The Greater Glory of the New Covenant

Transcript

GR 1797
02/18/2015
The Greater Glory of the New Covenant
2 Corinthians 3:6-11; Ezekiel 36:25-27
Gil Rugh

Today we're turning to 2 Corinthians 3, a section of God's Word foundational to what He is doing in the world. The most important thing going on in the world today which overwhelms everything else is the presentation of the truth of the salvation message of Jesus Christ. That is the most important thing God is doing in the world today—giving forth the message of His provision of salvation in Jesus Christ. You stop and think about that. You and I have the privilege and honor given us by God to do the most important thing in all the world. It's not what the news and everything is caught up in, but it's what God says is the most important thing He is doing in the world today. This is a day of salvation, a day when His grace is made available to sinful human beings. And the most important thing that happens, the most important thing that will happen today, is that people are told the message of Jesus Christ, salvation provided in His death and resurrection. So easy for us to get caught up in “world events” and to ignore the fact that we have the privilege of being involved in carrying out the most important thing that is happening in the world today. It's not what head of state meets with another head of state, it's not what the terrorists do in this country or that country. It is the giving forth the message of Jesus Christ.

And that's what Paul is talking about here. One of the strengths of the Apostle Paul is that he keeps his focus in ministry. World events are going on, Roman emperors come and go. Paul keeps focused on what is most important.

In 2 Corinthians 2:14 you remember, Paul began what we might call a digression. Probably not the best word, but he breaks off from the flow of thought to talk about the ministry God has given him. And we noted 2 Corinthians 2:13 says, “I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother, taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia.” Then when you turn over to 2 Corinthians 7:5 Paul picks up, “But even when we came into Macedonia.” So you see that thought almost continues unbroken from 2 Corinthians 2:13 to 2 Corinthians 7:5. What has happened is that he has turned his attention to focus on the ministry that God has given him, and the overwhelming importance and significance of that ministry. And he is going to demonstrate through this section, 2 Corinthians 2:14 through 2 Corinthians 7:4, that there is a ministry that God carries out in and through Paul. It is a ministry of power that determines eternal destinies, but it's a ministry accomplished in the context of weakness, suffering, human frailty.

We noted the theme of this letter becomes “God's power demonstrated in man's weakness.” So important to put into perspective. This was an issue confronting the Corinthian church. False teachers had infiltrated among the church and were having an influence. And part of their way of undermining the church's confidence in Paul was to point out his weaknesses, his frailties, what seemed to be inconsistencies. For example he said he would come visit them on a certain schedule and he didn't. That means he can't be trusted. He is a man beset by problems, physical troubles and trials. They are looking for ways to undermine their confidence in him.

Come over to 2 Corinthians 10. Here is an example of what these false teachers, those trying to weaken the church's confidence in Paul and his ministry were saying. Verse 10, “For they say his letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech is contemptible.” He writes a powerful letter but when you hear him in person you won't be impressed. His appearance is pretty weak, his speech is nothing to write home about. I read these kinds of things and I wonder if we had Paul come and preach, would we say, I can't wait to come back tonight and hear him again. We say, well, I don't know. Paul's point is the message is so powerful it changes lives. My appearance may not be that impressive, my ability to communicate in ways that impress people may not be, but the message I have changes lives.

Turn over to 2 Corinthians 11:5, “For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. But even if I am unskilled in speech, I am not so in knowledge.” That ought to encourage all of us. God has given us the Apostle Paul's life and ministry as an example. And he says maybe I am unskilled in speech, maybe I'm not the best speaker, the best communicator, but I know the truth and you will hear the truth from my lips. And that is the truth which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Think about that. You may not be good. Well, I'm not good at personal communication. I'm not good at expressing myself. Don't worry about it, just get good at being clear with the Gospel and you can be an instrument of God's power. That's what Paul is driving home here.

Come back to 2 Corinthians 3 and the first three verses Paul reminds them that their very salvation is a testimony to the power of God carried out through his ministry. How did the Corinthian church get diverted here? Well you know what happens. You hear people say things, Paul had been at Corinth, he spent a year and a half there when he founded the church that experienced the life-changing message that he brought. That's why there is a church at Corinth. But then people come in and say, Paul is not that impressive. And you think about what kind of speaker was he. And pretty soon you begin to think, as I think about it maybe I was caught up at the time, but he wasn't that impressive. And his ability to communicate, I've heard a lot better. And pretty soon your confidence begins to waver. And that's where the Corinthians are, they are giving ear to this and it's weakening their confidence in Paul. And the serious thing about that, in the message that Paul is teaching.

At the end of 2 Corinthians 2 when he talked about the strength of his ministry, he said he was giving off the knowledge of Christ in every place. And in that he was sharing in the victory of Christ. And then he made clear, verse 17, “we are not like many, peddling the Word of God.” His adequacy and effectiveness in the ministry were inseparably connected, he preached the pure Gospel. “I made no adjustments, I didn't alter the message, I wasn't trying to please men.” Many are peddling the Word of God. And we noted he started 2 Corinthians 3 by saying, “Some may need letters of commendation.” This is what happened, those who are making alterations in the message are tying it to the weaknesses of Paul as though that meant his message wasn't that powerful. Think of what somebody may say about you, they are not that impressive a person and they are not the best communicator. Sometimes they are not clear with their ideas. But they ought to never be able to say about you that you weren't clear with the Gospel. And if you do that, they have been exposed to the power of God and you have given off the fragrance we saw at the end of 2 Corinthians 2 that is pleasing to God.

2 Corinthians 3:5-6 he makes the transition to deal with the content of the Gospel that is under attack at the church at Corinth. How do we get here? A church that is saved by believing the pure, unadulterated message of the Gospel, and now Paul has to come back and remind them, that's what saved you. So he is going to deal with the falseness, the corruption that is coming in. “We are not adequate” verse 5, “in ourselves to consider anything as adequate as coming from ourselves. Our adequacy is from God who made us adequate as servants of a new covenant.” This becomes the issue. The new covenant in contrast to the old covenant. “We are servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills but the Spirit gives life.” And we noted that this is a contrast between the Mosaic Law, the old covenant, and the ministry of the Spirit in the context of the new covenant. And you have to be clear on this or you will get confused on the Gospel. Well, you get all involved in covenants, and does it matter, we're not dealing with Jewish issues today. We are dealing with the same issues over the Gospel. The church is being corrupted from within today because people aren't clear. There is an unbridgeable chasm between the Mosaic Law and the new covenant. And lack of clarity on that leads to confusion and corruption in the church.

You'll note Paul allows no middle ground. “He made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit.” And we looked, the letter refers to the Mosaic Law which was inscribed in letters on stone which Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai, which had the ten words, the Ten Commandments, and if you will, a summary of the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law. “Not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, the Spirit gives life.” Wait a minute, Paul, isn't that a little bit harsh? You're saying the Mosaic Law kills? The ministry of the Spirit in context of the new covenant gives life. There is no middle ground here, there is no place for compromise.

I listened this morning during breakfast on one of the news programs. They had a Jewish rabbi, a Muslim leader, and a Roman Catholic priest, all talking about how much they could agree on. Paul wouldn't fit in that group. Do you know what he would say? You are all wrong. We wouldn't want you on the program. Isn't that a little bit biased? We are biased, we are narrow. Paul says the letter kills, the Spirit gives life. You understand these teachers that have come in among the Corinthian believers were claiming you needed to teach the Law. And Paul says all the Law can do is kill. The Spirit gives life. We are adequate to do the work of God because we carry out the ministry of the new covenant.

The letter kills, the Spirit gives life. You have to understand what is the new covenant, and the old covenant. Let me just review a little bit with you. Come back to Jeremiah. In a couple of weeks I want to talk with you about covenants. I want to talk about covenants because you have to be clear on covenants. And we're going to talk a little more broadly because that involves some things connected with what is known as Reform Theology or Covenant Theology, and the differences we have with them.

We're talking about two basic covenants out of the Old Testament. The old covenant is the Mosaic Law. We think of the Ten Commandments which are part of the Mosaic Law but there is much more to the Mosaic Law than the Ten Commandments. And the new covenant which replaces, supersedes, does away with the old covenant. Jeremiah 31:31, “Behold days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” Now the new covenant is made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. There are some today, and there is a book that has been recently published arguing that the believers aren't under the new covenant today, the new covenant has not been implemented at all in any way. I won't mention some names, you would recognize some of them. Because as I said it is made with Israel and Judah. And they are afraid we are going to get the church and Israel confused. But all the covenants are made with Israel. The Abrahamic Covenant was made with Abraham and his descendants, but as Galatians makes clear we become beneficiaries of a provision of that covenant because we have the faith of Abraham. We'll talk more about those issues when we talk about the covenants in a couple of weeks.

This covenant was made in its fullness with Israel but it has been implemented and the foundational provision which enables everything else to take place is the provision of salvation in this covenant. He contrasted in verse 32 with the covenant He made with Moses and the nation. “Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord. I will put My law within them, on their heart I will write it.” See the language that Paul has used in 2 Corinthians. I'm talking about a covenant not inscribed on tablets of stone, but written on hearts of flesh by the Spirit. “They will not teach again each man his neighbor, each man his brother. They will all know me.” We'll talk about that. That is a provision that will take place only at a future time. The fact is not all the provisions of the new covenant have been implemented, any more than all the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant have been implemented. But nonetheless it is operative. So this is the new covenant, God writing on the heart.

Come back to Ezekiel 36. This is another passage dealing with the new covenant. The expression new covenant is not used here but the provisions are the same as that in the Jeremiah covenant, the new covenant. God promises in Ezekiel 36:22, “It is not for your sake, oh house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord.” Future realizations for the nation Israel. “I will take you from the lands, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.” If you are here on Sunday nights we have made clear, the Old Testament prophecies make no distinction between the first coming of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ. They are just interwoven and not sorted out. It was God's plan in the progressive revelation not to make it clear to those people. These are all truths that are true, but they are not put in their chronological sequence until the New Testament comes, the new covenant and the additional revelation.

Verse 25, “then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart, put a new spirit within in. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, give you a heart of flesh.” You see the same things that Paul has been talking about to the Corinthians. We're not talking about a covenant that is engraved in tablets of stone and dealing with hearts of stone. They never did respond as they should. But we're dealing now with a ministry that will give us a new spirit and a new heart. Verse 27, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will live in the land I gave to your forefathers.” You see interwoven here things associated with the first coming of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ. At His first coming He provided the redemption through the death and resurrection of Christ. At His Second Coming there will be the final realization and fulfillment of all that is in this covenant for the nation Israel when they will be back in the land that He has promised to them.

Come to John 3. Some of the importance of understanding the New Testament with an Old Testament background, the New Testament does not change what is promised in the Old Testament but it does bring clarity regarding two comings of the Messiah to this earth—the first to suffer and die, the second to rule and reign. The Old Testament just put it all together. Everything it said about His first coming came true; everything it said about His Second Coming will come true. But sorting them out and seeing that there is a space of time is important.

When Jesus speaks to Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews, John 3:1, “A man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.” Keep that in mind, he is one who has an important role, he is a teacher of the Jews. He came to Jesus and he talks to Him, we won't go in. Verse 3, “Jesus said to him, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus is puzzled. How can a man be born again. “Jesus said to him, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Some people read that today and say, you have to be baptized, you have to be born of water and the Spirit. So baptism is necessary for salvation. Well in the context note what Jesus says to Nicodemus in verse 10, because Nicodemus doesn't understand what he is saying. Verse 10, “Jesus answered and said, are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?” He had told him in verse 6, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.” Nicodemus is puzzled. Verse 9, “he said, how can these things be?” And Jesus said, “how can you be the teacher in Israel and not understand this?” How would Nicodemus understand that you have to be baptized to be saved, a Jewish teacher? He couldn't.

But come back to Ezekiel 36. What did God promise to do in connection with the new covenant ministry of Jesus Christ? Remember Jesus said at the Last Supper, this is the new covenant in My blood. Verse 25, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from your filthiness. I will give you a new heart, put a new Spirit within you,” My Spirit will now reside within you. You'll be born again, you'll be made new within, you'll be given a new heart, a new Spirit. You'll be cleansed from all your defilement. Nicodemus as a teacher of Israel, a teacher of the Old Testament Scriptures should have understood what Jesus was saying. He's telling me about what Ezekiel said, what Jeremiah said. I'll be cleansed from my filthiness, the defilement of my sin, I'll be made new within, born again. You get a new heart and a new Spirit within. You are a new person. We'll get to this in 2 Corinthians 5, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.” Nicodemus should have understood this. We have Christians that read this today and says be born of water and the Spirit; that means you have to be baptized, I guess, to be saved. Well if you are ignorant of the content of Scripture and its context, Nicodemus could never have understood that you have to be baptized to be saved. But he needed to understand and had to understand and was responsible to understand what God had told him as a Jew in the new covenant. I will put clean water on you. That analogy, that picture comes from Numbers 19.

Remember a few years ago there was a lot in the news about the red heifer and discussions about whether Israel was trying to get a pure red heifer. That's because in Numbers 19 the red heifer and its sacrifice had to be burned and the ashes mixed with water. And then it could be sprinkled to remove the defilement from certain kinds of filthiness. So that's all Jesus is saying, in the new covenant you'll be cleansed from all defilement of sin and you'll be made new within. That's the new covenant ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Come over to Hebrews. We studied Hebrews not too long ago, relatively speaking, so I know this is all fresh in your mind, but a little bit of review. Come to Hebrews 9. He's talking in Hebrews about the fact that Jesus Christ is the mediator of a new covenant. He is a high priest not after the order of Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek. And when you have a new priesthood, you have a new covenant. So verse 11, “When Christ appeared as high priest of the good things to come,” what God had promised and prophesied. Back in Psalms, You will be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. “The sacrifice of Himself,” verse 14, “how much more will the blood of Christ cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant.” Back in Hebrews 8, it's about the new covenant. Verse 1, “Now the main point of what has been said is this, we have such a high priest, a priest after the order of Melchizedek.” That was quoted in Hebrews 7:1, talked about Melchizedek in verse 17, quoting from Psalm 110. “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Contrast with the Mosaic covenant, the Mosaic Law. Verse 19, “The Law made nothing perfect.” Verse 22, “So much the more Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant,” better than the Mosaic covenant. Keep these contrasts in mind. This is what Paul is going to do, draw a contrast between the new covenant and the old covenant. In just a few moments we'll look at that. Verse 25, “Therefore He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him.” He is the unique high priest, different than the high priests associated with the old covenant. This is crucial. Do you understand the new covenant?

There are Christians today who think that we can join together with Roman Catholics. You read the Roman Catholic catechism, do you know what they say? They have modeled their priesthood on the Old Testament Aaronic priesthood. They have a whole system of a high priest, their pope and a series of sub-priests. And they are offering sacrifices, the sacrifice of the mass, doing all kinds of things because anyone who says salvation is by faith alone is anathema, condemned to hell, declared in the Council of Trent and never changed. That's why you have to go to purgatory when you die because your sin is still to be paid for. Then people say, we can get along, we can work, we have a lot of things in common. Paul says we have nothing in common. They have a ministry of death, we have a ministry of life. I've shared with you, was there anybody on earth at the time that was closer in many ways to the message Paul was preaching than the Judaizers? The Judaizers said, we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, He died on the cross, was buried, was raised from the dead. Remember we looked at Acts 15? The only thing they said, that's all good, we believe that, we have that in common. But you also must be circumcised and keep the Law. In Galatians 1 Paul says they are condemned to hell. It's not how much we have in agreement, it's where do we disagree. The whole book of Hebrews is written to explain this and yet we have people in what they call Bible-believing churches who say, I don't think we want to say that Roman Catholics aren't saved. I mean, judge not that you be not judged, we have a lot in agreement with them. We have nothing in agreement pertaining to the finality of the work of Jesus Christ in salvation. That is denied by the very fact that they have priests parading around, the very fact that their whole system is focused in the mass, the re-sacrifice of Christ and all the denying doctrines of purgatory and penance. I just scratch my head.

Christians get confused, the church at Corinth is confused. Hebrews 8, the longest quote of the Old Testament in the New Testament is found in Hebrews 8. Do you know what it is? It's quoting the new covenant from Jeremiah 31. Hebrews 8:6, “He has obtained a more excellent ministry by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant enacted on better promises. For if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for the second. But God says it can't accomplish what has to be accomplished.” So He says, “I will effect a new covenant.” And you have the quote from Jeremiah 31. Note verse 13, we'll be coming back to this again and again. “When He said a new, He has made the first obsolete.” Whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear, near disappearance. When Jeremiah, under the direction of the Spirit of God, recorded “I will make a new covenant,” he announced the old covenant would be replace. Didn't know how soon but it has already been declared obsolete in the sense it will be replaced. It will continue to be operative but it will be cut off.

Come back to Romans 7. We live in a day of compromise and Christians want to talk about where we can agree and how we get along. And we have become very sensitive to people saying we're intolerant, we're unloving, we're narrow, we think we are the only ones right. And all those things are true of us. We've been exposed, we are the only ones right, aren't we? The ones who believe the truth of the Word of God? The Gospel of Jesus Christ? Not because I can be proud and arrogant because I know something, but because what God has said is the only truth. Let God be true and every man a liar. That's true, that's where we stand. We have these timid Christians, I don't want them to think I'm unloving, I don't want them to think I'm intolerant. You understand everybody who doesn't believe this message is going to hell. There is no mediating ground. Call it intolerant if you want, God is intolerant—you will do it My way or you will go to hell is intolerant. “Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me.” That rules out the Muslims, that rules out the Jews and their rebellion and hardness, rules out the Protestants and the Catholics who have devised their own system of works. It's one way, the only way. But that's fine, couldn't be any other way. Why do we need another way? God says “come to Me” through His Son, “all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” But Jesus said, you will not come to Me that you may have life. In other words we want to say well, we ought to be open. They say, I'm not going to do it God's way, I'm going to do it my way and He had better accept it. Well, you can play God but you can't be God. You can pretend you are God, but you can't be God. You can't tell Him how it will be, He tells us how it will be.

We're saying all this, why are the Corinthians confused? How come the church gets confused? I mean, this is the way it is. In Romans 7, the whole chapter is about the Mosaic Law. We won't go through all this, but you take time to read it. In Paul's letters it keeps coming up, what God has done in Christ has settled it. The purpose of the Law has been served. All the Law could do was condemn, that's what the chapter speaks about. It revealed sin. Verse 7 he asks the question, “What shall we say? Is the Law sin? May it never be.” Nothing wrong with the Law, it turned the light up and shone the light more broadly than it had been shown before and it revealed sin. So there is nothing wrong with the light of the Law. It's the misuse of the Law that causes the problem. The Law revealed that the Jews were sinners, as well as everybody else, but it was given to the Jews. There is nothing wrong with the Law but that doesn't help. In a sense it condemned me.

Verse 8, “The sin taking opportunity through the commandment condemned me.” Verse 11 says the same thing. Just showed how sinful I am because God said don't covet, and pretty soon I coveted. And God said don't do that, and pretty soon I did it; and God said do this, and pretty soon I didn't want to do it. It shows how corrupt the heart is. But it's been done away with, the condemnation that the Law could bring has been solved. Now people were saved under the Law, but they weren't saved by keeping the Law. We have to understand the purpose of the Law.

Come to Galatians 2, we're going to study 2 Corinthians but with this background we'll move through pretty quickly the rest of the section we are looking at. Come to Galatians 3. We've been here before. Paul is having to deal with the churches at Galatia, bringing in this idea. These are Jews trying to implement the Law but we understand we have the same principle today. May not be exactly the same with the Jews and the Mosaic Law. but we have Roman Catholicism that models a priesthood after the Old Testament Law and the priests and coming to the priest and getting forgiveness and doing penance and partaking in a sacrifice. Wait, that's a system that never did provide salvation. Why are there some in evangelical churches who say there is a lot we can work on together. Paul wasn't looking for things he could work on with the Judaizers. We would agree on the sanctity of marriage, we would agree abortion is the taking of a life, we could. Those are nothing. You can agree on all those things and go to hell. We don't agree on the provision of salvation and the finality of that provision in Jesus Christ. And so we can't join arms with anyone. Paul is not looking to join arms. Well, the Judaizers, they would help me. At least if I had some people that agreed with me, give me some inroads and wouldn't make me look so narrow. We're not looking for that

Galatians 3, Paul has talked to the Galatian Christians. “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?” You have been put under somebody's spell. That hurts. What if I stood up to you and I said, you foolish Christians, who has bewitched you? You'd say, what are you talking to me like that for? I realize I'm not Paul, so I'll just read what he said. “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish?” There is a frustration in Paul as the Spirit directs him and he needs to be frustrated. There is no excuse for this confusion. We ought to be clear. Well, I don't know, carried about with every wind of doctrine and teaching of men. He uses Abraham as an example. Abraham was saved before circumcision came into play, before the Mosaic Law was given. How did he get saved? By faith, that has always been the way that God brought His salvation.

Verse 11, “That no one is justified by the Law before God is evident, for the righteous man shall live by faith.” So verse 19, “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator until the seed would come to whom the promise was made,” referring to Christ in the context. So it was temporary, it was to function only until Christ would come. And it never was a way of salvation. Verse 24, It was a tutor for the Jews, an overseer to Christ and to prepare them for the coming of their Savior, showing their desperate need and so on. Verse 24 has nothing to do with we ought to preach the Law to the unbeliever and then they are saved by grace, that's the reformed view, promoted by reformed covenantal teachers. And it's not biblical. We'll talk about that at a future time, here. It's not telling you, preach the Law and that will bring people to Christ. It's telling you the Law served a purpose, verse 19, until Christ would come. And then it is done, it's over. The Law has served its purpose.

Come back to 2 Corinthians. This is where Paul is going to go now, he's going to draw a series of contrasting comparisons, if you will, between the old covenant and the new covenant. And it's going to show the old covenant had glory associated with it, and so does the new. But the glory of the new covenant vastly supersedes the glory of the old covenant.

I want to note the three comparisons drawn here and then we'll work back through. They start out but if or for if. Note verse 7, “but if,” so you could circle that or underline it. Then the end of verse 8, “even more.” But if the old covenant were like this, the new covenant is even more like this. Verse 9, “For it,” and then toward the middle of the verse, “much more.” For if the old covenant, even more the new covenant. Verse 11, “For if, much more.” So those three comparisons. The word glory is the key word. And later this afternoon you can count them up. The word glory is used ten times in verses 7-11. It's a contrast and comparison, comparison contrasting the glory of the old covenant with the glory of the new covenant. And the conclusion will be the glory of the new covenant is so great and overwhelming, there is no glory now for the old covenant.

So the first comparison here. “But if the ministry of death in letters engraved in stones,” so on stones, “came with glory.” You'll note how he wants to stress here what the old covenant was. It was a ministry of death, it was engraved in stones. He has also already contrasted that which was written on the heart. Came with glory. And the old covenant did come with glory. Exodus 34, when Moses comes down from the mountain with the tablets of stone, this is the second occasion, and he appears before the people. Verse 28, “He was there with the Lord forty days, forty nights, he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words,” the Ten Commandments. “It came about when Moses was coming down from Mt. Sinai,” he had the tablets in his hand, “that Moses did not know the skin of his face shone” because he spoke with God. And so “when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold the skin of his face shone, they were afraid to come near to him.” And when Moses talked to the people of Israel, verse 33, “then he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take off the veil.” And then he would put the veil on. “So the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face,” until he would go back in to God.

The point that Paul brings out is that ministry of the old covenant was accompanied with glory. This was the revelation of God. You see he wants to take away that arguing point, these that want to mix the old covenant and the new say, didn't God's glory envelop Moses so much that his face shone. The glory of God accompanied the giving of that Law. Paul says, yes it did—“the ministry of death in letters engraved on stone came with glory so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face.” Then he adds something here, “fading as it was.” The word katargeo, it's used a number of times in the New Testament. Here fading is not a bad translation,. It is something that ceases to be, that comes to an end. The point that the Spirit of God is making through Paul here is that fading glory, that ceasing glory on the skin of Moses that was refurbished when he went in before the Lord was an indication the glory of this revelation will come to an end. It was fading, it was destined to cease, but it was a glory. But it's a reminder that it was a ministry of death. It was engraved in stone. It was a fading glory, a glory that would be rendered powerless, inoperative, ceasing.

The contrast is how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory, the ministry of the Spirit with the new covenant, the ministry associated with the new covenant.? If the old covenant, a ministry of death engraved in stones destined to cease came with glory, how much more glory is there in the new covenant which is the ministry of the Spirit. The contrast—a ministry of death and the ministry of the Spirit who gives life. All the Law could do was condemn. The ministry of the Spirit and the new covenant is a ministry to bearing life. When you have the message of the new covenant and the salvation provided in that new covenant, you have spiritual life. That's the point, How much more the glory?

Then verse 9, the second comparison, the second contrast. “For if the ministry of condemnation has glory.” This is to remind you of the negatives of the Mosaic covenant, its drawbacks. It is a revelation from God. There are things to be learned. It served a purpose. But you understand what it was. It was a ministry of death, verse 7; it's a ministry of condemnation, verse 9. “If the ministry of condemnation,” that condemned by showing how sinful they were, “has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.” There is an overflowing glory. We don't come to tell people just that they are condemned, we come to tell them there is righteousness provided, the righteousness of God provided by the death of Christ, that Paul will get to in 2 Corinthians 5. We become the righteousness of God in Him. What a contrast—a ministry of condemnation and a ministry of righteousness. As the ministry of condemnation comes with glory, and it did, the Law, how much more is the glory of the ministry of righteousness. The new covenant is God's provision of righteousness. There is no righteousness apart from Christ. His death on the cross is God's provision for us to be declared righteous in His sight. And passages like Romans 3:20 and Galatians 2.

Go to Galatians 2. Some of this will be unfolded more in detail as we move along. And the issue here is the Galatian church has, as we mentioned, been infiltrated by this idea you can bring in the Law and works. Paul says in verse 15, “we are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles.” This was the Jewish view. Remember even Peter got confused and didn't want to eat with the Gentiles. In Acts 10 he had to have a special revelation to eat with the Gentiles because that's defiling. But we're Jews, we're not defiled like the Gentiles. “Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law,” justified, declared righteous, “but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we,” referring to we Jews, “have believed in Christ Jesus so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law, since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” That's the key. Verse 20, “I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me. And the life which I live in the flesh, I live by the faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The finality of all of this, God's provision.

In Galatians 5:4, “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by Law. You have fallen from grace.” There is no salvation for you who think that salvation is by believing in Christ and by keeping the Law. Believing in Christ, if you can't be saved by the works of the Law, you certainly can't be saved by just general works, good works. At least with the Law you could say it was given by God and it came with glory, but it didn't bring salvation. And those who try to mix the two, you are cut off from Christ, you are severed from Christ, cut off from Him. This is why we do great damage to people, we deny the truth that God has entrusted to us and we allow them to go on thinking that maybe, if not surely, they will get to heaven. Paul says this is too important. He was not willing to have people be able to say when they stand before the judgment seat, well, Paul implied that we have a lot in common and probably would work out. We are so concerned how people see us, that we not be seen as unkind, unloving, narrow, intolerant. That's why Jesus said woe to you when all men speak well of you. That's the way they talked about the false prophets because the false prophets were always concerned to say what the people liked and wanted to hear. Doesn't mean that we have to be mean-spirited in our presentation of it, but we have to be clear. We say this not because I'm a better person than you are, that I wasn't as sinful as you are. I was every bit as sinful and perhaps worse. The point is we are both so lost in our sin, we are destined to eternal hell. And your system of acquiring righteousness is not acceptable to God, not because I say that but because He said it.

These people have cut themselves off from Christ. We believe in Jesus like you do, we believe He died on the cross, we believe in the virgin birth. But we also believe that that is not enough. You have cut yourself off from Christ. You have no part in God's saving grace. It sounds mean but it is the message of life. What is more revolting, that I withhold the truth from them and let them go to hell because I want them to think nice things about me? Or in love I tell them the truth so that they have opportunity to respond to the grace of God provided in His Son.

Come back to 2 Corinthians. He elaborates in verse 10 on that, contrasts with the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness, the greater glory. “For if indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it.” When you compare the glory of the new covenant with the glory of the old covenant, the glory of the new covenant is so great that there is no glory. That's what he says in verse 10, “no glory.” It doesn't mean it doesn't have a purpose. It's like turning on the flashlight and go out in the bright, sunny afternoon. The flashlight is irrelevant. There is no real light from it. It is overwhelmed by the light of the sun. This is a picture here. The new covenant has come, the fullness of the glory of the Son of God being the Redeemer. God's provision of grace for salvation in the new covenant completely overwhelms and puts an end to the glory associated with the old covenant. It only served until Christ came.

And then that final comparison. Verse 11, “For if that which fades away,” that's another form of that word fading up in verse 7, katargeo, that which fades away, ceases to be, rendered inoperative. “That which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.” The old covenant was temporary from the beginning. That was represented by the veil covering the fading glory of Moses' face. From the beginning it was marked off as having limited duration. The prophecy of the new covenant reminded that that covenant would disappear in the sense of being operative. We still could learn things, but it was rendered obsolete, Hebrews 8:13. But the new covenant is eternal. This is what everything was anticipating. This is the finality and it's the salvation in this covenant that makes all the provisions of the other covenants and ultimately the Abrahamic Covenant fulfillable. This is an eternal covenant, it has unending glory.

Why do we want to go back and dabble in that? Do you know why? The church at Corinth had lost its focus on the finality of God's provision in the new covenant work of Jesus Christ. Do you know why the church, the evangelical Bible-believing church today gets caught up in everything blowing down the pike? We would say, they take their eye off the ball, they lose their focus on the new covenant ministry of Jesus Christ. This is that which has eternal and enduring glory. It's the Gospel which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. There is no other way. “He that has the Son has life, he that does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him might not perish.” “How shall they believe in Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without someone to tell them?” A preacher, a proclaimer.

So we have the most glorious ministry in all the world. The world seems to be unraveling, coming apart at the seams. You look at decisions being made by people in authority and you say, what is happening? We need to say, have I taken my focus off? This is what God says is the condition of a fallen world, a world in rebellion against Him, a world that suppresses the truth in unrighteousness, a world that does not want to hear. But we are like the prophets, we go tell them. They won't listen, but you go tell them anyway. And we give off the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ and God is pleased. All the mess that is going on in the world, tragedies of all kinds, suffering, difficulty, people afraid, and we come to tell them of the glory of the living God. There is a lot going on in the world, let's close that out for a moment. I want to tell you something that is more important than anything happening in the presidential office, in this ruler's office anywhere in the world. I want to tell you about the message of salvation. There is a Savior, God has provided salvation. He says He will cleanse you from your defilement and guilt, He'll give you a new heart, a new spirit. He'll make you new; you will be born again. His Spirit will take up residence in your life to enable and empower you now to live for Him. It is all accomplished when you let go of all your efforts, all your works, all your religious activities and say, God, I have no hope. I cast myself on your mercy, believing that Christ died for me. I am trusting Him alone as my Savior.

That's what we come to tell people. Don't try to get them to come to this church. I'm not trying to show them I'm right and they are wrong. I just want to tell them the truth. There is a Savior, He can be your Savior if you will place your faith in Him.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Father, for the glory of the ministry of the new covenant, a ministry centered in the finished work of Your Son, the One who is now high priest, the One who offers salvation to all who will believe in Him. Lord, we are in awe that we who have been the recipients of Your saving grace, who have been made new in Christ are now entrusted with the message of glory to tell to others, whether they want to hear, whether they are willing to hear, whether they do hear. Lord, we come to tell them. I pray that we will be bold and unashamed with the message, ready and willing, desirous to share the glory that is provided in Jesus Christ, Your glory demonstrating Your grace in being willing to cleanse, forgive and make new all who will trust in Your Son, who loved us and died for us. We pray in His name, amen.