Unveiled Hearts
Sermon on 2 Corinthians 3.7-18
Title: Unveiled Hearts
Sermon Outline
Page 1: Need in the passage is that many people in Corinth have begun to question the authenticity of the ministry of Paul in Corinth. In turn they fall away from Paul’s lasting reflection of the glory of Christ and back to the fading reflection of the glory of the Law.
Page 2: We feel the need to stick with the law. But we don’t understand the shortcoming of living out law. We don’t live for Christ
Page 3: Paul calls the Corinthians to live by service to Jesus and through his Spirit. This is an ever increasing glory.
Page 4: We are called to service to Jesus through the Spirit. This glory is always increasing. Take the veil away for good
Congregation,
As I was thinking about what sort of passage to preach for this evening, I thought it would be good to hear something out of the letters Paul wrote to encourage the ministry of the different congregations he had established durng his missionary journeys.
That’s part of what drew me into preaching on this passage from 2 Corinthians. Then I thought, the theme of the passage is an excellent reminder for all of us. The theme of this passage really enables us to live lives that are not constrained, but free.
But it wasn’t until I was studying the passage that I started to realize something. This passage’s main theme was easy to catch when you take a quick glimpse of the passage, but when you first start digging in, it gets a little bit different. Paul is talking about some pretty complex subjects, and it just makes it that much tougher that we aren’t first century Jews.
But let’s take a look together.
2 Corinthians 3:7-18. I want you to listen much like you might view an impressionistic painting. Stand back, let the main idea come out to you, and don’t get to lost in the big thick dense concepts. Together we will dig into those dense concepts, and let’s see if by the time we are done we haven’t learned something new about this church, about Paul, about ourselves, and most importantly about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
So where do we start? It needs to be context. A passage taken out of context is like eating a slice of pickle and believing you have taken a real bite of a Big Mac. To get the whole thing, context, the whole is important. This is second Corinthians. Really, from different things Paul says in these letters, it is probably the fourth letter that has gone from him to the church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians is letter #2. We don’t have letter 1. There is a missing letter #3 and this one is probably letter #4. Obviously Paul cares a lot about this congregation. Another reason for all the letters is there is conflict in Corinth and some people that are claiming Paul is not teaching the truth.
Paul even says at the beginning of chapter 2 that he doesn’t come back to Corinth because he knows it would be a painful visit. The people that he loves so much falling away from the truth.
In the verses leading up to this one in chapter 3 we read that Paul doesn’t think he needs letters of recommendation from anyone showing that he is teaching the truth. He says, People, you are the proof. The way you have the spirit of Christ in your hearts, that should be recommendation enough that I am preaching the truth. Transformation of the Holy Spirit, that’s the proof that Paul was preaching the truth to them.
Verse 6, leading up says, 6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” What we need to keep in mind while we dig into the rest of the passage is this: The Letter Kills. The Spirit gives life.
Okay, question for you: What words seem to be repeated several times in the first paragraph of this passage?
Glory, glorious: 10 times. Doxa. Where we get the word doxology, or words of glorifying God. That’s what doxology means. Praise God! Doxa is glory. And with the mention of Moses and glory it must make us think of Exodus 33 and 34. Moses says to God, show me your doxa, show me your glory. God says, I will put you in the cleft of this rock and my glory, my doxa will pass by.
Glory here is talking about the holiness, and purity and spectacular awesomeness of God. Paul refers to this glory that Moses sees again in the last part of the passage. After seeing God’s glory, Moses’ face shines the reflected light of God’s glory. This happens in Exodus 34, both in verse 30 and 35.
That’s glory in this passage, keep that in mind.
Ministry: 4 times.
This is the word in Greek diaconoia. Its where we get the word deacon. This word diaconia means to help or serve or minister. It can be either that act of ministering. Or it can be an office, being in ministry. Funny that we quickly say that pastors are in ministry. Using the greek words, it would be more appropriate to say that deacons are in ministry.
But let’s look at what type of ministries Paul talks about here. What is the ministry in verse 7? Ministry of death…. Hmmmmm.
Verse 8? Ministry of the Spirit.
Verse 9? Ministry that condemns. And the ministry that gives righteousness.
These diaconates that Paul mentions are complete opposites of each other.
This brings up another two letter word that shows up three times in the passage. Check out the odd numbered verses. 7,9 and 11
If: The if is important. These are important, especially if you are a Jewish person. Each of these if’s are the front end of this statement. If . . . . then how much more . . . This is a common way of teaching for the Jews. If this is true than how much more if this thing that is greater.
Paul is contrasting service to the law and service to the Spirit of God. This is the awesome part for us. Why? It comes back to the glory. The Glory that Moses experienced when the law was chiselled into the rock that Moses face reflected for a while was quite glorious. It was so incredible and it reflected in Moses so well that the people couldn’t even look at the face of Moses. That’s some pretty incredible glory. But the glory in the Holy Spirit of God is that much more glorious.
The law chiselled into those rocks, all it could do was to remind people what they needed to avoid and how they could be separate from the sinful activities they saw all around them while they were slaves in Egypt.. It could show you how you ought to live to please God and where you have let him down.
The next if, then how much greater statement is in verse 9. If the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much greater the ministry that brings righteousness. The ministry in the Spirit of God does what service to the law could never do. The Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ’s death actually gives us righteousness that didn’t really belong to us before. Stone with words on it, might teach us something about what righteous living is like, but the Holy Spirit actually transforms us from sinners into people who are righteous. The Law can’t take away sin. The Spirit can make us clean of all our old stins and make us righteous.
And the last if, then how much better statement tells us what? Verse 11. The glory of the law, like the radiance of Moses face was shortlived. Soon the glory ould fade and he would have to enter the Tent of Meeting again, to get a new boost of radiance in the law. The glory of what we have today is so much greater because it is through a Holy Spirit that comes with us all the time. The glory of the new covenant, the ministry of the spirit always has the presence of God.
So the New ministry through the spirit is more glorious than service to the law. It give righteousness instead of just telling what we have done wrong. And it is lasting, not fleeting.
On to the next verses. 12 says, “12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away.
First word. Therefore. My seminary preaching professor said, “its important, whenever you see the word therefore, you ask, what is it there for.
Therefore here, let’s us know that all that Paul is going take all these if, then how much more statements and make a lasting point from it.
And what is the point Paul is trying to nail home through all this, and what point is God trying to leave us with through all this?
Well, let me ask you a question about words again. What word occurs over and over in the next several verses.
Veil. Paul says living by the Spirit brings complete freedom and boldness.
Some people probably didn’t like Paul’s boldness, but he is saying he can dare to be bold with the gospel. The glory of the law made Moses put a veil on so people didn’t have to experience the full glory of God. And so that they wouldn’t have to watch it fade away from Moses.
The veil stands in the way, it blankets the glory of God and it hides us from being able to recognize the whole truth.
What does it take to remove the veil? Jesus Christ… It takes a turning to Christ it says.
The veil was important during the old covenant. It protected the people. If they had no veil they would be left completely vulnerable like an ant under a magnifying glass on a sunny day. It would mean certain death.
But the glory of the new covenant is better because it rips away the veil. In the new covenant we must be completely vulnerable to the glory of God. Christ has given us the righteousness to stand in the presence of such glory.
And the best part, verse 18 says, 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Like Moses, we reflect the glory but now it is the glory of Christ that is getting greater and greater.
The increasing glory is the work of the Holy Spirit making us better and better. Helping us to be better and better people. Helping us to live in the freedom of Christ more and more. To be vulnerable to the ways that God asks us to change.
I guess to leave this with something to think about for our lives, I would ask are we hiding ourselves behind laws and rules. Are we hiding the freedom in Christ behind the things we ought to be doing. Or are we free to