Alright, turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 3. Last week our subject was the
glory that excelleth. And Paul told us something in
here in just a few brief verses. He tells us about that there
was a glory of God associated with the giving of the law. The
glory of God's presence, His Shekinah glory, it says, shone
in the tabernacle and in the giving of the law. And even the
face of Moses, who was the man through whom this law was given,
his face shone with such brilliance that they had to put a veil on
him. And this veil was typical of the end of that law, which
was Christ. And the veil was typical of that
blindness that was upon men. It ministered death, Paul said.
The law did. It ministered death to the hearer.
And it ministered death because it demands continual obedience
in motive, thought, and deed, but it provides no assistance.
It demands obedience, but it doesn't give assistance. It demands love. Perfect, pure
love for God and love for our neighbor. We're to love our neighbors
ourselves. It demands this, but it gives
no assistance. It offers no pardon. There's no pardon in the law.
The law demands obedience. The law will give reward, but
the law cannot give pardon. The law offers no mercy. offers
no forgiveness for sins. The law, strictly speaking, here's
how it's stated in the Word of God, the soul that sinneth shall
surely die. Not much hope in that, is there?
It says this, cursed is everyone who continueth not in all things
written in the book of the law to do them. The law does not
justify, the law condemns. It condemns. And what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped. These things that the law saith
is not for your salvation. The things that the law, the
purpose of the law is to shut you up to mercy and grace. It's
to shut you up to Christ. It's to prove to you beyond a
shadow of a doubt that there's no hope in yourself, no hope
in your works outside of Christ. And the law, Paul said, is a
killing letter. Only thing it can do for a sinner
is show him his sins. Paul said, by the law is the
knowledge of sin. But it offers no hope to a sinner,
no prospect of righteousness, no place of peace or rest. By
the deeds of the law, now listen to this, there shall no flesh
be justified in God's sight. And yet men are going about,
same way Israel did, to produce a righteousness by which they
hope to be justified before God. Well, does those things reveal
a weakness in the law? No, sir. These things reveal
the total inability and depravity of man. And that's what Paul
tells us. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. It strips us. It condemns us.
And it takes away our excuses. And it leaves us with nowhere
else to turn. Paul said, as the old school
master, it brings us to Christ to be justified by faith. That's
what the law does. That is, to see that perfect
justification in Christ, to see our glorious God as just and
justifier of all that believe in Him. So that the glory of
Christ eclipses, it eclipses the glory of the law. Because
the law was just a means set forth. It wasn't the justification.
It was just the means to bring us to Christ to be justified
by faith. And so that this glory that's
associated with Christ eclipses the glory of that law. The law
offers no hope to a sinner, no prospect of righteousness, no
place of rest. Now let's look at the last verses
of chapter 3 here in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 3, we'll begin
reading here in verse 12. Seeing then that we have such
hope, a hope of righteousness without the works of the law.
Romans 3.21. A hope of mercy based upon the
appointment of a covenant surety, a daysman. a sovereign mediator,
representative and substitute. Seeing them, we have such hope,
one who entered into heaven itself by his own blood and obtained
eternal redemption for us. Seeing that we have such hope,
one who sits at the right hand of God, whoever liveth to make
intercession for us, who alone has all power in heaven and earth
to give us eternal life. Seeing then that we have such
hope, Paul said, we use great plainness of speech. Great plainness
of speech. We don't have to talk and walk
in craftiness or handle the Word of God deceitfully. I don't have
to do that. All I have to do is tell you the truth. Just tell
you the truth. I don't have to hide behind things. Oh, you can't say that, you'll
offend somebody. This thing's already been worked
out. It's already been worked out. I don't have to walk in
craftiness or handle the Word of God deceitfully. I don't have
to hide the Word of God in clever sayings or simply ignore it or
only quote bits and pieces of the Scriptures. I'm telling you,
the religion that I was in, I don't know about you, but the religion
I was in, they were famous for getting little bits and pieces
of Scripture as a proof text. One that comes to mind is that
God's not willing for any to perish. It's not God's will for
you to perish. And they go on and on and on
with that, especially toward the end of the service, trying
to get somebody to come down and make a profession of faith.
It's not God's will that any should perish, but that all should
come under repentance. Problem is, that's not what their
verse says. It says God is longsuffering
to usward. That's why the world's being
preserved. Because God is long-suffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come unto repentance. All creation waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God. That's what it says over
in Romans chapter 8. We don't have to hide our sayings
by taking little bits and pieces here and there. We can just use
great plainness of speech policy. The work's not dependent on me.
I don't have to beg men and fool men and try to motivate men. I just have to tell them the
truth. Tell them the truth. It's not in my hands to convince
anybody of anything. I just produce the argument.
I just make the declaration. The Holy Spirit of God convinces. We have a certain competent expectation. And it's based on the person
and work of Christ, based on His life and death and resurrection,
based on His present reign and glory. And I have no reason because
of that to fear any man or fear failure or feel rejection or
feel defeated. I don't have any reason for that. The commission to take His Gospel
and preach it to every creature is preceded with these words,
all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Now you go
preach. You go preach. The person of
Jesus Christ and the work He accomplished as a man flows like
a red thread throughout the Scriptures. I don't care where you go, we've
already been through Genesis and Exodus and I've showed you
those things. And this work that He accomplished,
it wasn't done in a corner. It wasn't done in a corner. His
birth, His life, His death, His resurrection were foretold thousands
of years before His coming. And then there's witnesses. When
He did come, He had witnesses, hundreds of witnesses, men and
women who saw these things and testified of these things. And
God Himself not only approved Christ and confirmed Him, but
He also confirmed His witnesses. with miracles and wonders and
signs and gifts of the Holy Ghost that He gave them according to
His own will. This thing wasn't done in a corner.
It wasn't done without evidence. And I don't fear rejection, failure,
defeat, or even the nature of a fallen man. I don't have to
walk on eggshells and tiptoe through the tulips, no pun intended, because of the certainty of His
accomplished redemption. and the glory manifested by Him,
I can use great plainness of speech. And should. And should. I can tell you without hesitation
that every sinner given to Christ before the world began will ultimately
be raised and spend eternity with the Lord. Not one doubt. Our Lord said in John 6, verse
40, This is the will of him. Now, this is him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. And this is
the will of him which hath sent me, that every one that seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and
I'll raise him up at the last day. All which the Father hath
given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. And Paul said back in 2 Corinthians
2.14, God always causes us to triumph in Christ. I don't have to whisper in a
back alley about particular redemption. I remember when I first began
to see some of these things in the Scriptures, I'd never even
read them before, let alone heard somebody preach about them or
teach these things. And I began to see a few things
in there. We had so much controversy going
on, we had to kind of hide after church. We'd go somewhere and
get a sandwich or something, two or three of us, and we'd
sit around and talk about it. But you dare not say anything in
a congregation, you'd be kicked out. I don't have to whisper in back
alleys anymore about particular redemption, about election, predestination,
or effectual calling. I don't have to cover my mouth
and muddle my speech concerning God's everlasting covenant of
grace. Well, preachers don't believe
that. It's all right. It's so anyway. Your believing something or my
believing something doesn't necessarily make it so. It's so whether you
believe it or not. And I've got a good hope through
grace, and I want you to have one too. There's no other hope for sinners,
no other foundation laid, none other name unto heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved. Now look down here at
verse 13. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 13. And not as Moses, which put a
veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not
steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished, but
their minds were blinded. For until this day remaineth
the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament,
which veil is done away in Christ." There's only one way a depraved
sinner can view the glory associated with the law, and that is to
be veiled. That's the only way he can see
it. The glory of God's holiness, righteousness, and justice slay
all them that see it. Slay. No man, he said, can look
on me and live, Exodus 33, 20. Israel viewed the law as it were
veiled with his glory hidden. And this veil prevented them
from steadfastly looking to the end of the law. Now, Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
But they couldn't see that for the veil. The veil. Verse 14,
but their minds were blinded. Oh, this wasn't just a cloth
hung on Moses' face. This was typical of something.
This was saying more than they just couldn't see his outward
countenance because it glowed with the glory of God. This is
typical of something. Now listen to this. Their minds
were blinded. For until this day remaineth
the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament
which veil is done away in Christ. Any man, any denomination, any
nation who preaches, believes in, or hopes in the keeping of
the law by ungodly sinners still has this veil over their face. They can't see to the end of
this thing of Christ. They can't see it. They can't
see. They're yet in the darkness of
their nature, and they cannot bear to look on the glory of
Christ, who exalted the law and made it honorable. And they're
still going about, just going about. I don't care what religion
it is. They're going about to produce a righteousness of some
kind, and will not submit to the righteousness
of God in Christ. These blind leaders of the blind,
they read the Old Testament and they apply its record to moral
lessons and directions for holy living. I've listened to them. I've listened to the stories
of Samson and listened to the stories of this one and that
one and David and all these Old Testament saints. Verse 15, But
even unto this day, when Moses is raised, What did Moses write? He wrote the first five books
of the Bible. When Moses is read, the veil
is upon their heart. It's upon their heart. Not only
is their eyes blinded to the truth and their minds, but also
their hearts. You cannot preach peace to a
people whose eyes, ears, and hearts are veiled. You can't
reason with them. Salvation requires a new birth. It's not just a man, a very clever
man with words and sentences and hiding things and using the
Word of God with craftiness and so on. It's not that that it
takes to convince the man. I can't convince you of anything.
It requires a new birth. It requires the Spirit of God
enabling you to see the truth. I can preach the truth. I'm under
the commandment of God to preach the truth. But I have no such commandment
as to convince you of anything. That's the work of the Holy Spirit.
Salvation requires a new birth. Except you be born again, you
cannot perceive the kingdom of God. Salvation requires a divine
revelation. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2,
listen to this, verse 9, he said, I hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, that is mankind,
natural man, the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. And all true preaching
is not with enticing words of men's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. We simply declare the revelation
that God gave to us, how God can save sinners and be just
and righteous in doing it. And we declare that to men. And
we declare it in plain, simple language. And we do so in demonstration
of the Spirit and power. And why is that? Well, 1 Corinthians
2, 5 gives you the answer that your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. What unlocks the heart? Here's
what I'm trying to teach you out of these passages. What unlocks
the heart is true understanding. That's the only thing that will
do it. That's what unlocks the heart. You shall know the truth,
our Lord said. And the truth shall set you free.
That is what is going to set you free. Not a good feeling. Not a warm feeling. The truth. Verse 16. He is talking
about this veil. This whole nation of Israel except
for a few individuals were blinded. Totally blinded. Nevertheless,
verse 16, when it shall turn to the Lord, That is the Lord
Jesus Christ, Christ in Him crucified. When it shall turn to the Lord,
the veil shall be taken away. That which veiled you from the
truth will disappear. It will disappear. Well, what's
that called? That's called effectual calling.
That's what that is. This is called our gospel coming
to you, not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost. When will a man turn to the Lord?
He'll turn when he hears the truth, and God the Holy Spirit
persuades him of the truth and takes away the veil. Then he'll
turn. He'll turn. Verse 17, Now the
Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's
liberty. Now I want you to listen to something
here, probably something you've never thought about. He doesn't
use the term the Holy Spirit here. He says the Lord is that
Spirit. Now we know who the Lord is.
That's the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is that Spirit. And
Paul states this in exactly this way, because superstitious men
reveal in an unfounded work of the Spirit such evidences as
speaking in tongues and spiritual gifts evidences which are contrary
to the work of the Holy Ghost. I want you to turn with me to
John chapter 16. I'll see if I can make this a
little clearer. Anytime some preacher gets up
and he's talking about the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost, the Holy
Ghost, and he goes on and on and on talking about the Holy
Ghost, he doesn't know the Holy Ghost. Having set before us the
operation of the Holy Ghost, the Lord says this about the
Spirit. John 16, verse 13, Howbeit, when
He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into 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. He shall
glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and show it unto you."
Now that's the work of the Holy Spirit. In Galatians chapter
4 verse 6, the Holy Spirit now is called the Spirit of His Son. The Spirit of His Son. In 1 Peter
1, verse 11, He is called the Spirit of Christ. Do you remember
He was talking about back in the days of Noah? Those men who
had the Spirit of Christ in them? In John 14, having told His disciples
that He Himself was the Truth, He then tells them He would send
forth the Spirit of Truth after He was gone. So where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there's liberty. There's liberty because they
shall know the truth and the truth shall set them free. What
truth? The truth about Jesus Christ. That's why He's called
the Spirit of Christ because that's what He teaches. That's
what He empowers. That's what He convinces of.
And there's liberty because the veil of the law and self-righteousness
and all these things is taken out of the way. Now there's liberty. There's liberty. Salvation by grace is revealed. There's liberty because He enables
us to be partakers with the enlightened saints. And where the spirit
of liberty, where this spirit of illumination is, a setting
free from darkness and the curse of the law, and a liberty from
the bondage of the strong man armed, is given. It's given. That's where it happens. Where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is a liberty from the fear of
hell, a fear from the wrath of God and the damnation of God.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is a deliverance from
the curse of Adam. And we are delivered into the
glorious liberty of the sons of God. Verse 18, But we all,
with open face, Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord
are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by
the Spirit of the Lord." Now John said this over in 1 John. He said, every man that hath
this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. Now it's
not talking about a purification from sin. We're sanctified through
the Holy Spirit and we're sanctified once for all in that sacrifice
of Christ, in the accomplished redemption of Christ. This is
not talking about purification from sin. This is talking about
purifying ourselves from sinful concepts and sinful ideas and
sinful principles of life. This is talking about as we view
Him and we view that work that He accomplishes. We're purified
from those things. We purify ourselves from those
things. I understand the truth. And there's no reason to go back
to this. No reason to go back to this.
That'd be like a dog returning to its vomit, wouldn't it? That's
what the Scripture said. And believers don't do that.
If any man draw back, the Lord said, I had no pleasure in him,
but we're not of them that draw back. We're of them that believe
to the saving of the soul. And those who have this hope
in them, they purify themselves even as they are pure. Thank
you.