Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Last week we looked at verses
1 through 6 concerning the sufficiency of gospel preachers. All kinds
of controversy surrounding gospel preachers. Are they necessary? Did God ordain them? Is this
the only means that He uses? On and on and on it goes. And
Paul's dealing with this church here, and certain men had come
in and began to downplay the preaching of the gospel. And
so Paul really takes his time here in 2 Corinthians to establish
this thing of gospel preaching. And in these first six verses,
which we looked at last week, he talks about the sufficiency.
Who then is sufficient for these things? If this is how God works,
And these things are done in conjunction with their preaching.
Who's sufficient for that? Who's sufficient in the work
of regeneration? Who's sufficient in this thing
of spiritual hearing? He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. I can't make you hear. Who's sufficient for these things?
And he said, Christ is our sufficiency. And the Holy Spirit, he talked
about the Holy Spirit and how this works. in conjunction with
his preaching. And so he tells us no man in
and of himself, be he ever so gifted, is sufficient to do what
a preacher is called to do. His sufficiency is of God. And
if God does not attend his ministry, his ministry is for naught. I
don't care what he knows. I don't care how gifted he is.
I don't care how many people goes to his church and how well
loved he is in the community. If God doesn't attend his ministry,
nothing effectual will ever happen in the hearts of his hearing.
Now, he can make proselytes, but he can't produce sons of
God. Being made an able minister, here is how Paul words it here
in these first six verses. Being made an able minister of
the new covenant by way of the Spirit which giveth life. In verse six, Paul states the
difference in the old covenant. He is a minister of this new
covenant and he begins to state the difference in the old covenant
of the law and the new covenant of grace. And he tells us that
the law is a killing letter. The law. It's a killing letter. What does that mean? What does that mean, the law?
I've seen actual wooden signs cut out with a jigsaw to look
like a scroll, and the Ten Commandments printed on the sign with a little
ditty down at the bottom that said, The Ten Commandments are
enough for me. Well, they're too much for me.
The law, in and of itself, is a killing letter. It's a killing
letter. What does that mean, it's a killing
letter? It means it makes demands but gives no assistance to keep
the demands. It means it demands doing, but
it does not assist you in the work. It means it demands satisfaction,
but does not provide the satisfaction. The letter killeth. What does
it mean? Well, it exposes our sins, it
proves our guilt, and it condemns us before God. That's what the
law does. That's all that the law does.
The letter killeth, Paul said, but the Spirit giveth life. And the word spirit here is not
directly talking about the Holy Spirit, or it would be capitalized. I've told you this many times.
Rather, it's talking about the work of the Holy Spirit, which
is the revelation of Christ, which is eternal life. The literal
interpretation of this word spirit, almost everywhere it's used in
the New Testament, The literal interpretation of this word spirit
is breath or wind. In John chapter 3, talking about
the regenerating work of the Holy Ghost, he writes these words,
the wind bloweth where it listeth. And you can't tell from whence
it comes or whether it's going. You just know it by its effects.
The word wind here is the exact same word as the word spirit
here in 2 Corinthians 3 verse 6. It's the exact same word.
Look it up in the original. And it has to do with the work
of the spirit which is done in conjunction with the preaching
of the gospel. This is Paul's subject. In 1
Peter chapter 1 verse 22, Peter describes it this way. He said,
seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through
the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you
love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again. Born again. And there's another
word that goes along with what I'm talking about here in verse
6, over in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And the word inspiration literally
means divinely breathed in. That's what it means. So that
Peter is very accurate when he says concerning the seed of regeneration,
this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Now with these things in mind,
let's look at these next verses which talk about this work and
the glory of this work as it's compared to the giving of the
law and the law's effects upon the hearts of men. Verse 7. But if the ministration of death,
written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children
of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for
the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away,
how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? The Old Testament dispensation
is described by the Apostle Paul in this verse as the ministration
of death. What's he talking about? He's
talking about ministering. Ministering the law is a ministry
of death. It's a ministry of death. Turn
with me to Romans chapter 7. I want to show you several verses
over here in Romans 7 about this ministry of death. He tells us over in Romans 7
verse 5, when we were in the flesh, what does that mean? That is talking about before
regeneration. I was talking about before there
was any conviction of sin. I was talking about before repentance,
before we were led to repentance, when we were in the flesh. The
motions of sins, now watch this, which were by the law, did work
in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. What on earth is he talking about? He's talking about sinful man
misapplying the law, misunderstanding the law, and abusing the law
to bring forth fruit, which is poison to his soul. That's what
he's talking about. Men without spiritual discernment
think by their own works to produce a righteousness acceptable to
God. That's poison fruit. That's poison
fruit. Men without an unction from the
Holy One think themselves able to please God by their own obedience
to the law. Paul said, I was at one time
without the law. He said, I'm blameless. I'm blameless. I poisoned fruit. Natural men
who receive not the things of the Spirit of God believe by
consecrating themselves to the law and under the law they can
make amendment for their sin. Sinful flesh sets in motion to
produce by the law a fruit unto life, but it is in truth a fruit
unto death." That is what Paul is talking about here in Romans
chapter 7. Look down at verse 8. But sin,
taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. What does that mean? That means
abnormal feelings and desires. That's what that word means.
Sensuality, which means excessive devotion to one's senses or feelings. And sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, produced abnormal feelings and desires. I've heard
men set at a table. You remember when I went up to
Van Buren. I went up there and I sat down
at a table at the fellowship after that meeting, and a man
sat there and gave me his testimony with tears, tears running down
his face, and his testimony was totally contrary to the Word
of God. False conceptions of the Word
of God. False conceptions of the law.
Sin takes occasion with this holy law. It takes an occasion
there because of your ignorance. Sinful man's ignorance. It takes
occasion. It takes those laws and it produces
feelings. Abnormal feelings. within a man,
and he believes himself in all sincerity to have been quickened
and changed and all of these things. But these feelings and desires
were contrary to the work of God in the heart. Rather than
produce love and joy and peace and gratitude, they produced
another kind of fruit, pride, self-confidence, and self-righteousness. Romans 7, verse 9. For I, now
he's going to give you his personal testimony. Paul said, for I was
alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin
revived and I died. When men are left to themselves
to discern the Scriptures, left to their traditional concepts,
left to their own logic and understanding, they come away with a false hope
a false refuge, and an ungodly hope. And this is where Paul
was, and he calls it being alive without the law. That is, without
any understanding of it. No knowledge of its demands,
no understanding of its purpose, or why it was given. But when
the commandment came, that is, came in truth, and was set before
him in its proper light, came in power to convict and convince,
sin was revived. That sin that he thought was
gone, that sin that he thought he had power to put away with
his decisions or free will or whatever his ideas were, it just
went away into the shadows a little bit. It didn't go away. It didn't
go away. And that sin that he thought
was gone, just out of sight, was revived. It came back out. into the light. That sin we thought
we had power to reject is now seen in its workings in us and
in the world. Sin is revived, and then we die. We die. Romans 7, verse 11. Here it is again. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, now watch this, deceived me. It deceived me. It sounded logical. It sounded right. It sounded
holy. It sounded right. But sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Conviction of sin reveals the
exceeding sinfulness of sin and its misapplication and misuse
and misunderstanding of the law. And when it's brought into its
proper light, we see it actively engaged in the influence of Antichrist
religion, which is all around us. And we're almost shocked
by the fact that it comes right down into our own families, sometimes
with our own mothers and fathers, sometimes with our own sisters
and brothers. And we're shocked by it. And here it is in its
proper light. And we see it not only working
in us, but working in the whole world. Isn't that what John said
over there in 1 John chapter 5? We know that the whole world
lieth in wickedness. Huh? When did you learn that? You learned that when the commandment
came. The whole world lieth in wickedness. We are of God, and
the whole world lieth in wickedness. Conviction of sin reveals the
exceeding sinfulness of sin and its misapplication, misuse, and
misunderstanding of the law. We see it compromising the glory
of God, compromising the justice and righteousness of God, using
God's holy law to justify, now listen to me, to justify our
rejection of His grace in Christ. Romans 7 verse 14, now here is
the heart of the matter. I'd like to one day preach on
Romans chapter 7, just go through it verse by verse all the way
through, because this is the experience of grace in the heart
of a believer. Now watch this, verse 14, Romans
chapter 7. Here's the heart of the matter.
We know, that is after the commandment comes in power and truth, we
begin to see these things. We know that the law is spiritual,
but we're carnal, sold under sin. And suddenly we realize,
here's a law that I can't keep. I've got no ability to keep this
law. I've got no ability to even honor
the law as it ought to be honored, or bow before the law, or submit
myself to the law. I'm without hope before God. I'm slain. All my excuses are
gone. The law is spiritual. It judges
the thoughts and intents of my heart. But we're carnal, sold under
sin. So the letter of the law killeth
because it's impossible for a natural man to keep it, honor it, and
fulfill it. And attempting to minister this
law to depraved men and women is the ministration of death.
Nevertheless, the giving of the law was a glorious thing. And it had a glorious purpose.
It was a good thing. And you can read about it over
in Exodus 20, verses 18 through 21, and Exodus 34, if you recall
our study in Exodus, verses 29 and 30. The glory of God attended
the giving of the law. The glory of His presence. It
said the Shekinah glory of God was seen in that tabernacle.
It filled that tabernacle. That tabernacle glowed. The glory
of His justice and the glory of His holiness, even Moses who
received the law and gave it to Israel, could not be looked
upon for the glory of God that shone on his face. They couldn't
even look on him. They had to put a veil over him. Which glory, 2 Corinthians 3
verse 7, let's go back over to our text. Which glory was to
be done away. Oh, I thought the law, I thought
we still lived under the law. No. This glory of this law is
to be done away. God gave the law to Israel and
accompanied the giving of it with the glory of His presence.
Why did He give it? Why did He give the law? Why
would God sanction Such a law that can
only condemn and convict. I want you to turn with me to
Galatians chapter 3. I'm going to give you three reasons. The first reason for the law
is to declare what a holy and just God demands. What He demands
from the sinner. The second reason is to expose
our sins before God and take away our excuses. You can read
about that over in Romans chapter 3. The third reason is to bring
us to Christ to be justified by faith. Galatians chapter 3
verse 21. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. For if there had
been a law given which could have given life, barely righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up under the faith, which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. The law has a purpose. And to
that purpose, God sanctioned it and accompanied it with his
own presence and glory. But that law and that glory It
was to a greater end. And that's what Paul's trying
to tell this church. The giving of this law was a
glorious thing. It was. It was a glory. Can you
imagine looking upon a mountain? There ain't no mountains around
here. I see that name every now and then, Mount something or
other, and it's about 300 feet above sea level. That ain't a
mountain. Get on up into Virginia or go out west to the Rockies
and look up. That's a mountain. Can you imagine
that mountain shaking from top to bottom? Just shaking. I mean, earthquake shaking. Rocks being rent. Smoke rising
up from the ground. And the people, when they saw
it, were so horrified by it that they told Moses, they said, you
go up and talk with God for us. We don't want to go up on that
mountain. And he said, don't you dare go up on that mountain.
Not even a beast is going to come up to that mountain. There's a glory that attended
the giving of the law. And the glory of the law was
designed to be eclipsed by the glory of Christ and administration
of the new covenant. The greater glory of God is manifested
in Christ. who exalts the law and makes
it honorable. The law tells us what God demands. The gospel is God in the form
of a man fulfilling the law on man's behalf. The law speaks
of the teeth of justice. The gospel tells of a substitute
bearing our sins in his own body on the tree. The law speaks of
continual obedience in motive, thought, and deed. The gospel
speaks of an accomplished righteousness, which is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone who believes." 2 Corinthians 3, verse
9. For if the ministration of condemnation
be glory, much more does the ministration of righteousness
exceed in glory. For even that which was made
glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory
that excelleth." Now, Peter puts this into words. I think it's
in his first epistle. He puts this in words this way.
He said, until the days dawn and the day star arise in your
heart. What happens when the day star
comes up, when the sun comes up? Stars are still out there,
aren't they? Yeah, they're still out there.
But you can't see them for the glory of the Son. You can't see
them. They totally disappear. They
are eclipsed by the glory of the Son. And this is what Peter
is telling them. This law of commandments, which
are holy, just, and good. There is nothing contrary to
the justice and righteousness of God in that law. There it
is. And you can see it. You can see
its glory. But when Christ arises in your heart, then that glory
of that law just disappears. It's still there. It's still
there. But it's eclipsed by the glory of the Son. For if that
which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth
is glorious. You know, I used to read the
events that took place in the Old Testament. Wouldn't you like
to have been there when God split the Red Sea? I mean, wouldn't
you like to have just been... I can't help you. I got too much
flesh in me, I guess. But I'd like to have been on
that bank when Moses stretched out that staff and the waters
of a sea, not a puddle, not this little thin thing that historians
say the wind could actually have blown it up and all that kind
of nonsense. This was a sea. And it was a wall of water on
either side of it. No telling how deep that thing
was. And they walked across on dry ground. Wouldn't you like
to have seen that? Wouldn't you like to have been in that parade
of those millions who marched out of Egypt and not even a dog
would bark in rebellion against it? Such power of deliverance
did God send that not even a dog, even the dogs were forbidden
to bark in retaliation of those Jews. They walked out without
a weapon. They walked out with all the
holdings and treasures of Egypt in their hand, and nobody said
diddly to them. They walked right out of town.
Wouldn't you like to have been there? Oh, my soul. Wouldn't you like to have been
there when God's presence filled the tabernacle with His Shekinah
glory? Wouldn't you like to have seen
the bread fall down from heaven? Wouldn't you like to have seen
the walls of Jericho when those priests blew on the trumpets
and the walls fell down? Well, let me tell you something.
Those who saw these things, who actually seen them, those who
saw these things, wondered not at those things, but they wondered
at the glory that you and I now see. Listen to this statement over
in 1 Peter 1. Peter said, Receiving the end
of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation
the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied
of the grace that should come unto you. Searching what or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, now
listen, and the glory that should follow. For they searched, they
searched and searched, unto whom it was revealed that not unto
themselves but unto us they did minister the things, which are
now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel
unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which
things the angels desire to look into." Christ said to Israel,
who gloried in the miracles of the Old Testament, gloried in
their father Abraham, he said, Abraham, rejoice to see my day. And he saw it, and he was glad. Men are enamored by the poison
fruit of false religion because it gives them something to glow
in. That's right. That's all you have to do. That's all I'd have to do. I'd
just quit preaching the grace of God and start letting people
do their own testimonies. Oh, man, what a testimony, brother
so-and-so. And start talking about all their
old experiences and all this. You'd have to knock the back
wall out. You couldn't fit the people in. Because it gives men
something to glory in. But the real glory of the new
covenant can only be seen with spiritual eyes. Huh? Can only be seen with spiritual
eyes. Only be felt with a new heart. Can only be heard with
spiritual ears. Our Lord said things that make
the hair stand up on you. He said, He that hath ears, let
him hear. That man don't see the walls
of a city torn down, but rather the pulling down of the strongholds
of satanic religion. He doesn't see a nation defeated,
rather he sees the evil imaginations of men cast down and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God torn down.
It's one thing to see manna rain down from heaven. It's another
thing to see him who is the bread. That's what our Lord told me.
I am the bread. It's one thing to see water gush
from a rock. It's another to look to Him who
is a well of water. He said, I'd give you water if
you'd ask Me. If you'd known who I was, you'd
ask Me. You would have. That's why we
don't ask Him. We don't know who He is. But
He told that woman, if you knew who I was, you'd ask Me and I'd
give you water that would have been a well of water in you,
bringing up into everlasting life. It's one thing to see ghosts
untouched by the plagues. Imagine that, all these plagues
falling down on Egypt and nothing going on in Goshen. But it's another thing to see
yourself without spot, unblameable, unreprovable before God. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 10, For
even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect
by reason of the glory that excelleth. For that which is done away with
glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Thank you.