Thanks very much, Julia. Good morning, everyone.
Can I repeat the welcome was given at the beginning?
And can I perhaps particularly welcome those who've joined us on live stream
or watching video later or listening to the audio recording?
I've got a reason for doing that this morning.
As Kate had told us earlier, the funeral service for Donald McMillan is this Thursday.
Most of you, I'm aware, have never met Donald,
but he'd been a member of our church family since the 1930s,
since before the Second World War.
He was an elder of the church for more than 30 years,
and for most of that time, he also was chairman of the elders' meetings.
But I will remember Donald particularly as someone who served humbly and faithfully.
If there was something to be done and he could do it,
Donald would do it without fuss, often unseen by everyone except God.
He was a wonderful role model, particularly to my generation.
Donald hasn't been able to be with us for the last few years,
except very occasionally at the breaking of bread on Sunday morning.
There was COVID, then his wife Audrey was very ill,
and Donald himself has been very unwell.
But Donald watched this service every Sunday morning,
and he liked to talk about it.
It kept him in touch with the church.
It made him feel still part of the church family,
that he could worship with us and that he could learn with us.
So this morning, a big thank you to those who make that possible,
for those who do the video recordings.
And as I said, a particularly welcome to those who are not able to be with us,
but are watching us online.
Now we're looking today at 2 Corinthians chapter 3.
It's quite a difficult chapter,
so I want to do a few things before we get into the passage,
just to help us to understand what it's about.
I want to begin with a story.
It's a story you may be familiar with,
but I think it will help you to see where we are going this morning.
In the village of Boya in Spain,
in 1930, a local artist called Elias Garcia Martinez
painted a picture on the wall of Jesus,
the image of Jesus in a crown of thorns.
The title is Echihomo.
Oh, it was Jesus before Pilate.
Over the years, this painting deteriorated.
And particularly because they had quite bad damp on the walls of the church,
eventually it really became quite bad.
And there were processes in place to get it restored
when a local woman decided she would do it herself.
An 81-year-old woman called Cecilia Gimenez.
She decided that she would do the restoration.
And this is the bit you may remember having seen in the past.
It turned out really badly.
There is a good happy ending to the story
because this painting and the church became a tourist attraction
and it raised quite a lot of money for the church and the local economy.
But what I think that illustrates to us
is if you've got an image
and you're trying to restore it to its former glory,
you need the right person doing it.
If it's the wrong person, it's liable to turn out really badly.
And that's really what this passage today is about.
We're leading up to the end, verse 18,
where it talks about the image of God.
Now, right back at the beginning in Genesis,
when God created humans,
he made them in his image.
But that image has been marred by our sin
to the point of being in many ways almost unrecognizable.
And over the time in the Old Testament,
in the law given through Moses,
the people who tried to keep that law,
they couldn't do it.
Because of their sin,
they couldn't restore themselves to be in the image of God.
And Paul says in this chapter,
and we'll come to it right at the end,
that we are restored into the image of God.
We are being conformed more and more
to the image of God
through the work of the Holy Spirit
and through focusing our attention
on the Lord Jesus
and thinking about him.
So the image can be restored,
but it can't be done by our own efforts.
It can only be done through God's Spirit.
So that's where we're going.
Before we get into the passage in detail,
let me also give you a couple of keys
to help us understand it,
to open up the passage for us.
And the first key is Paul's purpose.
If you get any passage in the Bible,
it's good to think,
well, why was this passage written?
What is the point of it?
And Paul's purpose in writing
basically most of the book of 2 Corinthians,
but certainly the early chapters,
was to counter some people
who had come along
and who were trying to do him down.
Now, Graham's presented that to us
over the last few weeks.
People were coming and saying,
well, Paul is not really committed to the churches.
He keeps changing his mind.
He's not really that good a messenger for God.
And we have that continuing in this passage.
The people who had come
were by and large peddling Jewish traditions.
They were trying to get people
to go back to the law.
They were presenting themselves
as people who had mystical experiences.
And they were expecting the church
to give them money
to pay them for what they did.
And they looked at Paul with some disdain.
I like the description
that Jonathan Lamb gave of this.
He said they viewed Paul
as little more than a clown,
a manual worker,
an amateur speaker,
a buffoon who didn't even charge
for his services.
And these people had come into the church
and they were putting Paul down.
And he wants to defend himself.
But perhaps more significantly,
they were also denying Paul's teaching.
They were saying it's not enough,
as Paul says,
to have faith in Jesus
and to be forgiven by God.
You've got to obey the Old Testament law.
You've got to do things
to earn God's favour.
They were trying to impose
Jewish regulations
and Jewish practices
on top of the gospel
that Paul preached.
And Paul is countering
these people in this chapter.
The first six verses,
largely about his credentials.
The remaining verses of the chapter,
and indeed through into chapters
four and five and beyond,
are a defence of his teaching
and a presentation
of how more glorious
the message of the gospel of Jesus
is than anything
that is in the Old Testament.
So that's key one,
Paul's purpose.
The second key is that in this chapter,
Paul draws some parallels.
He takes things from the Old Testament
and he compares them
with what is happening now
with his ministry.
And he does that, I think,
in two main ways.
He compares himself and Moses,
not overtly in some ways,
but it definitely is there
in the passage.
Moses was the messenger
of the Old Covenant,
of the law that God gave
the people on Sinai.
He chose to communicate it
through Moses,
giving him the tablets
and Moses would go in
and meet with God
and come out
and talk with the people.
Paul says that he also
is a messenger
of a covenant,
that he is bringing
the people God's new covenant.
Today, Corinthians first learned
the gospel message from Paul
and so he was the messenger
of God's new covenant
through Jesus.
And if the people
who had come into church
were accusing Paul
of incompetence,
then Paul says,
yes, I would be incompetent,
but I've been made competent
through the Lord Jesus.
So Paul can present
God's message
and does it,
unlike Moses,
he does it without
in any way hiding
the God's glory.
Then the second bit
of the parallels
is between the letter
and the Spirit.
In other words,
the Old Testament,
God said to his people,
here is a list of things
you have to do.
If you do these things
perfectly,
you will be justified
before me.
And in practice,
no one could do it.
So Paul said,
the letter of the law,
that just brought death.
And the parallel now,
Paul says,
is that under the new covenant
that God is bringing,
it comes through the Spirit
and does not depend
on our efforts,
we have the Spirit
of God in us,
revitalizing us,
giving us life
and enabling us
to serve God.
So bear these two
keys in mind
as we go through.
I think they do help us
to understand
the passage.
But let's get into it now.
I've divided it
into four sections
and each of these sections
is based around
something that Paul tells us
about the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit,
of course,
is part of the Trinity,
Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit,
that great mystery
and yet that wonderful truth
that there is one God
in three persons.
And the Holy Spirit
is the person
who is with us
and can help us
in our lives now.
So we're going to look first
at the transforming spirit
and that's in verses
one to three.
Paul's being accused
of boasting
about himself
without any
corroborating testimony.
The people
who had come into the church
had come with letters
of recommendation.
Perhaps from the Jewish
leader or something
like that.
They come with letters
that says,
these are people
you should listen to.
They're going to tell you
what you need to know.
And they were saying,
look at Paul.
He didn't have anything
like that.
He just came
and he preached
and there was no one
behind him.
There was no one
giving him a recommendation
to you.
Now letters of recommendation
were very common
in those days.
Perhaps less common
now in churches
although I think
they could be used
a lot more than they are.
If someone moves
from one city
to another,
for example,
quite good if their
old church
could communicate
with their new church
and let them know
how they have served
and been part
of the fellowship.
But Paul didn't believe
he needed something
written down on paper
as a letter of commendation
or recommendation
to the Corinthians.
Paul said,
my letter of recommendation
is written on the heart.
It's not something
that's written
with pen on paper.
It's written by the Spirit
on heart.
In other words,
what Paul is saying
is that the Corinthians
were his letter
of recommendation
because their lives
and their hearts
had been transformed
by God's Holy Spirit.
If we went back
and read in 1 Corinthians
chapter 6,
Paul described
what many of the Corinthians
were like
before they became Christians.
He says
they were sexually immoral,
they were idolaters,
they were drunkers,
they were swindlers
and a whole lot more
besides.
They weren't
what you might call
good people.
And yet,
through the gospel
that Paul preached,
the gospel of the Lord Jesus,
through the transforming power
of the Holy Spirit,
the Corinthians
had been changed.
Not that they were perfect,
you correctly pick that up
if you go through
1 and 2 Corinthians,
but they had been changed
from what they were
and they were still being changed
by the Holy Spirit.
And by questioning
Paul's credentials,
actually they were questioning
their own salvation
because what Paul
had brought them
was the message
that had changed
their lives
as they came to faith
in the Lord Jesus.
He didn't need
a letter of recommendation
because the Corinthian
Christians themselves
were his recommendation.
I have to take a pause there
and we'll ask this question
again at the end
of the service.
If your life
was a letter
that people could read,
what would it say?
What would they read about it?
It's about your faith,
about your love for Jesus,
about what he has done
in your life.
We'll come back to that
at the end
in the questions,
but just leave that
to think about
and to mull over
for a while.
Let's move on though
into the second part
of the passage
and I've called this
the life-giving spirit.
It's verses 4 to 6
of the passage.
Paul is writing
with confidence.
And he says
in that confidence
it's not a kind
of spiritual one-upmanship,
I'm better than you.
Rather it is
because he's been
made competent
to be a minister
of the gospel
through the spirit
of God.
In verse 3
he talks about
tablets of stone
that were given
to Moses.
Verse 6
he talks about
the letter of the law
and the life
that comes
through the spirit.
So Paul says
the letter of the law
brings death
but the spirit
brings life.
The old covenant,
the agreement,
the commitment
that was made
between God
and the people
in Moses' day
was a mutual commitment
where God's requirements
were laid out
in very precise detail
and the people
committed
to obey them.
And then they found
they couldn't.
it was impossible.
The standard
was just too high
and their inability
to keep it
Paul says
led to death.
Contrast that
with the situation now.
Paul says
we have the spirit
now.
We have the Holy Spirit
who is with us
who can lead us
to Christ
and can help us
grow in our faith.
And we're not
dependent
on our own efforts
because if we're
Christians
if we trust
in Jesus
then God
is at work
in our lives
and anything
we achieve
any competence
that we have
we owe to him
and not
to ourselves.
I think that's
another very good
reminder.
We are completely
dependent on God
for any good
that comes
from what we do.
It's an antidote
both to pride
and to discouragement.
Perhaps your experience
has been similar
to mine.
At times
I feel that
I'm doing pretty well
that God is
with me
as I speak
or as I serve
in the church
and I'm tempted
to think
well that's my efforts
I've done really well
I've worked hard
at it.
Other times
things don't go so well
and I get quite discouraged
and think
well am I really
up to the job here
should I be doing
whatever
I'm serving
in.
Both attitudes
are wrong.
If things go well
it is because
God's spirit
is with us
it is empowering us
and is using us.
And if we think
things are going badly
well we don't know.
We may be inadequate
we are inadequate
of ourselves
but God is able
to take
and to use
our failures
and our weakness
and to bless
others
through it.
We are called
to serve
faithfully
and to serve
in the power
in the strength
that God
gives us.
There's no question
of how we feel
after it
or whether we feel
we've done a good
or a bad job.
The Holy Spirit
is the enabler
he's the life giver
and if there is to be
anything that comes
from our service
for the Lord Jesus
it is through
him.
Okay so that's
the first
part of the passage
where Paul is
defending himself
personally
against the attacks
made against him.
Let's move on
and again we have
two headings
in the second
part of the chapter
which is about
Paul's message
and particularly
the means
by which it comes.
I've called the third
section from verse
7 to 11
the glorious spirit
and hopefully you can
see that
if you've got it
in front of you.
So we're going back
in the next section
of the passage
to Exodus chapter 34.
If you get the chance
when you get home
it would be worth
reading Exodus 34.
It very much is
the background
to what's happening
here.
Moses went up
the Mount Sinai.
He went up twice.
The first time
he came down
and the people
had brought a golden
calf and Moses
threw down
the commandments
he'd been given
and the people
suffered God's wrath
for what they'd done.
Moses went back
up again
pleaded for the people
that God would save them.
God in his mercy
relented
and Moses came down
and because he'd been
in the presence of God
when he came down
his face was shining.
So shining
that the people
were afraid
to come to him.
That shows
I think
that Moses
the covenant
that was given
through Moses
the message
that was given
to Moses
was a glorious one.
It's easy for us
to say
well the law
it's gone
it's passed
what really matters
is the gospel
and to an extent
that's true
but we mustn't put down
the law
in the Old Testament.
What God gave
to the Israelites
was glorious.
It was
a representation
of his holiness
and his greatness
and the standards
that he lived to.
Even though
it led to death
Moses' face shone
as he'd been
in the presence
of God
and as he was able
to present something
of the character
of God.
But how much
more glorious
says Paul
is the ministry
of the Spirit.
If the old ministry
if what came
through Moses
just resulted
in death
because people
couldn't do
what they had
to do
how much
more glorious
is the ministry
now
of the Holy Spirit
that gives us
life.
It's also
more glorious
because it brings
righteousness
and not
condemnation.
And here's
the heart
of the Christian
faith.
Paul will
expand on it
in later chapters.
No one
except Jesus
could keep
the law
perfectly.
So everyone
was condemned.
But Jesus
has taken
the punishment
for our sins
so that those
who trust
in him
are made
righteous
and we can
live more
righteously
by the power
of the Spirit.
So the
ministry
of the Spirit
that brings
justification
and righteousness
is so much
greater than
the ministry
of the law
which condemns
us because
we can't
keep it.
And then
finally in this
section
Paul reminds
us that
the glory
that Moses
had was
temporary
and the glory
of the law
was in that
sense temporary
too.
It's lost
its glory.
A good
analogy I read
was if you
look at the
sun and
the moon.
If you go
at night
in a clear
sky the
moon looks
really bright.
If you go
out again in
daylight and
you see the
sun you
can't even
see the
moon.
The level
of brightness
is so much
greater with
the sun
than the
moon.
God's glory
in the Old
Testament
shone bright.
God's glory
in the New
Testament
shines even
brighter.
So bright
that eclipses
completely
the glory
of the
Old Testament.
As Paul
says,
the letter
kills but
the spirit
gives life.
Let's move
on then and
look at the
final section
from verse
12.
And I've
called that
the liberating
spirit.
Now again
let me remind
you of
Exodus chapter
34.
Israelites
have left
slavery in
Egypt.
They're going
through the
wilderness.
They've been
there for
40 years.
They're still
fairly early
stages in
that.
Moses goes
up saying
I try to
get the
commandments.
He comes
down the
second time
with a
radiant face
having witnessed
the glory of
God.
And the people
are so terrified
with that that
Moses has to put
a veil on his
face to cover
it.
And Paul
tells us
though the
Old Testament
doesn't that
part of the
purpose of
that veil was
so that people
wouldn't see
that the glory
was fading.
That the
shining of
Moses' face
would gradually
diminish until
he went again
into the
presence of
God, took
the veil off,
his face
again took
on the glory,
the shining
countenance,
he came out
again and
he put the
veil on.
So the
shining represented
the glory of
God, it was
evidence to
the people
that Moses
had been
into the
presence of
God and
that what he
was relaying
back to
them was
what God
had said
to him,
it was the
instructions that
they needed
to obey.
But now,
says Paul,
things are
different.
There is no
need now
for a veil.
There is no
need now to
hide the
glory of
God.
Paul and
his fellow
evangelists,
he says,
we can be
bold.
We can be
confident that
we are able to
go out to the
people and
without veiling
anything to
present to
them God in
all his
fullness,
in all his
greatness,
in the wonder
of what comes
through Jesus.
The glow in
Moses' face
faded just as
the law
faded.
But the
glory of
Christ has
superseded that
and it
will never
fade.
There is no
reason,
says Paul,
to be
bashful about
this.
So in
verse 12,
he says,
we are
very
bold.
In
Romans chapter
1,
Paul says,
I'm not
ashamed of
the gospel
because it
is the
power of
God that
brings salvation
to everyone
who believes,
first to the
Jew and
then to
the Gentiles.
God
says,
says Paul,
there is
still a
veil.
And the
veil isn't
on our
side of
those who
are preaching
the good
news.
The veil is
on the
hearts of
the hearers.
Many
Jews,
says Paul,
are blind.
Their minds
have been
made dull,
he said.
They can't
understand the
truth of the
gospel.
And what
appears obvious
to some of
us as
Christians in
the Old
Testament
refers to
Jesus.
They just
can't see
it.
They're
still living
in darkness.
And of
course,
it's not
just Jews
who are
in that
position.
So many
people today
in our
society
who have
no time
for the
Christian
message,
for the
gospel,
for God
at all.
They have
been blinded.
They have
the veil
over their
hearts.
And unless
that veil
is removed
through the
power of
the Spirit,
then it
will remain.
But,
says Paul,
when we
turn to
the Lord,
when we
do put
our trust
in Jesus,
the veil
is removed,
and we
can observe
God's
glory,
and we
can share
in it.
And that
brings us
to the
glorious
climax
of this
chapter.
Now,
just as a
point of
detail,
when we
come to
verses 16
to 18,
I think
when it
refers to
the Lord
there,
it's not
specifically
referring to
Jesus.
I think
in the
context,
it is
the Yahweh
of the
Old Testament,
although
obviously
everything
that we
have
is
through
Jesus.
So,
in verse
17,
Paul says,
when Moses
encountered
the Lord
in the
tent of
meeting,
we encounter
him through
the Spirit.
And that
encounters
liberating
for us.
It frees
us from
the bondage
of sin.
It frees
us from
the hardness
of heart
that we
had.
It frees
us to
be obedient
to God
through the
work of
the Holy
Spirit.
And so
then in
verse 18,
Paul says,
like Moses,
we can
view God's
glory with
unveiled
faces.
Only
Moses in
the Old
Testament,
in the
account in
Exodus,
only Moses
could go
into the
presence of
God,
take the
veil off,
and experience
the glory
of God.
When Moses
came back
to the
people,
they saw
a little
bit of
the
reflected
glory,
but even
that was
then hidden
as the
veil was
put on.
We,
though,
have
unveiled
faces.
We,
if we're
Christians,
if we know
the Lord
Jesus,
we can
gaze on
him,
we can
wonder at
who he
is,
and at
all that
he has
done for
us,
and we
can
recognize
and experience
his glory.
And as we
do that,
says Paul,
our lives
are transformed.
We are
transformed into
the image
of God
with ever-increasing
glory.
That image,
as I said,
which was spoiled
through our sin
in Genesis
is now being
restored
through the work
of the Spirit
and through
for those
who have
faith
in Jesus.
And it
comes about
as we
understand
better
and as we
contemplate
the Lord's
glory
and see
what it
means to
be in
his image.
How do
we do
that?
Well,
we moved
a few
verses
to chapter
four,
which I think
Graham will be
speaking on
next week.
Chapter
four describes
Jesus
as the
image
of God.
God
and we
are
transformed
into the
image of
God
as we
observe
the one
who is
truly
the image
of God
who is
God
with us.
John says
in his
gospel,
no one
has ever
seen
God,
but God
the one
and only
Son
who is
himself
God
and is
in the
closest
relationship
with the
Father
has made
him
known.
Our
transformation
begins
when through
the prompting
and leading
of the Spirit
opening
our hearts
to God's
word.
We recognise
that we
don't win
God's favour
by our
own efforts,
by being
a set of
rules,
by living
in a
certain way.
We only
find God's
favour
through faith
in Jesus
who died
on the
cross
to take
our sins
and make
us righteous.
That is
the beginning
of the
transformation.
The
transformation
continues
as we
contemplate
the Lord's
glory,
particularly
as revealed
in Jesus.
If we're
Christians,
we should
be spending
time daily
with God's
word,
we should
be meditating
on it,
we should
be seeking
to learn
more about
the Lord
Jesus and
his life
and his
death and
all that
he means
for us.
And as we
do that,
the Spirit
continues the
work of
transformation
and makes
us more
and more
like
Jesus.
And the
transformation
will be
complete
one day.
One day
when we
go and
see him
face to
face and
we become
like him
in every
way.
That's the
experience of
these lovely
fellow Christians
who have
recently gone
to be
with the
Lord Jesus.
They are
now with
the Lord
they love.
If we
have our
trust in
Jesus,
then one
day when
he returns
or when
we pass
through
death,
we will
go to
be with
him
forever
and we
will be
totally
transformed.
We will
be without
sin.
We will
be like
Jesus.
As
Charles
Wesley
put it,
change
from glory
into glory
till in
heaven we
take our
place,
till we
cast our
crowns
before thee,
lost in
wonder,
love,
and praise.
So to
conclude this
morning,
my challenge
to you is
where are
you on
that journey
of being
transformed
by Jesus?
Some of us
perhaps haven't
done the
first step.
We haven't
come to
realise that
only through
Jesus is
there hope.
That we
can't do it
by ourselves.
Only through
trusting in
the saving
work of
the Lord
Jesus and
dying for
us on
the cross
can we
be right
with God.
If that's
you,
please this
morning consider
that Christ
died to
save you
and that
you can
have peace
with God
through him.
Put your
trust in
him.
Maybe for
some of
us that
work of
transformation
seems to
have stalled
a bit.
Yes,
we're
Christians,
yes,
we've
come to
our trust
in Jesus,
but actually
our lives
aren't really
progressing
very much.
We're just
static,
maybe even
going backwards
in our
faith.
In that
case,
the challenge
is to
again
contemplate
the Lord's
glory,
to look
on Jesus,
to follow
his example,
to trust
him through
the Spirit
to continue
the process
that began
at your
conversion.
And for
all of us,
wherever we
are,
let's lift
our eyes.
Let's give
thanks for
the glory
that God
has revealed
to us
through Jesus
Christ,
and thanks
that is
accessible to
us and
come before
him with
unveiled
faces to
see his
beauty and
to be
changed to
be like
him.
So let's
pray together.
As we
gaze on
your kingly
brightness,
so our
faces display
your likeness.
Ever
changing from
glory to
glory,
mirrored here,
may our
lives tell
the story.
Shine on
me,
shine on
me.
Father,
we pray that
indeed you
will through
your Spirit
shine on
us,
that we
may see
the glorious
glory to
the Lord
Jesus,
that as
we do,
that we
may be
transformed
to be
more like
him,
to be
in his
image.
If we
have not
already
trusted him
for salvation,
help us
to realise
that the
only way
is through
Jesus,
not through
our own
efforts.
And if
we are
Christians,
help us
to grow
in him,
to grow
like him,
as we
contemplate
his
greatness.
We thank
you for
your presence
with us
this morning.
We pray
for the
coming week,
particularly
pray for
the funeral
service on
Thursday,
that that
will be
a fitting
tribute to
Donald,
but more
than that,
that it
will bring
glory to
the Lord
Jesus.
We give
you thanks
and ask
for your
continued
blessing.
In Jesus'
name.
Amen.