:37: That same veil. Remains unlifted. Because only through Christ. Is it taken away.
32:44: Through the supernatural power. Of the triune God. Lifting and removing the veil.
32:51: Through Christ. That's the only way. Yes. To this day.
32:56: Whenever Moses is read. A veil. Lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the
33:02: Lord. The veil. Is removed. The lifting of that veil.
33:09: Means the opening of their eyes. The opening of their heart. To hear and believe.
33:15: The gospel that we have to minister. John Owen said. The most tremendous judgment of God.
33:22: In this world. Is the hardening. Of the hearts of men. The hardening of the hearts of men.
33:31: When God. Like in Romans 1. Gives people over. To their own suppression of truth.
33:38: Gives them over. To do what ought not be done. And a hardening comes in.
33:44: Like a veil over the heart. John Owen calls that. The greatest judgment of God. To be given over.
33:53: It's a terrible place to be. It's not the case with us.
33:59: Brothers. Sisters. The last two verses. Where does this permanent hope.
34:05: End up for us. Unveiled looking at Christ. Empowers our transformation.
34:11: In ministry. Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is.
34:17: There is what? Freedom. And we all. With unveiled face.
34:25: Beholding the glory of the Lord. Are being transformed. Into the same image. From one degree.
34:32: Of glory. To another. For this comes from the Lord. Who is. The Spirit.
34:37: Again that Trinitarian language. It comes. From God. And the Spirit. Actually is God. Here's a great proof text.
34:44: If you need. A verse to prove. That the Holy Spirit. Actually is God. Even as the
34:49: Father. And the Son of God. The Spirit is God. But what's happening. In this verse.
34:55: That Spirit. Who lives inside of you. Is transforming you. It's a permanent relationship.
35:02: He's never going to leave you. He will complete the work. Philippians 1. 6. Well what is that work? Your transformation.
35:08: Your sanctification. If you have to pick a life verse. And you don't have one yet. Here's a good candidate.
35:16: Verse 18. Because the way. Sanctification happens. Is not by.
35:23: Greater and greater effort. By creating a checklist. Of all the things you have to do.
35:28: That's not how. Sanctification happens. Now we need. We do the ordinary means. Of grace. We read the scripture. We pray.
35:34: We take communion. We encourage baptisms. And we enjoy baptisms. Of others. And we witness.
35:40: And all these things. Help us in our faith. In our faith. But where does.
35:47: Sanctification. Fundamentally come from? Contrary to what the world.
35:52: Would probably assume. Which is. You have to do it. You have to work for it. You've got to earn it. No. What does this text say?
35:59: You have to behold. His glory. You have to look at Christ.
36:06: You have to set your eyes. Not on yourself. But on Christ. The author. And finisher. Finisher of your faith.
36:13: Who for the joy. Set before him. Endured the cross. Scorning its shame.
36:18: And sat down. At the right hand. Of the majesty in heaven. You have to look to Christ.
36:24: You have to go to the scripture. And say. Open my eyes. That I may see. Wondrous things out of your word.
36:30: And you look for Christ. In the scripture. You read of Christ.
36:37: And you set your mind on Christ. Because you have the mind of Christ. You think about his sacrifice.
36:44: You become Christological. In everything you do. It's how you behold him.
36:52: In prayer. And in the word. You set your mind on Christ. On the things above. You think about heaven.
37:00: That day when you'll see him. You remember that song by Mercy Me? I actually saw that last night. We got tickets. That were given to us.
37:07: To go see Mercy Me. It was awesome. But when that song came on. I can only imagine.
37:15: That's when in your mind. You transport yourself. And you say. What's it going to be like. When I see him face to face?
37:23: I noticed there was a Muslim lady there. Because she was hired to be an usher.
37:29: At that particular place. And all through the concerts. She just sat there.
37:35: Eating her snacks. And looking at her cell phone. But when the people stood up to sing. I can only imagine.
37:41: She looked mesmerized. And then it just went into amazing grace. How sweet the sound.
37:48: And you could just see this woman. She had a head covering on. You could see the look on her face. That she was seeing a glory.
37:57: That she never saw before. The glory of the spirit and truth. The message of the gospel.
38:04: Being sung. And the look on the faces of the people. In worship.
38:11: Confirmed. That they were seeing glory. That's where sanctification happens.
38:16: It happens in the spirit. In worship. That's why it's so important. When we gather on Sunday morning. That you're not just here.
38:22: To sing the words of the song. You're here to worship. In spirit and truth. To behold his glory.
38:28: When Michael. He's about to come up. To lead us in song. When we sing this last song.
38:35: Sing in spirit. And in truth. Beholding glory. The veil's been lifted.
38:41: Your eyes are open to see. Now look. Don't be distracted by the things of this world.
38:47: Because I admit it. I'm distracted. Are you? I get distracted by basketball. The NBA.
38:54: You know. What trades are happening. It's the off season. I'm interested. What's distracting you?
39:02: Is it watercolor? Is it another sport? Is it a certain relationship?
39:11: How about get your mind. On things above. Not on the things below. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
39:19: Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth. Will go strangely dim.
39:25: In the light of his glory. And grace. So worship team. Come on up. I want you to be confident.
39:38: I want you to be confident. In the new covenant. That you. Are indwelt by the spirit of the living
39:44: God. Be confident in the imputed righteousness of Christ.
39:51: Be confident in the permanence. Of his work in you. Not like Moses. You're in the new covenant.
39:59: You are kept. And you are secure in him. So look at him. And be transformed. And go.
40:06: In power. What does it say? Such confidence. Belongs to us.
40:12: We are. Very bold. Very bold. With the gospel.
40:18: Every one of us. Having a ministry. What's the ministry you're called to do? Maybe it's serving the kids.
40:24: In children's church. Maybe it's. Going out witnessing.
40:31: At laurel acres park. Every Tuesday night. Maybe it's. A prison ministry.
40:37: Or some other ministry. But we are all called. To be ministers of this gospel. And the new covenant.
40:43: Gives you the confidence. That only grows. It's not a confidence of ignorance. But a confidence in.
40:49: The new covenant work of God in you. So let's pray. Father we thank you.
40:55: For this passage of scripture. And we pray that you would. Embolden us today. My mind just goes to.
41:05: To Churchill right now. When. England was under assault by.
41:11: Hitler's army. And Churchill led.
41:18: England. Like a lion. And he says I had the privilege.
41:23: To be the roar of the lion. But England had the heart.
41:30: Of a lion. I thank you Lord for every. Christian.
41:36: Who fought in that war. They had hearts of lions. To fight for their country.
41:42: And their family. How much more. The church of the living
41:48: God. Pray in Jesus name that you give us. The hearts of lions.
41:55: For the battle that we face. Because this enemy is just as ferocious. As Hitler and the
42:01: Nazis. It's an ideological enemy. It's an entire world system.
42:09: That's bent. Against. The gospel of Jesus Christ. And here we are your church.
42:17: And so often we're just silent. Afraid to proclaim. The good news.
42:25: But this morning we pray. That you would embolden us. With your Holy Spirit. Remind us of the imputed righteousness.
42:32: That we have from Christ. Not something we earn. Remind us.
42:38: That you'll never leave or forsake us. That this is a permanent. Relationship with you.
42:44: So send us out. To roar like lions. Very bold.
42:51: With such confidence. That comes from the new covenant. And as we sing this last song
42:57: Lord. Come fill the praise of your people. Inhabit the praise of your people. That we would experience.
43:02: Your presence in worship. Spirit of the living