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[0:00] We're going to pick up reading and be quite a bit of reading tonight, but we'll pick up reading in verse 7 through the end of the chapter in 2 Corinthians in chapter 3. In the seventh verse, 2 Corinthians chapter 3 says, But if the ministration of death, written in engraving and stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not step fast and behold the face of Moses for the glory of his cowards, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more that the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory, for even that which was made glorious had no glory in disrespect by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remainedeth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech, and not as Moses which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not step fast and 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

[1:12] Old Testament, which veil is done away and Christ. But even unto this day when Moses is read the veil is upon their heart, nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord the veil shall be taken away.

[1:25] Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, but we all with open face beholding 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. And that concludes that chapter there. Back to verse 7, Paul says, if the ministration of death written and engraved in stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not step fastly 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?

[2:02] So Paul here making a statement and asking a question all within these two verses here, he says, how can the, if the ministration of death, what was the ministration of death? The ministration of death was the law that Almighty God had put in the place to ministrate. It was a ministration of death because all the law showed us is that we were rich in centers and need of a Savior. The law had no power to save, the law had no power to bring salvation, the law had no power of redemption.

[2:36] All the law did and Paul emphasized this to the church at Rome. All the law did was show us that we were indeed centered. Paul said that he would have never known that he was a center if it had not been for the law. So this is what made the law and the commandments of God, the ministration of death. It brought death. Paul is the very one that wrote to the Roman church that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The law itself was the ministration of death because it had no power to bring life, it had no power to bring redemption and to bring salvation. That's why Brother Paul here refers to it as the ministration of death, but nevertheless, even though it was a ministration of death, even though in verse six of the same chapter Paul says that the letter killeth, he says that the letter is what will make us dead, the letter is what can fix us of our sin and brings that death onto us, even though these things were so. Paul still saw it as a holy and a righteous thing. He still saw it as a glorious thing. Why was that? Because the law came from he who is glory, he who is glorious.

[3:55] This is what made the law, what it was. This is what made it righteous and this is what made it glorious. So regardless of how Paul or anyone else looks at the law and looks at the commandments, all of those shots and all the shop knocks of scripture, regardless of how anyone uses, it is glorious because it comes from Almighty God. This is what makes it glorious. Then Paul asks the question, he says that the ministration of death be glorious, then how much more of the ministration of the Spirit? How much more glorious is the ministration of the Spirit? If the ministration of death, if the ministration of the law is glorious, how much more shall the ministration of the Spirit? How much more glorious can it possibly be, folks? I'm here today, I'm a living, breathing proof of how much more glorious the ministration of the Spirit is. Hey, the law, it had me condemned, the Bible says in Galatians 3 that the scripture has concluded all, understand, the scripture it concluded me, understand, and it concluded you, understand. But the scripture in the New Testament teaches me that there was one that came from above, there was one that was sent by the Father, and he was able to keep the whole law, every drug and every title, precept upon precept and line upon line. My Jesus was able to keep that law and keep it to a gene.

[5:27] His righteousness is imparted unto me, His holiness is imparted unto me, and His glory is imparted unto me. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. I have the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

[5:42] I'm not Jesus Christ, and I have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When the law showed me that I was dead, that I had died long ago, when the law showed me this, the Spirit came, and in its ministration, in its glorious ministration, as Paul phrases it here, in the ministration that it has, that it is much more glorious than the law, it showed me what I could become in Christ Jesus, it showed me what I could become as a child of God, and when God saved my soul, I became righteous, and I became holy, I became sanctified, I became consecrated to the service of God, and I became glorious in the sight of God, the call of praise God. When the Father looks down upon me, He doesn't see my richness, He doesn't see my filthiness, He doesn't see my sin, He sees the glory of Jesus Christ, He sees the righteousness of His Son, and that's all that He sees. This is how the ministration of the Spirit is more glorious than that, which was of the law. Amen. In both ministrations, both ministrations were of God, and that's what makes both ministrations glorious.

[6:58] Praise the Lord. Verse 9, that the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more that the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory, it exceeds in glory, the ministration of righteousness, it exceeds, it doesn't just equal it. Hey folks, both ministrations were of God, and both of them were glorious. If y'all were glorious, call the account, and actually it's 34, when Moses comes down off of the mouth, and he comes to the children of Jacob, and they can't hardly even look upon him, because the glory of God is shining off of his face, because the glory of God is so bright, they can't look at him. Hey folks, they have a frame of mind that they didn't want to look at him, because that glory convicted those Israelites of the law that Moses was delivering to them.

[7:49] It convicted them, because the glory of God was right there in their presence, it would reflect me over this man Moses' face. How much more though, it's an exceeding glory, it's an exceeding glory of righteousness, it exceeds the glory of the law, it exceeds the glory which was given in the Old Testament, the New Testament is much more glorious, much more glorious than what we have in the Old, and it exceeds that glory, for even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth, for if that which was done away, that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remained is glorious, glorious. If that which is done away was glorious, which is, that's present tense, for if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remained is glorious. Folks, the Old Testament Laws and the Old Testament Ways, the Old Testament ceremonies, everything to do with the Old Testament, I'm not saying that the law is null and void,

[9:00] Jesus Christ kept the law, we've already, we've already went through that, we've already determined that, heard the scripture, it's not null and void, but my salvation and my, my relationship with Almighty God is based on me keeping the law, it is based on my goodness, it is based on the goodness of Jesus Christ and His Word on the cross at Calvary, and that is all my relationship with God is based on.

[9:28] Amen. The Old Testament is past, it's presently past when Paul wrote this, and it is presently past in 2022, and that law will never come to be again. Why? Because there is something much better that has taken its place, the Old Covenant has passed, the Old Covenant that God has made is past, the New Covenant is in place, the New Covenant is in Jesus Christ, and it is only in Jesus Christ.

[9:54] There's too many people in the world today, I'm talking about lost people and saved people alive, they're depending upon their works to get them to heaven, we need to depend upon the work of Jesus Christ and only in, there's people out there, I'm talking about saved, born again children of God that walk on eggshells every day of their life, thinking that every time that they mess up that God's going to cast them into hell, that is not the way my Bible describes salvation. Listen, if we continue in that way and we don't repent, yes we'll be in trouble with God, yes we'll get in trouble with God, but folks, this glory, this glory that we're talking about, this covenant that we're talking about, this ministration that we're talking about, all the Spirit, it comes from a holy and righteous God, it comes from a glorified God, we're a glorious God, and this, the first ministration or the first covenant that's already passed, the new one has come and it remains, it remains according to verse 11, this ministration remains and this covenant remains and it will remain in effect throughout all of eternity, it's in effect now, it was in effect when Paul wrote this, it'll be in effect a thousand years from now and a thousand years beyond that, it will be in effect for all of time, this is the covenant that God has put for his people, the law was given to

[11:23] God's people in the Old Testament, when Moses came down off of the mountain, he didn't give the law to the Moabites and the Parasites and the Hittites, he brought the law to the Israelites, God's chosen people, the apple of God's eye, this is who the law was given to, the new covenant was given unto all mankind, saying whosoever is a thirst that incommentate and drink of the water of life freely, that goes for two, that goes for Gentile, it goes for barbarian, for sentient, for male, female, it doesn't matter, it was written and it was put into place for all of mankind, hallelujah.

[12:05] This is what's in place, this is what's in place, seeing then that we have such a hope, we use great plainness of speech, hall makes an observation, he gives a why and he gives a why, he gives the same then that we have such hope, this is the why, we use great plainness of speech, in order to use boldness, we're bold in our space, why? Because we have hope, we have hope in the new covenant, the old covenant is passed, the old ministration, the ministration of the letter, the ministration of the law, it is passed, the ministration of the Spirit has come and it excels and it exceeds the ministration of the law and because we have this hope and the ministration of the Spirit, we can have plainness of speech, we can have bold speech, there ain't no chance in dancing around the tulips or in dancing around a subject matter, hey the world needs to know the gospel of Jesus Christ and they need to know it plainly and they need to know it boldly, the world needs to know that they are sinners and they are in danger of eternal hellfire but they also need to know that there is redemption to be found in the man Jesus Christ, there is redemption to be found in looking to Christ every being of our sin, these are the things that the world needs to know, these are the things that this is the plain speech that we need to have with the world, we don't need to get into doctrinal debates with lost people, we don't need to get into doctrinal debates with anybody, especially not with lost people, what the lost folks need to know is the gospel or if the gospel be hidden, it is hidden to those that are lost, we need to present the gospel and we need to do it with plain speech and we need to do it in boldness, hey don't go up to someone and present the gospel to them in fear, you can go up to them because we know from personal experience that the gospel is truth and that the gospel is the power of God under salvation, this is the hope that we have and this is the reason that we can go in plain speech and boldness into all of the world, the cause of the hope that we have, the hope that we have in this new covenant and in this ministration of the Spirit and not as Moses would 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 remain the same veil, I'm taking away the reading of the Old Testament which veil is done away, praise God, in Christ, the veil is taken or is still in place when the when the reading of the Old Testament takes place, when the reading of the Law takes place, Paul was saying to this day the day that he was writing this, to this day the veil is still in place, but folks here were referring here to a veil that was on

[15:20] Moses' face that would hide the glory of God from the Israelites, but Moses or Paul here is taking that account over in the Book of Exodus and he's applying it to these Jews that were around in his day and even the Jews that are around right now in 2022, the veil is still over their hearts, but it's not only the Jews that this applies to, it's the lost world in general, there's a veil over their heart, there's a veil of wickedness, there's a veil of sin, there's a veil of darkness that is over their heart, but the Bible here plainly says when it shall turn to the Lord the veil shall be taken away, hey when these individual people, when one turns unto the God the Lord, when one heart turns unto God for redemption in Jesus Christ the veil will be taken away and then they will have understanding of themselves and understanding of God, but until then they'll remain in their ignorance, they'll remain in the dark, their heart will remain in the dark, their minds were blinded, their minds were blinded, this is what got the Jews in trouble, this is what got a lot of the Jews in trouble, when Jesus came and walked to serve, this is why in John chapter one we have the verse that we're so familiar with, he came into his own and his own received him not, but what was that? Because they were blind, but they were blind by choice,

[16:56] Messiah was there, Messiah was right there in front of them, Messiah had come, the promised seed that God had promised them over and over in the Old Testament, he was finally here and it said he came into his own and his own received him not, if anybody should have recognized Jesus Christ as Messiah, it should have been the Jews for they are the ones that the Old Testament was written for, they are the ones that recorded the Old Testament by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, the Jews of the very ones that should have recognized Christ as Messiah, but yet they rejected him, they didn't reject him just once, they rejected him over and over just as they rejected God over in the Old Testament over and over and they rebelled against his way, they rebelled against his law, they rebelled against his customs and everything else that God had set in place for them just like they rebelled against God, they rebelled and rejected Jesus Christ, that fell was over their heart but it was there by choice, it was there by choice, we're born into this thing, we're born sinners according to the Bible, we're born in the same, we're shaping in iniquity, you can do about that, and I can do about it, but God recognized that, God knows our frame according to the scripture and he knows our nature, he knows our simple nature, he knows our organic nature and God is the one that had to make a way for us to be saved, God had to do that, him Jesus Christ and God is the very one that has to take away the veil, read that again but their minds were blinded for until this day remained the same veil, I'm taken away in the reading of the Old Testament which veil is done away in Christ but even under this day when Moses is read the veil is upon their heart and every letter when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away, it doesn't say anything about someone taking away their own veil, it says that the veil shall be taken away, it'll take Almighty God to remove that veil, it took God to remove the veil off of my heart, I walked around in sin all my life until the day that Almighty God saved my soul, but if God had not removed the veil and exposed to me his glory and exposed to me his righteousness and his holiness I would still be in my sin to this day.

[19:20] Hey, God exposes these things to people, he exposes them, that's the one of the most wondrous parts of the law, the Ten Commandments when we read them, we read them and as human beings we see it as a rule book, we see this as what I have to do, no folks that's what you can't do, that's why Jesus Christ had to come, it shows you your inability to do what God asks of you and it also shows you on the flip side of that same coin, the law shows you the righteousness and the holiness of God because God came here manifesting the flesh and the man Jesus Christ for the Bible says that in him throughout the fullness of the Godhead and God himself and only God was able to keep that law.

[20:06] The law shows you your filth and it shows us God's righteousness, two sides of that coin, nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord the veil shall be taken away, that's a promise straight from scripture, when the heart turns to the Lord, when the individual turns to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away, don't tell you we don't have a part in this, I got no part in salvation, I can't save me and you can't save me but we've got to turn to God, we've got to look to him for righteousness, we've got to look to him for salvation, we must turn to God just like the last time that I preached here we was talking about Moses and how he looked at the brazen serpent up on the pole and that was God's way that he made but the people still had to take a glance toward that serpent, they still had to take a glance toward the brazen serpent in order for them to be healed by the same by their side, there was some part of that gain that was on their side of the court, yes God is salvation, God is the author of salvation, the Bible says that Jesus crosses the author and the finisher of our faith and I understand all these things with both, if a heart will not turn unto God, God cannot save that heart, if a heart is unwilling to turn to God,

[21:28] God will not take away the veil from that heart, he will let that heart continue on in their way and walk their self straight into hell, that's the scripture folks, the veil shall be taken away if it, the person, the heart, if it shall turn toward the Lord, now the heart, now the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, praise God, I've heard this quoted over and over through the years since I've been saved, now the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, the Lord is that spirit, what spirit are we talking about? Well from the beginning of this passage of scripture we've been talking about the ministration of the spirit, we had the ministration of the letter, the一樣 of the law, the ministration that kills, the ministration of death is the scripture but but he, than he goes into the ministration of the Spirit, he says, now the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty and I praise God that where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.

[22:36] What do we have liberty to do? We ask the lost world to do that. They say you have to go to church and you have to do this. You have to read your Bible and you have to pray. No folks, we have liberty and cross Jesus to worship God. We have liberty and cross Jesus to come to church and to worship and to fellowship and to pray and before Christ Jesus came in on the scene. They still had to go to the high priest to make an atonement for their sin but we have a great high priest in heaven now named Jesus Christ and he has made the atonement for my sin and he is my mediator between me and God. He is my advocate with the Father. Hallelujah. These are the things that we have in Christ and we have liberty and Christ because before and hey listen Paul wrote this letter if anybody had a ride if anybody had smarts enough I know he was inspired by the Holy Ghost. I understand that but if anybody in the New Testament had a right to to to write the things that were finding in this text in the scripture it was the Apostle Paul because he had lived on both sides of the law and he administered on both sides of the law. He was a Pharisee before the time of Jesus Christ and before the time of grace and before the time of salvation by the blood of the Lamb of God.

[23:57] He was a minister then and he was a minister here to the Corinthian church after these things. He was a minister of Jesus Christ to these Corinthians so if anybody could make this inference and anybody had any right to do so it was the Apostle Paul. He says in him we have liberty and the Lord is that spirit. Romans chapter 8 says that if we have not the spirit of cross where none of is. The Lord is that spirit. The Lord is that spirit. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. We have freedom in Jesus Christ and that is not freedom to go out and do as we please and that's how a lot of people see that verse in scripture. It is not freedom to sin. It is not a license to sin. We have freedom to go into God in Jesus Christ and only in Jesus Christ do we have that as I've already said we have freedom to worship God. We couldn't even worship God broadly without Jesus Christ or without a minister doing something for us without a priest doing something for us. We couldn't really even go to God before then but when Jesus came in on the scene and Jesus saved my soul and yours that gave us liberty to be with God to worship God to talk with God to walk with God and to do everything in our lives to the glory of God. That's what our liberty is. It's not a little need to sin.

[25:27] It's liberty to God through Jesus Christ but we all with open face beholding is 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. But we all with open face beholding is in a glass. The glory of the Lord. Beholding is in a glass in other words, beholding is as if you're looking in a mirror. But we all with open face beholding is in a glass. The glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory. Changed into what image? In the image of Jesus Christ. We're being changed into that image but because of this glory and it says here from glory to glory. We read how the glory or how the ministration of the Spirit it exceeds the ministration of the death, the ministration of the letter, the ministration of the law. It exceeds that and we read that it excels. The ministration of the Spirit it excels and it says here once again in verse 18 with open face beholding is in a glass. The glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory. From glory to glory. When Moses when he come down off the mountain and his face shown as the scripture puts it with the glory of God. He read in that same passage in scripture there at the end of Exodus chapter 34 that when Moses went in unto the Lord that he would go in and he would remove the veil from his face as he spoke with the Lord and then when he'd go out and he would give commandment to the children of Israel he would keep the veil off of his face and only when he finished speaking would he put the veil back on his face and but it says this and it insinuates that it was every time that Moses went in to speak to God that he took the veil off of his face. Oh that tells me that the glory of God it would diminish after a time it would diminish off of the face of Moses and he would have to go back in to the presence of Almighty God in order to get the glory to shine back off of his face once again and that tells me in the New Testament times that we live in now that we're neglecting our time with God that we're neglecting our time in prayer that we're neglecting our Bible time and we're neglecting the gathering of the saints the the assembling of ourselves together hey the glory of God is not going to shine over you like it would if you are not neglecting those things. Yes. What Jesus Christ say in the Sermon on the Mount let your last so shine before man that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven

[28:13] Amen. Let your last so shine before man. Come, come that they may see your good works, come and glorify your Father which is in heaven. If they may see your good works that applies to the man that let your last so shine before man and glorify your Father which is in heaven that applies to you that applies to the one that that that Jesus is commanding to let your last so shine before man but folks it takes a good relationship with God and it takes us getting into God's presence sometimes we might have to disappear up into the prayer closet by ourselves with God but when we emerge from the closet when we come out of that alone space then we end with God the glory of God should be shining to all of the world. Amen. I ain't talking about a physical shine either like Moses had nobody should have to ask us if we're saved nobody should have to ask us if we're Christians and we certainly shouldn't need a bumper sticker on our car or to wear a crucifix on the necklace for people to know that we believe in God they should know about our actions they should know about our speech they should know about our walk they should know about everything that we do and everything that we don't do that we believe that there is a holy God we believe in the thrice holy triune God of the scripture and we believe that he is a God of righteousness and he is our God of judgment and our lives should indicate that these people that we believe these things and if our lives indicate these things that is the light of God that will be shining out for the entire world to see that's why when we witness the family members when we witness the friends that are lost that's why when we when we witness them or even when we just walk into their prisons a lot of times they're demeanoral change but it don't happen like it used to it don't happen like it did once upon a time I've been on visitations in the past when I first got saved

[30:10] I'd go on visitations and go into people's houses they'd be sliding the beer cans behind the couch they'd be putting something in the trash they're trying to straighten it up why because they thought that a preacher was there I wasn't a preacher at that time but it was because me and a god were present in their home now my goodness then just the opposite happens and 13 and a half years time I can't believe in 13 and a half years this has happened now you go to their house and they'll offer you a beer they'll say you want to sit down and have a drink with me I've had this happen I've had this happen and folks why is it and it makes me question myself it's the light not shining and I understand I understand that men love darkness rather than light and I understand that the heart of man is is is is is disabled and deceptive above all things and desperately wicked I understand these things about man but it makes me question myself how bright is my life shining for God as it gutton dim over time and if it has it's my fault it is my Lord we we all with open face beholding is in a glass the glory of the Lord we're beholding as if looking in the mirror the glory of the Lord the glory of the Lord is is looking in the mirror are changing the same image the same image of what the same image as the glory of the Lord as the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is the glory of

[31:34] God the Father he was the glory of God the Father here on earth here's the express image of Almighty God here on this earth Paul here is making the statement yeah but we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changing the same image from glory to glory every time that glory comes as I said before it sounds it sounded to me like over there in the book of Exodus that Moses had to continue going in to get to get another dose of the glory of Almighty God on his face and this is talking about from glory to glory hey the the same as that we're seeing that's beholding in a glass we're changing from glory to glory but we're being shaped and mold and fashioned into into the image of Jesus Christ I will never be Jesus Christ in this life or in the next and you won't either but Almighty God saved our soul to bring him glory and Jesus Christ brought him glory through his obedience and through his sacrifice and he continues to this very day to bring glory to God with every individual heart that turns into God and as the bell removed and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Hallelujah and from that point on from that point on as it's looking in a glass we see a change from glory to glory even as by the spirit of the Lord and that's the only way that it'll happen is by the spirit of Almighty God I can't explain to you a T God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and I don't think any man alive can't

[33:11] I can't explain it perfectly to you but I can tell you now that this scripture here it says in verse 17 that the Lord is that Spirit and in verse 18 it says that even as by the spirit of the Lord the Lord is that Spirit because the Spirit and the God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit they're all there they all combine as one there's one God there's one faith one Lord and one baptism according to what I read in the scriptures there is one Lord and but he is in three separate but equal persons as far as the scripture goes he's not a part and he's not a piece of the Triune he is a person of the Triune the Holy Spirit of God is this says that even by the spirit of the Lord the verse before this says that the Lord is that Spirit hey folks when God saved my soul and he sent the Holy Spirit into my life that was God himself kind of tabernacle with his creation he was coming to tabernacle with one of his he was coming to live amongst his people inside of me and when God saved your unworthy soul he done the same thing for you he came to live for the Lord is that Spirit and the Spirit is of the Lord the Lord himself dwells in you hallelujah that's that much more reason our lives should shine so bright when we get around the lost when we get around the world when we get around fellow Christians fellow brothers and sisters in Christ our life needs to shine I need to see the light of brothers and sisters in Christ just as much as the world needs to see a light coming off of me you're coming off of them that they might feel conviction over their sins I can't say their souls but folks just as the Israelites in the

[34:56] Old Testament just as they were convicted of their sins because the glory of God was shining off of the very one that had delivered the laws of God to them just as they were convicted of their sins when I get around people people ought to change their attitude they ought to change their ways just a little bit and if they ain't maybe just maybe and probably it falls in my lap as well they're not check up on your relationship with God if that's the case hope the veil is removed in Jesus Christ the veil that was there not only over the Jews hearts but over the Gentiles hearts as well the veil is removed and only removed in Jesus Christ that's only removed by Almighty God we can't do it we can't do it compare that with the scripture that we read in the book of Joel where it talks about need to circumcise your heart and Paul actually gets into that in the New Testament as well

[36:02]  I can't circumcise my own heart it takes God to do that it takes God to remove the veil from my heart it takes God to work in my heart I can't do it myself and you can't do it for me and I can't do it for you it takes God to do these things and it took God to remove the veil off of my heart when he saved my soul it took God to remove that veil when I turned to him I praise God that he did thanks for mentioning God bless you all