Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: II Cor. 3:7-18 April 28, 2024

Message: “The Glory of the Lord!”

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro: 1. As most of you know, we have been doing a series of sermons on the Book of II Corinthians.

a. In chapter 1, God revealed His power and glory to Paul by rescuing him from a very dangerous situation in which he was helpless to help himself (II Cor. 1: 8-9).

b. In II Corinthians 2, he shared how Jesus leads us in a triumphal procession; and every time we preach the Word, we give off the aroma of Christ to those who are listening – “to the lost the smell of death, but to the saved, the fragrance of life” (II Cor. 2:15).

c. This also caused Paul to feel very inadequate, writing: “Who is equal to such a task” (II Cor. 2:16)? Or “Who feels competent enough to carry out such a great responsibility?” 

2. In II Cor. 3: 5-6, Paul answers his own question, saying: “Not that we are competent to claim anything for our-selves, but our competence comes from God, who has made us competent as ministers of His new covenant – not of the letter (of the law), but of the (Holy) Spirit. The letter (of the law) kills, but the (Holy) Spirit gives life.”

A. That brings us to the passage we are studying today. Please consider what he meant by the letter of the law.

1. He is referring to the story of Moses who was used by God to give Israel the ten commandments. Once again, the stress is not about the greatness of Moses, but the greatness and the glory of the God who chose to work through Moses.

a. Moses led the people of Israel to the foot of Mount Sinai where God revealed Himself in all of His glory, sharing with them His laws. But the very sound of His voice scared them to death! Add to that the smoke and the thunder and lighting and it was too much for them to bear.

b. So God invited Moses to come up into the mountain to meet Him alone. On the mountain, God wrote the ten commandments on two tablets of stone. He also shared many other laws with him as well.  That is why Paul referred to them as “the letter of the law.”

c. They were written down for all mankind to read and know, but especially the people of Israel. That is because God chose to make a covenant with Israel. If they would obey and follow His laws, He would bless them. If they disobeyed His laws, they would die.

2. From that day on, God spoke to Moses many times. In fact, whenever He spoke to him, Moses’ face would glow with a supernatural radiance. And Moses would cover his face until the glory of the Lord would fade. But Israel never forgot their experience at the holy mountain where the glory of the Lord was revealed.

a. It revealed the greatness and holiness of God.

b. It revealed how His glory could actually shine through a person’s face.

c. Sadly, it also revealed the wickedness of the heart of man. For before Moses even came down from the mountain, the people turned away and began to worship a false idol, enjoying all the desires of the flesh that God told them not to do.

3. God’s law did provide Israel with a sacrificial system by which they could seek forgiveness, but the law in and of itself, could not change the heart of man. God’s glory was thought of in a scary way; not a positive way, because – as Paul put it – “the letter (of the law) kills” (II Cor. 3:6).

B. But that is why Jesus came and why He sent His Holy Spirit to shine upon us.

1. In John 1: 17, it says: “The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” 

a. Furthermore, in John 1: 14, it says: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory of God’s only begotten Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

b. But God’s glory shone through Jesus in a different way than it did through Moses.. It shined through Him through His sinless life. It shined through Him through His many miracles. It shined through Him through all the love He revealed to His enemies as He died on the cross. And it shined through His resurrection from the dead. 

2. While Moses and the letter of the law revealed the sinfulness of men, the coming of Jesus revealed the love and grace of God available to all who will believe.

a. As God’s Spirit came to rest on Jesus, so Jesus has given His Spirit to all who will believe in Him.

b. If the giving of the law revealed the glory of God in all of His holiness, the coming of Jesus and the gift of His Holy Spirit revealed the greatness of His love toward all who will believe in Him.

3. On Mt. Sinai, the people were given the Old Covenant based on God’s law. But on Mt. Calvary, God gave us the New Covenant based on the gospel message of salvation and the gift of eternal life!

a. In vs. 9, Paul writes: “If the ministry that condemns man is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness.”

b. If the glory on Moses’ face, produced by being in God’s presence, soon faded away, how much more glorious is the light of the knowledge of the gospel of Christ. It shines into our hearts and actually begins a process by which we are being changed to become more and more like Christ Himself. That glory will never pass away.

4. Moses covered his face with a veil so the people would not see the glory on his face. Paul says that veil was a symbol of their hardened hearts that kept them from responding in faith. 

a. In Paul’s day, some Jews came to know the Lord, but the vast majority still rejected Jesus, and as a result, it is just as if the veil was still blinding them from the truth that is in Jesus. 

b. Praise God, that veil can and is removed every time someone confesses their sins and accepts the forgiveness that is ours in Christ. 

5. Paul put it this way. He writes in vs. 16: “Whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

a. As one writer put it: In Christ, we are free from condemnation of sin, freed from the guilt of our sins, freed from the slavery of sin, and freed to enjoy the Lord.

b. “And as we, with unveiled faces, begin to reflect the glory of Jesus, we are literally transformed into His likeness, with an ever increasing glory that comes from (knowing) the Lord (who dwells in our hearts) through the Holy Spirit” (II Cor. 3:17-18).

In conclusion: 1. Every time Moses left the presence of the Lord, the glory of the Lord would slowly fade away. But before Jesus went to heaven, He promised He would never leave us nor forsake us. He said: “Lo, I will be with you always, even to the end of this age” (Matt. 28: 20).

2. That is why He sent the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts. He is our guarantee of heaven. He also guarantees the glory of the Lord will shine in us and through us as we get to know Him better and better. 

3. If you have never prayed and asked Jesus to live in your heart, then please do so even today. God will bless you as you live by faith and get to know Him better and better.