Well, let's look back in 2 Corinthians
chapter 3 this morning. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 that our
brother just read. The title of the message this
morning is A New and Greater Glory. A New and Greater Glory. We've been studying in the scriptures
in the past few weeks concerning the new creation. We've begun
this study in 2 Corinthians 5, and I've kind of used that passage
as a launch pad to study other subjects in light of the new
creation. Remember there in 2 Corinthians
5, 17, how it says that if any man be in Christ, he's a new
creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. And I've really just been studying
for my own personal study and for your benefit too. What is
this? What are these things that are
old and what are these things that are new? There's a lot of
misconception, a lot of confusion on that issue. And I've just
been taking several passages of scripture to study that issue.
And here's one of those passages, 2 Corinthians chapter 3. where
the Apostle Paul talks about the New Covenant or the New Testament. You know in the Bible, in the
New Testament, in the literature of the New Testament, you'll
see the word testament, you'll see the word covenant. They're
the same word. When he says over here, we're
ministers of the New Testament in verse 6, you could just as
well say ministers of the New Covenant. And we talked about
the New Covenant in Christ the last couple of messages. And I want to continue that here
to show what the apostle is writing of here, as he writes by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, is the greater glory, the eternal glory of the
new covenant, as contrasted with the old covenant. Now you know
the old covenant. What was the old covenant? That
was a physical, ceremonial, temporal, national covenant. that God made
with the nation Israel at Sinai. It's sometimes called the Law
of Moses, sometimes just referred to as the Law in the Bible. The
Old Testament, Old Covenant, the Sinaitic Covenant, some people
say, because it was made there by God with the children of Israel
through Moses at Sinai. And that old covenant was instituted
for several different reasons. The main reason that God brought
them together as a nation and kept them together in spite of
themselves was obviously to do what? It was to bring salvation
through the Lord Jesus Christ to his people because it was
through that nation that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ,
was to come. He was made of the seed of David,
specifically the tribe of Judah, the kingly tribe. He's one of
the sons of Jacob, Israel. And so that covenant was given
and sustained by God, mainly for that purpose. But there are
also other things about that covenant we could talk about.
And that's what Paul's talking about here in 2 Corinthians 3. That covenant had a glory. What
is glory? Well, glory is the honor of something,
isn't it? The beauty of something is the
glory. Something that enhances a thing,
a person, in the sense of bringing admiration and ultimately bringing
worship. And that old covenant had a glory.
The main glory of the old covenant is what I've just been talking
about. the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ that would come
through that nation to the world to save his people out of this
world, Jew and Gentile, not just the Jews, but all who would come
to believe on him and rest in him and to plead his blood and
his righteousness. That glory of the old covenant
was signified mainly in the tabernacle. the tabernacle of old, and you
know that tabernacle was a structure, the pattern of which was given
to Moses by God, how it was to be made, the materials and everything
about it, and it was given mainly to house the holiest of all,
the holy of holies as it was called, where there was a box,
and you know that box, it was measured out by God, it was made
of wood, Shittim wood, That was a picture, a type, a foreshadowing,
a symbol of the humanity of Jesus Christ. The sinless humanity
of Christ. And over that wood, it was overlaid
with gold. That was a picture, a type, a
symbol of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they put the
Ten Commandments, the two tablets of the Ten Commandments in that
box. That was the remade tablets.
You know the first ones were broken when Moses threw them
down. When he came down out of the mountain after getting the
law, and he saw the children worshipping the golden calf.
So that box had the broken tablets, and that symbolized the law of
God as given to man, which did one thing mainly, and that was
to expose us for what we are, sinners. who fall short of the
glory of God. And then there came that other
piece of furniture on that box called the mercy seat. Now there's
where the glory of God shines forth in all of its greatness. What we call the effulgence of
the glory of God. That was a lid. It was made of
the same materials, the wood and overlaid with gold. And that
lid was put over that box, you know, it had the cherubim which
symbolized the messengers of God coming over it. And they put that, they covered
that, the broken law with the mercy seat. And all of that was
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ in His redemptive glory. That's
what the old Jewish writers, the ancients, called the Shekinah
glory. You know the word Shekinah is
a derivative of a Hebrew word which simply means presence.
And what it symbolizes, you remember in Exodus 25, God said above
that mercy seat, based on what? Now what was it based on? Anybody
know? The blood. That was the blood
of an animal taken from off the brazen altar which had been slain.
The animal that had been slain. And the blood was sprinkled over
the mercy seat by the high priest one time a year through that
veil. And there was the redemptive
glory of God. That's the Shekinah. Now all
of that was a picture, a type, a symbol of something greater
and even more glorious to come. And that's the actual coming
of the Messiah into the world to do His great work for His
people. And I remember Brother Mahan described it one time like
this. It's kind of like some of You ladies who have a husband
who's in the military and they send him overseas. You haven't
seen your husband for months or even maybe a year or two.
And you've got a picture. And you look at that picture
and it just wells up within you the love and your desire to see
and to embrace your husband. But then one day a knock comes
or he comes through the door and there he is in person. You
put down the picture. There's something better. And
that's his presence. You see? And that's kind of like
what Paul's describing here in 2 Corinthians 3 of the greater
glory of the new covenant. Christ has come. Now he starts
out in chapter 3 defending himself against false preachers who decided
to attack Paul. And that's the way false preachers
do. They attack the person. Basically, they said Paul is
not qualified to be an apostle. He has no credentials. He has
no letters of commendation from the powers that be, like us,
they would say. And that's why Paul starts out
here. He says, do we begin again to commend ourselves? Do I have
to commend myself to you? Or need we, as some or some others,
epistles, letters of commendation to you? Do I need credentials?
or letters of commendation from you. Is that what this is all
about, this ministry? Is it about the right reverend
doctor so and so who got a letter of commendation from somebody,
if I call his name, would really just impress the heck out of
you? Is that what this is all about? Well, if it is, we're
in trouble. Because let me tell you what
it's all about. It's all about a man standing behind his pulpit
preaching Christ to you. Now that's what it's all about.
And that's really the only commendation a minister of Christ, a true
minister of Christ should need for the people of God. And from
that, by that pitiful instrument that God uses, that clay pot
that God uses, he's pleased to save them which come unto him
by Christ. It pleased the Father. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching. Not by letters of commendation.
Not by credentials. Not by the recommendations of
somebody who would really impress you. But simply a man standing
up behind a pulpit like old John the Baptist and pointing you
to Christ. Telling you about His blood. of the Lamb of God. What more
recommendation do I need to you? I'm going to tell you about His
blood, the sufficiency and the power of His blood to save His
people from their sins. Talking about His righteousness.
And I don't care that people say, well you preach that too
much. I hope they keep saying that. Because I'm going to keep
doing it. Put that on my tombstone. When you talk about Noah, when
Peter talked about Noah, he didn't identify Noah as the one who
built the ark even though he was. And that's something now. I'm not going to belittle it.
He said Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Now whose righteousness
do you think Noah preached? His own? If he preached his own
and he had one of his own, he wouldn't have had to gotten on
the ark. But he had to be on that ark.
That ark was Christ. That's a picture, a symbol of
Christ. And I'll tell you what, I'm more impressed with a man
who preaches Christ than with one who would come out today
and build a replica of the Ark. Because you see, we've got something
better than that physical Ark. We've got Christ, who is our
Ark. And in Him, we're safe and secure for salvation. And we
need no other. I'm not impressed by movies.
I know people flock to them and all that. I'm impressed by the
preaching of Christ. And that's the commendation.
But look here, he says, he begins to talk about the greater glory
of the new covenant. Now, when we talk about the new
covenant, I know, like I've told you this, that how sometimes
it's kind of difficult to get this in our minds, The new covenant,
we are a new covenant church. We are new covenant Christians.
We're not under the old covenant in any shape, form, or fashion.
We're not under the law. I know what people say in opposition.
They say, well, you're an antinomian. That means against the law, and
that's not true. In fact, the greatest antinomians are the
ones who are trying to keep the law and who are trying to bring
it back into existence in the sense of putting people under
that law. They put them under bondage.
But he begins talking about how much better the new covenant
is than the old covenant. Now the new covenant, remember
this, it's new in time. It's not new in origin in the
sense that its message is fresh and new in the sense that it
had a beginning in time. Now, the new covenant is the
fulfillment in time of the everlasting covenant of grace made before
time. So when we talk about the gospel of the new covenant, we're
preaching the terms of an eternal covenant. And I know that, like
I said, I know it's maybe a little difficult to get it in our minds,
but don't worry about that. Listen to what he says here.
First of all, he puts it forth this way. He said the new covenant,
the new covenant here, This new and greater glory is new because
it brings the people of God from tables of stone to tables of
the heart. Listen, he says in verse 2, he
says, you are our epistle written in our hearts. Now he's talking
about how he feels about them who believe the gospel. Those
who have been brought to believe the gospel, you're my letter
of commendation. Known and read of all men. That's
something. Paul's saying, I don't have any
need for letters of commendation from men because the Corinthian
believers were his commendation. Look over at chapter 5. Here's
what I believe he's saying. And look at verse 12 of chapter
5, 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 12. He says, for we commend not
ourselves again to you, but give you occasion to glory on our
behalf that you may have somewhat to answer them which glory in
appearance and not in heart. And what he's saying here is
this, the glory of this thing, the glory of the gospel, the
glory of Christ, put it that way, and the glory of the new
covenant is not in how you appear to be or letters of commendation,
outward credentials and reputations. but the fact that your heart's
been changed. You've been given a new heart.
How do you know that, Paul? Because they're looking to Christ
for all salvation. They're resting in Him. They're
pleading His blood and righteousness. They glory in the cross. That's
what he's talking about. That's the glory of this thing.
That's the great change. People stand up and give their
testimonies and send chills up each other's backs by talking
about how they came from great depths of immorality to high
acts of morality. Now look, we promote morality. We don't promote immorality.
And I'm glad when a person gets out of the gutter or is brought
out of the gutter, whatever it is. But that in itself is not
the glory of the new covenant. It's not the glory of the gospel.
The glory of the gospel, the glory that is a changed heart
that brings a sinner to see his sinfulness and his depravity
even based upon his highest acts of morality and which drives
him to Christ for all righteousness. for all forgiveness, for all
eternal life and glory. And so Paul is saying here, you're
our epistle written in our hearts. We love you. We're knit together. We're in fellowship together.
And he says in verse three, for as much as you are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ, who's the one who wrote
that letter? Your heart. Who's the one who
created that new heart? Christ is. Not Paul. Not the
minister. The preacher didn't save you.
Christ did, if you're saved. The preacher didn't give you
a new heart. Christ did, if you have one. The preacher didn't
give you a new mind, a new spirit. See, all that's new. We're going
to talk more about that in coming messages, you know. But that's
not the work of the preacher. It's not the work of the church.
It's not the work of anything you do or don't do or stop doing
or start doing. It's the work of Christ. He sends
forth His Spirit to give life. This body is dead because of
sin. You see, this newness is not
our appearance. If it were, then none of us are
new because you all are getting older. Oh, I am too. This body is not
new. This body is old. Getting older. There's something new. And it's
a spiritual heart. The body is dead because of sin,
but the spirit is life because of what? Righteousness. Now,
where are you going to get righteousness? Not from me. Not from you. From Christ. His obedience unto
death. His righteousness imputed, accounted,
and received by God-given faith. And he says in verse three, for
as much as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of
Christ, ministered by us, we're just the servants who pointed
you to Christ. You say, you're the epistle of
Christ. You're the letter he wrote. You're
saved by grace in him. We're just the servants. We're
just the signpost. Just the voice. And he says,
written not with ink. Now the written with ink, that
refers to the written law. But with the Spirit of the Living
God. This has nothing to do with the written law. It has to do
with the law written on your heart. And the Spirit of God
did that. Not in tables of stone. That's
the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments was not
the whole law, but it was the basis of it. Because it exposed
the sin of the people. But he says, but in fleshy tables
of the heart. Now the word flesh there is not
referring to flesh in the sense of evil and sin. You know, a
lot of times when you see the word flesh, it means sin, it
means evil. But here it's just simply referring
to the pliable heart. Over in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36, This fleshy heart, the fleshy
tables of the heart that he's talking about is described in
verse 25 when he's talking about new covenant blessings. And he
says, then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall
be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols I will
cleanse you. That's the cleansing of the spirit
who brings a sinner to Christ. That's what he's talking about
there. The heart cleansed by faith. The blood of bulls and
goats couldn't do that, see. And the ceremonial washings under
the Old Covenant couldn't do that. The writer of Hebrews said
it could sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, that is the physical
thing. It was a ceremonial cleansing,
but it wasn't a spiritual cleansing. And so he says in verse 26, a
new heart also will I give you. What's new? You have a new heart. and a new spirit. What's the
spirit there? Well, that's the inner person,
that's the inner man, that's the mind, the affections and
the will. That's new. And he says, and I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh. Now the stony heart is
the hard heart, the impenitent heart, the unregenerate heart. Stubborn, stiff-necked, impudent,
all of those terms. That's the depraved heart. That's
the deceitful heart. Remember Jeremiah said the heart's
deceitful, desperately wicked. Above all things, who can know
it? He said, I'm going to take that stony heart out of your
flesh. And I will give you a heart of flesh, humble, pliable, submissive. That's what he's talking about.
Now that's what he means over here in 2 Corinthians 3 and verse
3, the fleshy tables of the heart. Whereas before, I was a hard-hearted,
self-righteous religionist. Now I'm like that old publican,
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I submit to God's judgment of
me. Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, who would stand? Not me. I'm a sinner. I must have Christ. The law was
external. The Old Covenant. You could hold
the tablets of stone in your hands. You could do it your whole
life. And it could never change your
life. It could change your mind, your heart, your spirit, anything.
Your view of things. But the New Testament ministry
is a powerful, sovereign, internal work of the Spirit of God based
on The redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The spirit of the living God
in empowering us to believe in Him. This is the change of heart. Look at Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah
described it here. Verse 31. Jeremiah 31, 31. He's prophesying of the time
of the new covenant. And he said, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Now that's spiritual
Israel. Israel, meaning those who have
prevailed with the Lord. Judah, meaning praise. Those
are sinners come to Christ. And he says, Not according to
the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that
I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt,
which my covenant they break. Israel broke the covenant, the
old covenant. It was conditioned on them. Incidentally,
that's another testimony of the Old Covenant that any time salvation
or any part of it is suspended on the sinner or conditioned
on the sinner, it'll fail. It'll fail. That's why when preachers
get up and preach a gospel that suspends salvation or any part
of it on you, they're preaching a false gospel. It's all suspended
on Christ. It's all conditioned on Christ.
And you know what? He met and fulfilled all the
conditions. It's finished, he said. So look
here, he said, they break. Although I wasn't husband unto
them, saith the Lord. Later on you find that the Lord
gives them a bill of divorcement. And it's for two reasons. because
of their spiritual adultery and their idolatry and their abandonment. They turned their backs on the
Lord. Now that's what man by nature does if left to himself.
But look at verse 32 or verse 33. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my law in their inward parts. That's the
heart. I'm gonna write it on their heart.
What does that put their law, put his law in their inward parts
and write it in their hearts? Well, that's conviction of sin.
Paul said it in Romans chapter 7, before I knew, before I really
understood the spirituality of the law, I thought I was okay,
I thought I was fine, I thought I was righteous. But then the
law came, the power of the Spirit written on my heart and I saw,
I died. The law kills me. And so he says, And I will be
their God and they shall be my people. That's a marriage union
of His people with God. Now go back to 2 Corinthians
3. Well, that's what he's saying. Look at verse 4. He says, Such
trust have we through Christ to God. In other words, this
is all of God in Christ. Every bit of it. Your new heart. If you've got a new heart. Your
new spirit. That's all of God in Christ. The Holy Spirit's
work in us is all of God in Christ. That's the new birth. That's
regeneration, ruined by the fall, redeemed by the blood, regenerated
by the Spirit. It's all the work of God in Christ. Christ is our life. Life comes
from Him by means of the Spirit imparting knowledge, life, grace
to His people. And that's what it's all about.
And he says in verse 5, not that we're sufficient of ourselves
to think anything is of ourselves, but our sufficiency is God. Now
this is, the sufficiency of this, the excellency of it, the power
of it, the success of it, is not of us. I mean, that's right. It's all of God. And our preaching
and our persevering, it's not of us, it's all of God. Verse
6, who also hath made us able ministers. Now, able. You know
what an able minister is? It's a sinner who preaches Christ. And here's how it goes. He's
able to save to the uttermost them that come unto the Father
by him. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able.
The able minister is the one who preaches the ability of Christ
to save your soul. That's what it is. And he's made
us able ministers of the New Testament, the new covenant,
not the old covenant. We don't preach the blood of
bulls and goats. We're not, listen, we're not under the Ten Commandments
as a covenant. That doesn't mean that the moral
principles of the Ten Commandments are still not enforced. They
were enforced before the Ten Commandments. Do you know that
when Cain murdered Abel, he committed a sin? Did you know that? That
didn't start at Sinai. Do you know that it was always
forbidden to worship other gods? That didn't start at Sinai. That
was codified at Sinai, given to Israel in that system for
that purpose. It's just as sinful to murder
today as it was then. But we're not under that system
now. We're not under the law. We're ministers of the new covenant,
verse 6, not of the letter. The letter there refers to the
written law. but of the spirit. Now, sometimes when you read
the New Testament, you'll see the word spirit. And sometimes
it refers to the spirit that's in us by the new spirit in regeneration,
new life. And sometimes it refers to the
Holy Spirit. And for whatever reason, sometimes
when it refers to the Holy Spirit, anytime it refers to the Holy
Spirit, it ought to be capitalized. Well, this is referring to the
Holy Spirit. And it should be capitalized.
Listen to it. For the letter killeth, but the
Spirit giveth life. The Spirit quickeneth. Now who
does the quickening? The Spirit does. The Holy Spirit. He's the third person of the
Trinity who applies what Christ purchased on Calvary to his people.
So what he's saying here is that the New Covenant, the New Testament,
is a ministry of the Holy Spirit. And it is. Now what does the
Holy Spirit do? Turn to John chapter 16. What
is the Holy Spirit's work? Well, if you have the Holy Spirit,
you'll be able to jump up and down over the pews and talk in
tongues. No. No. That's not what this is about. Were they able to speak in tongues
in the early church? Yes. I don't know if they jumped
over pews or not, it doesn't say anything about that, but
they were able to speak in tongues. What does that mean? That means
they were able to preach the gospel and testify of Christ
in a foreign language that they had not learned before. It would
be like if I could all of a sudden start speaking to you in Spanish,
which I don't know. Si, si, senor is all I know,
but I don't know how to speak Spanish. But now if there was
a bunch of Spanish-speaking people who come into our congregation
and they didn't understand English, then what that gift referred
to was the fact that God would give me the spiritual ability
to speak them in a language to point them to Christ that they
could understand. It wasn't some kind of a heavenly
gibberish that nobody interpreted. You read 1 Corinthians 14 and
10, there's got to be an interpreter. And I'll guarantee you, some
of these guys today, the way they talk, you know, they get up there
and you ask somebody to interpret, and everybody else says, I don't
know what they said. And they don't either. Unless they were
asking for money, then they know what they said. But I'm telling
you, that's not what the gift of tongues was about. But look
here in John 16. What is the Spirit's work? Well,
it says in verse 8, he's talking about the Holy Spirit, the Lord
is. He says, when he's come, he will reprove, that is, convict
the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because
they believe not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because the
prince of this world is judged. He said, I have yet many things
to say in you, but you cannot bear them. Now, how be it when
he, the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you in all truth,
for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. Look
at verse 14. He shall glorify me, for he shall
receive of mine and shall show it unto you. He's going to glorify
the son and show you things of Christ. That's the Spirit's work. How do I know the Holy Spirit
has done a powerful, miraculous, sovereign, effectual, invincible
work in giving me a new heart? I'll tell you how. God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's right. He brought His people to conviction
of sin. Now go back to 2 Corinthians
3. The Spirit giveth life. That's the quickening work of
the Spirit. That's the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. What
does He do? He gives life, spiritual life.
Gives a new heart, a new mind, new affections, new will, new
goals. We'll talk more about all of
those things. But it's all wrapped up and centered around the person,
the glorious person, the God-man of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the finished work of Christ. Now how do you know that? Well
look, now look at verse seven, he says, but if the ministration
of death, now here, what he's going to show is that this new
covenant brings its life from the dead. And he calls it the
ministration of death. Now that was the old covenant.
All right? Incidentally, I didn't mention
this, but you know, he said the new covenant, New Testament.
There are, basically there are two Greek, main words for new. One of them means new in time,
and that's what I was telling you, that the new covenant is
the establishment in time of the terms of the everlasting
covenant of grace. See, the blood of Christ is called
both the blood of the everlasting covenant and the blood of the
new covenant. So you have that new in time. And then there's
the word new that means new in quality. It brings something
better. That's the word here. New in
quality. New and better. And what he's
saying is here, the old covenant, that was the ministration of
death. Now how was the old covenant a deadly thing? Well, all it
did, in and of itself, was to remind them of how they're condemned
in sin and deserve death. It was a continuum. It could
not, Hebrews 9 says, it could not make their consciences free
and clear. It was always a reminder, I'm
a sinner and I deserve death, death, death. The blood of bulls
and goats could not take away sin. That old covenant priesthood
could not make me accepted before God. It could not make me righteous. It was the ministration of death.
It was written and engraved in stones. It was glorious now. It had a glory so that the children
of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for
the glory of his countenance, that's his appearance, which
glory was to be done away. Now that's referring to Exodus
34 when Moses came down out of that mountain and there was such
a physical manifestation of light that they couldn't look at his
face. He had to put a veil over his face. But what does he say about it?
That was to be done away. That didn't last. That was a
physical thing. And so he says in verse 8, How
shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?
Now the ministration of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, that's not a
physical thing. In other words, when God saves you, when the
Holy Spirit regenerates you, I've got news for you, you don't
have light coming out of your eyes. You have light going in. Because
you see something. Look across the page. 2 Corinthians
4. You don't have a halo, you don't
sprout wings, and you don't glow unless you've been to some nuclear
plant that's got a leak. You don't glow. You may smile
more. You may not. It has nothing to
do with that outward countenance, that appearance. Alright? Look
at 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 3. But if our gospel be hid,
it's hid to them that are lost. in whom the God of this world,
that Satan, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants, for
Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
has shined in our hearts, our minds, our affections, our wills,
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. You see Christ now like you've
never seen Him before. You've got a different view of
Christ. You see Him not just as somebody who was a martyr
or who was a good example of morality and dedication and sincerity. You see Him as your life, your
righteousness. Look over at 2 Corinthians 5
and verse 16. Paul describes it here when he's
talking about the new creation. He says, wherefore henceforth
know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Now, when
Saul of Tarsus looked at Jesus of Nazareth in the flesh, what
did he see? Well, I'll tell you what he would
have said. I saw a lawbreaker, a blasphemer, a malefactor, somebody
who needs to be shut up and put in jail. That's how he looked
at him. But no more. Seemed differently
now. When he saw him on the Damascus
road, how did he see? By the power of the Spirit, he
saw the glorified, resurrected Redeemer. He saw himself differently. See, this is all new to him. Whereas before, he thought, man,
I'm okay, I'm righteous, I'm a Pharisee, I'm a Jew. I've made
it. Then he said, when I saw the
glory of Christ, I count all that but dung. See, that's a
different view, isn't it? That which you thought recommended
you unto God, now you see it as dung? That's a new way of
looking at something, isn't it? Here he saw Jesus of Nazareth
as a blasphemer. Now he's God in human flesh. without sin. Now he's the Lord
of glory. Now he's the Lord my righteousness. Now he's my Redeemer. See the
difference? That's what he's talking about
here. How much more glorious is that? Verse 9 of 2 Corinthians
3, For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more
doth the ministration of righteousness exceed the glory. This new And
greater glory is the glory of righteousness established. You
see, the old covenant law could not, listen, the old covenant
law could show a sinner his sin, but couldn't do anything about
it. The old covenant law could show a sinner what righteousness
is, but could not give him, create or make him righteous. But the
ministration of righteousness exceeds in glory. What is that?
That's the gospel of God wherein the righteousness of God is revealed.
That's the work of Jesus Christ in His obedience unto death.
The ministration of righteousness is not because there's a better
class of people today than there were back then. A more dedicated, less rebellious,
less stubborn. There are people now who will
cooperate, and they'll give in, and they'll walk an aisle, and
they'll do this, and they'll get baptized. But them fellas
back then, they were just impudent, hard-hearted, stiff. No, sir.
We're no better than they. And my friend, if you've submitted
to Christ as the Lord your righteousness, I'll tell you exactly why you
did it. It's because the power of God Almighty entered your
life, and brought you to see your sin, and made you willing
in the day of his power. And that's it. You see, we're
brought from condemnation to righteousness. That's it. Christ is our righteousness. He fulfilled the law, not us.
And right now, as a sinner saved by grace, we don't fulfill the
law by our works. We don't. I know some people
think they do, but they don't. They think too highly of themselves.
When I take my last breath here on this earth, I will not be
able to say that finally, well, I fulfilled the law by my believing
or dedication or whatever. It's all Christ. And so he says,
in verse 10, for even that which was made glorious had no glory
in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth. When
you compare the glory that you do see, and we read about it,
in the Old Testament, the glory that you do see in the Old Covenant,
when you see that. And we read a lot about it. I
mean, there were some glorious things there. I mean, think about
that tabernacle and that holy of holies, the priesthood. I mean, that was a glorious thing.
That was something to see. Think about all the dealings
of God with Israel throughout their history as a nation, 1,500
years, even in their beginning. the plagues in Egypt, the parting
of the Red Sea, the manna that fell from heaven, the rock that
brought water, I mean all that was something, wasn't it? The
tearing down of Jericho, all that was glorious, you see, and
what I mean by that is every bit of that revealed something
about the greatness of God, didn't it? Not the greatness of the,
none of it had anything to do with the greatness of the nation. Just like our salvation, it all
has to do with the greatness of Christ. None of it has to
do with our greatness or our goodness. But all that glory,
when you compare it with the glory of God in Christ, that's
no glory at all. You suppose if somebody could
come in and actually raise the dead, that you'd be impressed? That'd be something, wouldn't
it? Now you know it had to be the power of God, because only God gives
life and takes life. That's right. That's what the
Bible says. Well, the Lord told a man in
hell, he said, even though people see that, they won't repent.
But they have Moses and the prophets. They have the Word of God. What
He meant was the Gospel of Christ. That's even more glorious, more
powerful. There's nothing more glorious or more powerful than
what we have in the preaching of Christ. And when God is pleased
in His sovereign power to give a sinner a new heart and bring
that sinner, that's a glorious thing. Redounding to His glory. in Christ.