The New Covenant: A Reflection of God’s Glory

Amen. Amen. Blessing. Appreciate that, Ms. Sylvester, very much and enjoyed hearing the new piano played as well.

God's really blessed us with some wonderful musicians. Turn if you would in your Bibles tonight to 2 Corinthians, chapter three. And yes, we will get back to Obadiah, but not tonight.

Second Corinthians, chapter three. And we'll be in verse 18. For some of you, this is a verse we have traversed several times.

And I believe Brother Stewart, when he comes in March this next year, I'm going to have him go back and do the sermon series on the glory and the glory of God. It's been a while since we've done that one. Usually about every seven or eight years we repeat that one. It's such an important, important truth.

Tonight we'll cover some of that.

And as I looked at, I actually went through and count, not counted the audience, but just kind of looked through, see who's heard this principle before. And about half of you have, but half of you haven't. And so this will. I'll give you the conclusion. Read your Bible. That's the conclusion.

We're dismissed. All right, but you'll see as we go through this, Second Corinthians, 3:18. But we all with open face, beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord.

Again, we talked about many times over the years, the phrase glory of the Lord means who and what God is. Who and what God is are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord again help us to see this wonderful truth tonight. And may we read our Bibles with your Son in view.

We'll thank you in Jesus name, Amen. As I read my Bible this morning, I was reminded again of how important it is as we read our Bibles to think about Jesus, to focus on him.

Somebody has said that you can tear the pages of the Bible in any page and it'll bleed the blood of Jesus. And that's true Old and New Testament. He is found in all the Scriptures.

As we think about this particular passage, we find in chapter three, because again we find in chapter three that Paul is comparing the Old and New Testament. He's comparing the Old and New Testament. He's comparing again the Old Testament covenant as a stone, if you would.

And I'm going to tables of stone and then the New Testament as a spirit or a heart, you know, a fleshly heart. So tables of stone, Old Testament, a fleshly heart the New Testament.

He's comparing the Old Testament as letters that kill the New Testament as the Spirit of life. And then he can again comparing the Old covenant with the new covenant.

And then he goes on in chapter three to continue to say the New Testament covenant is far more glorious than the Old Testament covenant. Covenant again is contract. The Old Testament contract versus the New Testament contract. The New Testament is far more glorious, Far more glorious.

And then in verses 13 and 16 of chapter three, look back with me.

In chapter three, verses 13 through 16, the Bible says there and as not as Moses which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end that which is abolished, but their minds were blinded. For until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament which veil is done away in Christ.

So Paul here speaks about Moses as he went into the tabernacle. And as he spoke with God, when he came out, his face would glow, his face would shine. It's amazing.

And he said, it's not as though Moses could go in and talk with God.

And but he's saying that the children of Israel because of the veil that was upon the veil that Moses had to put on to protect the people, not protect them, but keep them from being scared, that same veil is over all their faces in that they are blinded concerning Jesus being the Messiah. All right, so that veil is taken away by way of the New Testament. But even unto this day, verse 15, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.

In other words, when the Old Testament is read, the Jews do not see Christ the Messiah as the Messiah in the Old Testament. They're blinded to it. All right. Nevertheless, verse 16, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.

And I'm looking forward to that day.

One day the veil will be lifted for the Jew and we're going to cover that in Obadiah next Wednesday night, the veil will be lifted and all the Jew as a nation, the Jewish nation. And each individual will come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.

When the veil is lifted, the Jewish nation as a whole will accept Jesus as their Messiah. It's going to be a great and glorious day. Verse 17. Now the Lord is the Spirit.

Notice capital S. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is what liberty. But we all with open face beholding as in a glass. That glass there means mirror. We all with open face, we're looking into our face into a mirror.

The glory of the Lord are changed, transformed into that same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. So again Paul comparing Old and New Testament. The Old Testament was glorious. Verse 10 says of chapter 3, I'm going to read that.

For even that which was made glorious, talking about the Old Testament had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth. So that he's saying the Old Testament had glory, but by reason of the New Testament that excelleth. In comparison, it had no glory. It had glory.

But the New Testament far exceeds the glory of the Old Testament. Again, out the Old Testament illustrated for us, Moses face, he would go into the tabernacle. As he talked with God, his face would.

He would come out of the tabernacle. His face is glowing. The Bible tells us that as time went on, his face would dim, he'd go back in the tabernacle. It's kind of like a recharge.

His face would glow, come back out, face would dim and go back in. That's what happened in the Old Testament. And he's given that by way of illustration. And in that we are not transformed outwardly.

When we get saved, we're transformed inwardly. The outward conformity that is illustrated is what happens to us on the inside. Right? Think about that. The inward man is renewed day by day.

The New Testament tells us day by day that the star arises in our heart. As we study and read our Bibles, the day star rises in our hearts.

And so the Old Testament, outward conformity, but the New Testament is an inward transform. Transformative. No, transforming. All right, so the Old Testament worked from the outside.

In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit works from the inside out. Far more glorious. Far better. Far better. Here's the illustration. Raising kids, right? Some of you parents in here got your kids in Master Club tonight.

Some of you grandparents. What do you do when the kids, you know, a tiny, tiny human being. How do you get them to obey? Well, you get them to obey, but it's outward conformity.

Yeah, yeah. A two year old, they don't get it. So they don't inward conform. They outwardly conform.

And on the inside they're still, you know, they're still, they're still mad. I mean, this is it. As they get older, four or five, they still. Again, it's mostly an outward conformity. You're.

Until a kid is 5, 6, 7 and sometimes 8, we always pick on Micah in here. And especially since he's helping in master clubs, we'll pick on him again.

Most kids you can get Them to conform outwardly around that 5, 6, 7, 5, 4, 5, 6, some of them. But Micah was 8, I was 12. I think my dad might testify to that again. But it's just outward conformity, you know, they're still on the inside.

They don't want to do what you've asked them to do. There's no inward conformity. There's no want to, to obey the mom and dad. The relationship is not there yet. The love per se is not there yet.

They're just outwardly conforming because what fear. They don't want the Board of Education to the seat of understanding.

By the way, if you are disciplining your kids properly biblically, you're going to apply the Board of Education, the seat of understanding. The Bible says if you do not spank your child, you hate them. That's pretty, pretty, pretty straightforward.

Also says if you use the rod and they cry, they're not going to die. That's what it says. I'm just summarizing, but they're not going to die. They may sound like it, but they're not going to die. This is Solomon speaking.

You know, he's the wisest man who ever lived.

Why wouldn't you take the wisest man who ever lived rather than some, some psychologist or some guy from, you know, Barnes and Noble, you know, and of course, there's a big difference between spanking a child and beating a child. So I don't have time to go into all that tonight. But it, but it is fear when a child is really small that that gets them to conform.

And you're applying pressure to get them to conform. And I am for also positive reinforcement. You can offer them M and M now and again, too.

Not just the Board of Education, but as time goes on and as you train, by the way, if you're doing corporal punishment right, it's training. If you do it wrong, it's bullying, it's beating right? And there is a difference. Man. I want to go into that, but I'm not going to.

But fear, We've preached from the pulpit many times and the Bible clarifies this. Fear is a motivator, but it's not the greatest motivator. In the Old Testament, you had the letter of the law.

You had the letter of the law, the Bible, what Paul's saying here is the stone, the stone of the letter of the law. It kills. Well, the Bible tells us that it is the law that brings us to Christ. It's the law that without the law, we wouldn't Know we were sinners.

That's what Paul said. Without the law, I wouldn't know I was a sinner. But the law came in. The law shined the light. The law showed me. The law showed me that I was a sinner.

Of course, the Holy Spirit convicting us. But without a law, there's nothing to break. And sin is breaking the law. The New Testament summarizes that law.

Jesus did do unto others as he had them do unto you. Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do ye even also to them. For this is all the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12.

And so the law is our schoolmaster. That brings us to Christ. The Old Testament conformity. The Israel conformed primarily because they were afraid of God, right?

I mean, the fire on top of Mount Sinai, the thundering, the lightning, the cloud. They were told not to approach Mount Sinai. They actually fenced off the whole mountain to keep the children of Israel from touching the mountain.

Because the Bible says if you touch the mountain. Jesus said, God said, if you touch the mountain. By the way, it was Jesus, if you touch the mountain, you're dead. So they. I mean, it was something.

A lot of fear. A lot of fear.

What Paul's saying is that the Old Testament was glorious and you had the Law and God giving the law and giving the moral, giving the Ten Commandments. But the New Testament, he says, is by far greater. It is far, far more glorious.

And he said, in comparison to the Old Testament, the Old Testament has no glory. He says it has glory. Then he says, but in comparison to the New Testament, it has no glory. How many y' all want to live in the Old Testament?

How many live under the Old Testament covenant? Nobody does. Who wants to live under that?

So again, we see this as you're raising kids when they're little, you're getting them to conform by way of fear as they grow up.

There has to be and needs to be a transition as you spend time with that child, because love is spelled T I M E. And as you training this child and developing a relationship with them, the transition should take place, the transforming should take place. When the reason they obey and the reason that they're doing what you've asked them to do is not necessarily out of fear, but out of love.

Because they love you, because you do have a personal relationship with them. And as that develops as a child gets older, rules without reason and relationship produces rebellion.

And so as we train them, as we're teaching them, as they get to the place where they can reason, we are reasoning with them, by the way, when they're a little bitty. You don't reason with a two year old. What are you thinking? I don't understand parents sometimes, well, little.

The child doesn't understand what you're saying anyway. But as they get older they do. And we as parents ought to take our time. And as we do apply discipline, they ought to be told why.

And as they do, we do apply the training. There should be a reasoning with them. And that doesn't work unless you've spent time with them, unless you develop a relationship with them.

That's why we tell mom and dad again, time is the best way to show your kids love, not stuff. And really, is that extra four or five hours at work and that extra money that you're earning, is that going to make your kids love you more? No.

Now if you needed to do it to pay bills, that's one thing. But if you're doing it so you can have a bigger house and a better car, you need to change your philosophy.

The kid wants to spend time with you and what a difference it'll make as you see your child transform into a teenager whom you can enjoy and whom you can have a wonderful time with. Not saying they're perfect, my kids weren't either. But man, what a joy it was to have teenagers whom I wanted to be around.

And maybe they wanted to be around me, I don't know. So everybody see the difference, right? There's this conformity because of fear, conformity because of love. Which is better?

Well, we know that New Testament is far more glorious. Our love for Jesus. The Bible says it's the love of Christ that constrains us.

It's a love of Christ that compels us to do and to serve and to do what we do.

We're not thinking of God as a Zeus that's going to strike us down with lightning because we didn't read our Bible this morning or because we decided not to do whatever. But no, but we conform and we do because we love the Lord. Why? Because he first loved us.

Because His Son came and died on the cross and was buried and rose again for us, giving his life for us. So again, the New Testament is speaking about a transformation.

And we can go through the caterpillar analogy and the transformation that takes, the metamorphosis that takes place there. And that's what happens to us when we get saved. So here we are again, comparing the Old with the New Testament.

In the Old Testament, Moses went before God. In the New Testament, we all can go before God. In the Old Testament, the priests were only allowed to go before God.

In the New Testament, we all can come before God. And that's awesome, isn't it? That's what verse 18 says. But we all with open face.

Not just the Moses and the high priest, but we all could come before him. Jesus Christ, our great high priest versus the Old Testament high priest and Hebrews really is. The theme is Christ is better.

Christ is better than the Old Testament priesthood. You know, New Testament priests. The Bible says, First Peter 2, 9 says, but ye are a chosen generation. A what? A royal priesthood.

I know we use this same thing all the time, but we don't have to go to somebody else in order to get our, you know, our message to God. We don't have to sit in some confessional and get our, you know, sins forgiven. No, no, we are all royal priests. We go to God and we pray on our own.

And of course you could go to, you know, someone you respect as a Christian to get counsel and help and all those things. But you do not have to come to the pastor to confess your sins. Amen. I'll have to confess mine to you and we'll just cry together. Amen. Right?

We all have access to God individually. Bible says that Jesus Christ is our mediator between God and man. He is our great high priest. We all with open face beholding as a glass again.

As Moses talked to God face to face, so can we. And we behold him. To see and behold, it's like taking, you know, a stone or a diamond or anything. It's.

Beholding means to take an object in your hand and turn it in every direction to see every angle of it. We all with open face looking in the mirror, behold. We turn it at every angle to look at something, to see every side of it.

And what are we looking at? The glory of the Lord. Who and what God is. Again, what a phrase that is. And you'll see that phrase in the Bible over and over and over and over again.

The word glory is found 500 times in the Bible. That phrase glory, the God is found 100 times at least. And, and for you to know, the definition's important.

Who and what God is, as I all of us can behold, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord. We can behold him. We can turn and look at him. The Bible does throughout, from the old, from Genesis to Revelation.

All it's doing is showing us Jesus, showing us that it's the unfolding drama of redemption made known. It's unfolding. It's the theme of the Bible is the Lamb of God.

And it's just showing us different aspects, different angles, different characteristics. And I could go attributes and on and on and on. It should be we should behold him from Genesis to Revelation as we read our Bibles.

That should be our goal. We are looking, focusing on Jesus Christ to behold who he is.

Again, as we think about this important principle as we read the word of God, which we should be doing on a consistent basis, we are to look for Jesus Christ. We were all to take God's word. We were all to behold, to take hold and see, straining to see the person, character and deeds of Jesus Christ.

You read your New Testament, you get to read a lot about his deeds, right? What a servant of servants he was. By the way, we're supposed to be a light as we preach Sunday. How are we to be a light?

Well, we're to be a reflection of the light. Amen. And we can't be a reflection of the light if we've never received the light ourself. In other words, Moses had to go in and talk with God.

And when he came out, he was a light. And every day the inward man is renewed. Day by day. We go in, we spend time with the Lord and it will be reflected in us.

We want others to see Jesus in us. Then we need to come, to come to the Lord every day and get that renewal, not salvation. Once saved, always saved. Amen.

No, we're talking about spending time with the Lord. And have we. As we spend time with the Lord, it is absorbed in us. It's the word of God, the spirit of God that takes and transforms us.

We behold the Lord as we read our Bibles. We perceive him through the truth of his word. We feel him in his love. By our hearts.

I mean, I don't know how many times I can look back in the past and say, man, I felt the presence of God here, I felt the presence of God there. I felt the nearness of the Lord.

How many of you, I mean all of us could testify, if you haven't been saved very long, there's been times in your life where you have felt the nearness of God. So again, as we look at the verse, behold, as in the glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image. From glory to glory again.

This speaks about a transformation, a change that takes place again. Moses in the Old Testament, his brightness was only skin deep and it faded, it faded. And so he must go in periodically to talk with God.

In order to get the recharge. To get the recharge. But we're changed from the inside out. 2nd Corinthians 5:17.

Most of you know the verse, but since we're so close, look over there with me. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is what? A new creature, a new creation.

Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new. We are changed, but unlike the Old Testament, we're changed from the inside out. We receive, according to 2nd Peter 1:4, we receive a new nature.

We're partakers of the divine nature of God. And because of that transformation that takes place in our life when we get saved, there's been a great change in our life.

That's what I said Sunday, too. When we get saved, of course, there may not be a feeling there. You don't have to feel when you get saved.

You don't have to feel like, well, the Lord just jumped into my life, you know? No, but as time goes on and as you grow in the Lord, there is a feeling. Feeling does have a part.

Because again, when something that big moves in, you're going to know it. Especially when we rebel against God and when we sin, his spirit bears witness to our spirit. You feel the conviction of your sin.

You feel that convicting power of the Spirit of God in your life. In fact, first John says, if you don't feel that, I'm just saying what First John says, you're not saved because it's that conviction.

Five things, and then one John gives us that proves or shows us that we're saved. And one of those is that spirit. Bear witness with our spirit feeling, that conviction. There's been a great change. I love.

I won't sing it, but the things I used to do, I don't do them anymore, Right? The things I used to do, I don't do them anymore. The things I used to do, I don't do them anymore.

There's been a great change since I've been born again. There's been a Y' all don't want to do Great change since I've been born. It's a great song.

Transformation, a change Holy Spirit works in our life again, works in us, in us that he might work through us. And then we speak about again. The Lord has. We are changed in the same image from glory to glory, even by the Spirit of God Again. We're to be.

Glory to glory. We're to be a reflection of the light. Moses reflected the light outwardly but we should reflect the light again.

That light that we have on the inside should be reflected, and that reflection is Jesus Christ. In other words, there should be a family likeness. How many of y' all think that the man back there in that corner is my dad?

If you had never met us before and we were walking in, we'll just go ahead and say the hospital, because that's the last. It's. Anyway, we're in the hospital where we're at the doctor's office, and I am now getting. This is the phrase I now get from people.

Is this your brother? No, it's not my brother. It's my dad. How old do you think I am? That guy's old. But they. But. But there's definitely a resemblance.

I'll never forget when dad first moved down here, four or five, whatever it is now, years ago, he preached here in the pulpit, and somebody, I don't know who, did it, but they put it on Facebook. But the picture was a little bit fuzzy, and so I didn't see it until several days later. When I saw it, I thought it was me. I mean, I literally did.

I thought it was me. And then somebody pointed out, that's your dad. I said, well, looks like. Looks like me.

He's 25 years older than me, but there's definitely a family resemblance. Even my brother. My older brother, if you get around.

Even though he's not built like me or my dad, but he's got the big old nose like us, there's no doubt that he's my brother. But then what happens? Then you hear us talk, you hear our voice.

And if you hang around my dad very long and then hang around me, if all you did was hear me talk for a few minutes and him talk for a few minutes, you say, yep, y' all definitely can, right? Not only do my appearance reflect my genetics, but so even my voice does.

In fact, there was a day that I could call my mom definitely could fool my grandmother, my dad's mom. I could call and they would think I was Danny. It was hilarious. They would think I was my older brother.

And I would just let them talk because I thought maybe they'll say something. My mom would talk for, like, five minutes, and she'd be like, this isn't Danny, is it? No, that's not Danny. It's me. Just a family resemblance.

And that's, again, illustrating when we get saved, there ought to be a family resemblance. Jesus Christ is our big brother. That's what the Bible says. That's not heresy. He's our big brother. We are joint heirs, the Bible says, with him.

Joint heirs with Jesus. Yes, his inheritance is our inheritance. What a wonderful truth. But we, our likeness should be reflective of our family.

And that family is the family of God. What happens when you get a magnet close to metal?

Well, the piece of metal becomes magnetic, and then all of a sudden, you know, they stick together nearly all metals. We had the opportunity to buy a lot next to us. A man called, called me and said, hey, I'm going to sell this lot that's next to you. Do you want it?

I had tried to buy a couple of years before that, not for myself, but for somebody else. And I said to the man, yes, I'd still like to try to buy it, if that's possible. I said, but I can't offer you what I offered you the first time.

And long story short, we ended up buying it. We carried off 45,000 pounds of metal off a one acre lot. He was a hoarder. I learned how to be a scrapper.

I mean, I got me a couple of magnets and I learned a magnet won't stick to aluminum. Take that magnet. We hauled off 2,000 pounds of aluminum, and now the magnets are in my truck.

If I find something, especially on the side of the road, I think it's worth anything. Learned how to recognize what real brass is and real brass, not fake stuff. Just amazing how a magnet can really tell when it's the real thing.

But the illustration here is more than that. When we're close to Jesus and we stay close to Jesus, we stay magnetized, we stay charged. But when you allow your, he doesn't move, we move right.

But when you allow yourself to move away, the pull isn't as strong. And we want to stay as close to Jesus Christ as we can as we spend time with him, in order that we might become like him.

And that's really where this comes down to.

And some of you who've been in heritage a long time, you know that this is the crux of it that we as Christians ought to be reflecting, reflector of the light that God works in us in order that he might work through us. I Look at 2nd Corinthians 2, look at 2nd Corinthians 4, verse 6. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our what?

Hearts. To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Just a reminder that Jesus Christ said, if you've seen me, you've seen The Father. He is the Father. They're three in one. I am to spend time with God. As I spend time with God, he is transforming me into the image of who?

Well into Jesus. In the image of Jesus Christ, who is God.

We are to understand and know that as we read our Bibles, that as Moses was transformed outwardly, we are transformed inwardly. And then we become that reflection from the inside out. And we'll end this way. Contemplation.

The only way we can reflect the light is if we have received the light and we need to be recharged every morning. If you look throughout the Old Testament, you'll find that all the patriarchs got up early in the morning.

It speaks about Abraham getting up early, David getting up early. And again, maybe your work is the opposite.

Maybe you have a night schedule and certainly doesn't mean you have to get up and, you know, but the majority of us can get up in the morning and read your Bible, so. Well, I don't have time, man. It's amazing what your phone can do. You ever thought about just letting the phone read the Bible for you and you listen.

Some of y' all do that with books, right? You know, it's amazing, isn't it? And the Bible is a miraculous book. It has the ability to transform.

And the Bible says, as we behold in the glass the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into that image. And the analogy Paul's giving us is as we look into the word of God, it is the mirror. What's in the mirror? The face of Jesus. He's on every page.

And as we behold him in the glass, the Holy Spirit transforming us into the image. I get up in the morning, I go to the bathroom to fix myself, to try. It's very difficult now, but I don't have any hair to comb.

So basically, I wash my face, brush my teeth, and I'm ready to go. But I do go to the mirror and try to transform myself into something. You know, that's what it's speaking. It's talking about going to the mirror.

But as we look into the mirror, we're seeing Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is transforming us into that image as we spend time with God. Moses spent time with God, and outwardly, it made his face shine. We spend time with God, and inwardly it gives us light.

And then that light is reflected in every area of our life throughout the day, every area, we are transformed. The illustration would be, we know, y' all know the moon is a reflection of the sun. Get up sometimes, and there's a quarter of a moon.

Sometimes there's a half a moon, sometimes a 3/4 of a moon. Sometimes it's a full moon and just kind of a reflection of our own lives. How are you a quarter of a moon? Are you half a moon?

Are you three quarters of a moon? Are you? You? Are y' all moon, full moon. Spending time with the Lord is so important. And then some of y' all know the expression.

By the way, Brother Stewart didn't come up with this expression. Jason L. Baxter, as far as I know, did.

When the child of God looks into the word of God and sees the Son of God, he is changed by the spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God.

As we look into the word of God, it's the Holy Spirit who transform us into the image of Jesus Christ that we might live out the life of Jesus, the selfless life of Jesus Christ. What a transformation that will make in our marriage. What a transformation that will make in raising kids.

What a transformation that will make with our next door neighbor as we as we interact with them and as we interact at work. What a transformation it will make in our lives if we are living out the life of Jesus. What a transformation it'll make, man.

What a transformation happened when we got saved. And then the Holy Spirit just continues to work in us as we yield to him. Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's all stand. We'll have a verse invitation and we'll sing.

Page 10. I have decided to follow Jesus after we pray. Lord, we thank you for your love for us and for the Holy Spirit you gave us at the moment of salvation.

The Holy Spirit that works in our life and Lord encourages us, strengthen us, comforts us. But Lord also has that transforming power to change us into the image of your dear son Jesus.

And Lord, may we be consistent in our daily life, our daily walk with you and Lord. I just pray though, that we would be a wonderful reflection of your son to those around us. We love you and we thank you in Jesus name, Amen.