1 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:10,120 Loves her country and loves serving. 2 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,280 So what do we got here? We got any pictures up here 3 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:16,600 guys? So this is what happened. 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:18,520 We were at the pastors conference this week. 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,520 These guys came down with me to Calvary Chapel, Philadelphia. 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:27,160 There was 17150 of us guys down there being taught and 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,960 encouraged in the word and worshipping you. 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,280 You actually sang a few of the worship songs the day this 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:37,600 morning that we had sung. So we're all overwhelmed. 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:42,880 Thank you for praying for us. It was an amazing time and a lot 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,720 of good stuff happened in all of our hearts spiritually. 12 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:49,600 So hopefully some of that will bleed out the day and in the 13 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,320 weeks and months and years to come through Pastor Lewis and 14 00:00:53,320 --> 00:01:00,680 myself, the day is Memorial Day. And let me just talk a little 15 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,040 bit about that before I get started this morning. 16 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,880 Originally called Decoration Day from the early tradition of 17 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:14,040 decorating Grays with flowers, wreaths and flags, Memorial Day 18 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,760 is a day for remembrance of those who have died in service 19 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:20,960 to our country. It was first widely observed on 20 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:25,760 May 30th, 1868 to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War 21 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,000 soldiers by proclamation of General John A Logan of the 22 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,840 Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union 23 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,120 sailors and soldiers. During the first national 24 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,920 commemoration, former Union general and sitting Ohio 25 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,640 Congressman James Garfield made a speech at the Arlington 26 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,840 National Cemetery, after which 5000 participants helped to 27 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:52,000 decorate the graves of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate 28 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,200 soldiers who were buried there. This national event galvanized 29 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:00,080 efforts to honor and remember fallen soldiers that began with 30 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,800 local observances of burial grounds in several towns 31 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,520 throughout the US following the end of the Civil War, such as 32 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,759 May 1st gathering in Charleston, SC. 33 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,720 And so this this continues to this day. 34 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,400 And Memorial Day is commemorated at the Arlington National 35 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,360 Cemetery each year with the ceremony in which a small 36 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,280 American flag was placed on each grave. 37 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,760 Traditionally, the president and Vice President Lee, a wreath on 38 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,040 the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. So let's just take a moment of 39 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,560 silence as we think about those who have given their lives for 40 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,880 our country and continually do that even as we speak with the 41 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:59,560 conflicts in Iran right now. Father, we are humbled by the 42 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:04,320 grace of you, Father, and watching over this nation since 43 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,480 its inception over 250 years ago this year. 44 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:12,280 We're grateful, Lord, for all those who have stepped up to the 45 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:18,280 plate and went to foreign lands and foreign soils to proclaim 46 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:25,200 the fact that you created us to have freedom and not, Lord, 47 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:30,080 dictatorships that would destroy the freedom that we've been all 48 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:37,760 given as citizens of this world. One nation, we are called United 49 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:42,120 States of America under God, with liberty and justice for 50 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:44,400 all. Lord, we are humbled today and 51 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:49,640 we thank many of us here today and listening have lost loved 52 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:54,120 ones in military service, serving actually in war. 53 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:56,920 So Lord, we commemorate them today. 54 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,840 We honor them. We pray for the families that 55 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,520 remember their loved ones who gave their lives for their 56 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,360 country. So Lord, today we pray you would 57 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,800 bless this time of study together and the word of God. 58 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,480 And we thank you for your many blessings, your many mercies, 59 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,680 and may may we all be blessed to have this extra day tomorrow to 60 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,760 thank. And at 3 O clock, most people in 61 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,480 the country will take a moment to pray. 62 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,280 And once again, thank you for those who have given their lives 63 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:29,120 again for this country. And we pray all these things in 64 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,440 Jesus name, Amen. Amen. 65 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,200 Well, we are in the book of first Corinthians chapter 3 of 66 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,480 second Corinthians chapter 3. Excuse me. 67 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:44,840 And before I go there, I wanted to read something from Second 68 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:47,640 Peter. And I was thinking about this 69 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,120 after being at the conference and then been through some stuff 70 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,800 this week. Our daughter Jessica was in a 71 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,480 serious accident on Monday. So I was at the conference and 72 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,000 my older daughter text me and said that Jessica was in a 73 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:04,520 accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. 74 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:09,280 A tractor trailer ran into her as a traffic was slowing down. 75 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:12,040 And thank God she wasn't killed. It could have been a lot worse, 76 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,240 but please pray for her. She's in excruciating pain. 77 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,200 So they had CAT scans, X-rays. They're not sure if a sternum 78 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,200 has been ripped. So she's going to have an MRI on 79 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,640 Tuesday. They were at the ER again, I 80 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,200 think for the third time last night because of pain. 81 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,400 So please hold up Dan and Jess and their family. 82 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:31,880 But when that happened, I got that news. 83 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:34,760 I thought, man, you know how quickly life can change, right? 84 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,600 For any of us. And so I was sort of out of it 85 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,000 the first day. I was pacing in the hallway 86 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:43,320 hearing the message through the loudspeaker, but really not 87 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,920 thinking about it deeply because I was concerned and didn't know 88 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:48,280 whether I should go home or what. 89 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:50,760 But, you know, she was stable. So we stayed. 90 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,360 But so that that's been heavy on my heart all week. 91 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,400 You know, when something happens to one of your kids, it gets 92 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,880 your attention quickly. So again, thank you for your 93 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,640 prayers for for her. This Friday, Cindy will be 94 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,200 getting surgery on a disc in her neck. 95 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,280 And so the procedures, they go through the neck and then do the 96 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:13,760 surgery. It's about two hours and she'll 97 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,840 be there overnight on Friday and come out Saturday. 98 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:19,960 So pray that it'll accomplish what she needs to have 99 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,960 accomplished for her own health and balance and pain issues and 100 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:28,560 that kind of stuff. So thank you for for praying One 101 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,080 of the things I was thinking about this morning as I was 102 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:36,400 tying everything together in regard to the the message today. 103 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,400 Second Corinthians chapter 3 is a very deep chapter and I don't 104 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:42,560 want to roam and go through it too quickly. 105 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,280 It's it's all about the new covenant and the new covenant. 106 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:48,760 I don't know how many in here are familiar with the new 107 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,400 covenant. If you ever thought about it, 108 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,680 you understand what it is. I want to try to to the best of 109 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:59,320 my ability, explain it a little bit, but second Peter chapter 2, 110 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:04,040 it says in verse 2, grace and peace be multiplied to you and 111 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:08,000 the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord as his divine 112 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,920 power has given us all things that pertain to life and 113 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,440 godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory 114 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:19,440 and virtue by which have been given to us exceeding great and 115 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:23,240 precious promises that through these you may be partakers of 116 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,560 the divine nature future having escaped the corruption that is 117 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:31,240 in the world through lust. So my question to you and to me 118 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,520 today is how many of us live life every day in our own 119 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:37,640 strength. Get up in the morning, you get 120 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,560 your coffee, you got this To Do List work, whatever house, 121 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:48,360 family, the lifts your wife gives you and you just jump in 122 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,720 and you begin to do what you know you need to get done. 123 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:56,280 And do we stop and say, Lord, I got a big day ahead of me today 124 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,000 and I can't do this without your strength, without your help, 125 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:05,040 without your enablement. I need you, Lord, to you live in 126 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:09,080 me and I want you to work in me and through me to accomplish 127 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:11,040 what it is you want me to accomplish. 128 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:16,000 And I tune into that sometimes and sometimes I don't. 129 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,880 And so sometimes I get like really exhausted or burnt out or 130 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,760 tired or frustrated or whatever. And then the Lord reminds me, 131 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,280 Clark, you're doing this without me. 132 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,920 You're trying to get through without my strength, my power. 133 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,360 And so this power is available to everyone of us. 134 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,320 Jesus said, I've come that you might have life and you might 135 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,240 have it more abundantly. So abundant life. 136 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,039 What does that mean? It's Zoe, the Greek word, which 137 00:08:42,039 --> 00:08:45,520 means the God kind of life. So when Jesus came to the earth, 138 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:47,960 he's fully God, fully man perfect. 139 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,560 And we watched and read and, and learned about how he lived his 140 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:53,360 life and what he accomplished, what he did. 141 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,240 And, and people say, well, how did, how did Christ do that or 142 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,640 how did he get through all that? Well, he's God #1 he's able to 143 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:01,800 do anything. Nothing prevents God from 144 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,840 accomplishing his perfect will. But God also knows our 145 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,080 weaknesses. And he didn't just come to save 146 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,840 us from our sin, but he came to give us a new life, a 147 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,920 resurrected kind of life, a life of overcoming sin, a life of 148 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:20,680 overcoming weaknesses, a life of just being humble and realizing 149 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:25,480 that we need him for everything. And I, I had a good example that 150 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:27,520 yesterday. So Cindy, we're trying to get 151 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,040 the house together before this surgery on Friday. 152 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:34,920 Some things getting done and she's all worried about the 153 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,280 garden and all these weeds out there. 154 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:39,640 She used to go out there and do them and she hasn't been in the 155 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:41,560 condition she can do that this year. 156 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:43,680 And we're waiting for some of the grandkids. 157 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:46,280 Hire someone, whatever, you know, any kids that want to pull 158 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:48,120 weeds, tell them to call me. I'll hire them. 159 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,560 You know, can't pay you well, OK, This family down here, the 160 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:54,840 steals. Cindy, call those boys. 161 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,120 They raised me. You'll get paid well, believe 162 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,160 me. So anyway, so she's in there 163 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:03,440 doing stuff and I, I went outside, it stopped raining and 164 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,800 I'm looking at these like thorn bushes that come up out of the 165 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,680 ground and there's like hundreds of them, literally 100. 166 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,560 And, and so I, I went to the shed and I got a, a glove and I 167 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:15,000 forgot how to just pull out a few. 168 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,160 And so I'm out there and I'm, I'm pulling them out and most of 169 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,760 them are coming out easy. And then I'm looking around and 170 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:24,480 the more I pulled, the more I saw needed to be pulled. 171 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,000 So I was thinking I'd do it for maybe 1/2 an hour and Cindy 172 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:29,440 would be, well, that's, that's nice. 173 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:30,640 Clark, thanks for doing that, right. 174 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,280 Next thing I know, I'm out there doing like for hours. 175 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,520 And I was so tired after a while, I couldn't keep bending, 176 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:40,200 bending down because I don't use those muscles like I used to. 177 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,800 So I'm pretty sorted. I had to take some Advil last 178 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:44,920 night. So finally I just sat in the 179 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:46,440 dirt. I didn't care about whether how 180 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:49,440 dirty my jeans were. I'm laying down, I'm pulling 181 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,600 these things out. And I got these three huge bags 182 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:54,960 of these Jagger bushes. I mean, it's unbelievable. 183 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,640 And when you pull them out, these roots, they're just not 184 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,040 like that. They're like really, really deep 185 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,120 roots. And then I was thinking the 186 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:05,760 parallel of sin, right? How we all have issues of sin 187 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:07,320 and we asked the Lord to forgive us. 188 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,760 And he does. But he says sometimes though, 189 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,240 there's some more roots I want to pull out of your heart here. 190 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:16,040 You think they're out and I just pulled them out superficially or 191 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,560 so by the time I was done work to do more cultivation of the 192 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:23,920 soil, to get it completely out. So by the time I was done, yeah, 193 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:27,680 I was exhausted and all that. But when I was doing it, I was 194 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,440 thinking about this subject the day of the new Covenant. 195 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,160 And I said, Lord, in order to do this and do it with a good 196 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:39,240 attitude, God bless you and not be like totally burnt out, I 197 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,480 need your strength to do this. And he gave me, believe me, he 198 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,680 gave me strength to pull all these things out. 199 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:47,400 I mean, I look back at the ground, I'm thinking, how in the 200 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:50,520 world did I actually do that? And then the Lord's reminded me 201 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,480 it was me and you doing it through you. 202 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:58,480 And so I need to be in tune with this subject of, of God's 203 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:02,280 enablement and his power and everything I do in my life every 204 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:04,080 day. And you do too. 205 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,520 And so just to give you a little bit of background on the new 206 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,400 covenant before I get into this section of Second Corinthians 207 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:16,120 chapter 3, Jesus Christ is the mediator of the new covenant. 208 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,880 Every week we take the Lord's Supper, and it tells us in Luke 209 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:25,240 2220 when I say this cup is a new covenant in my blood, which 210 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,880 is shed for the forgiveness of sins of many. 211 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,680 We celebrate this promise of this new life that's given to us 212 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:34,720 in Christ, a new covenant, a new way to live. 213 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:38,960 And this was also spoken by the prophets Moses, Jeremiah, and 214 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,440 Ezekiel throughout the Old Testament. 215 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,320 They alluded to this new covenant that would eventually 216 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,680 come when Christ came. The old covenant that God had 217 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:51,560 established with His people required strict obedience to the 218 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:55,240 Mosaic Law. The real law required Israel to 219 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:59,360 perform daily sacrifices in order to atone for sin. 220 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:06,080 So you think about the impossibility of the Old 221 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:11,840 covenant to accomplish what the new covenant supernaturally does 222 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,200 in our lives. The Old covenant was an external 223 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:19,080 way of trying to please God by following the 10 commandments in 224 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,520 the in the Jewish law. And no matter how hard people 225 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:24,920 tried to do that, they failed all the time. 226 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,720 And that's why they had to have the daily sacrifices to cover 227 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,840 the sins, not completely eradicate them, but to cover 228 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,520 them until the time of the perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ 229 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:39,080 would come. And so you think about the 230 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,600 intensity of what it must have been like to never really have 231 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:47,040 that deep sense of forgiveness inside, knowing you had to bring 232 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:51,120 animals to the temple to be to be sacrificed in order to 233 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:58,120 appease God temporarily. And so Moses, he said in 234 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:02,480 Deuteronomy 29, four, he was looking forward to the time when 235 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,000 Israel will be given a heart to understand. 236 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:11,240 In Deuteronomy 30 verses one through 5, the Lord said, your 237 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,520 Lord, your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of 238 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,920 your descendants so that you may love him with all your heart, 239 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,160 with all your soul, with all your life. 240 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:24,160 The new covenant involves a total heart change of heart so 241 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:26,440 that God's people are naturally pleasing to Him. 242 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,480 The Jeremiah the prophet predicted in the new covenant. 243 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,600 The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new 244 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,440 covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of 245 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:38,800 Judah. This is a covenant I will make 246 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,840 with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. 247 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,320 I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. 248 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:48,280 I will be their God and they will be my people. 249 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:53,560 Jeremiah 3131 through 33. So Jesus Christ came and 250 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,920 fulfilled the law of Moses perfectly. 251 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:00,200 The old covenant was written in tablets of stone, but the new 252 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,640 covenant is written in your heart and mine. 253 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,440 If you're born again, save blood, believer. 254 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,360 Entering the new covenant is made only possible by complete 255 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:15,880 total faith in what Jesus Christ did is shed blood and taking 256 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:21,040 away our sins at the cross. And Jesus relates us as I said 257 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:25,200 in the Last Supper, when he said this cup is poured out for you 258 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:31,200 as the new covenant in my blood. Ezekiel said in verses chapter 259 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,200 3626 through 27. I will give you a new heart, put 260 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,640 a new spirit in you. I'll remove from your heart the 261 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:39,760 heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 262 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,960 I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees 263 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:49,200 and be careful to keep my laws. A new heart, a new spirit, the 264 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:53,120 indwelling Spirit, the Holy Spirit is true holiness. 265 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,680 And so this is really important because if we try to live this 266 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:01,240 life in our own strength as a Christian, we'll have no joy. 267 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,360 We'll have nothing but guilt should have would have could 268 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:08,440 have kind of stuff regret, remembrance of past sins and 269 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:13,320 this living in a a circular motion of of despondency and 270 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,880 depression. So many churches a day can be 271 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,640 Bible churches that if, if the leaders of the church, the 272 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:25,120 teachers are putting you under guilt trips and under law, you 273 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,520 got to have a conversation with them and say, you're not telling 274 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:30,440 me the truth in the new covenant. 275 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,040 You're trying to make me feel inadequate and I never do 276 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:35,720 enough. I can never be good enough. 277 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,720 And you're, you're really depressing me, pastor. 278 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:42,880 So I pray that I don't do that. I pray that when we come up 279 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,640 here, the message in the power of God's grace is very clear and 280 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:49,360 evident. And that you are being empowered 281 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,800 in your life through the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome 282 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,720 and to do whatever it is that God's calling you to do in in 283 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,800 your life through the power of the Holy Spirit. 284 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:01,880 That couldn't have been overemphasized enough at the 285 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,319 pastors conference because a lot of guys go there weary, 286 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,440 discouraged. Some are thinking of quitting or 287 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:10,599 whatever because it's an impossible calling. 288 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:16,640 But whenever you get enlightened by the word of God and he begins 289 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,839 to speak to you about the power that we have in Jesus Christ, 290 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:24,040 that He lives in US, and whatever you are facing in your 291 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,920 life, no matter how challenging or difficult it is because of 292 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:32,520 Christ being in you, you will get through it because His power 293 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:33,960 is not going to ever let you down. 294 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,960 If you're relying and depending on His power, if you're 295 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:41,160 depending on yourself and your own abilities, you'll be let 296 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:45,400 down because you will fail. That Jesus never fails, right? 297 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,480 He never fails. So we have to continually come 298 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:52,200 to him and be empowered and be filled so that we might be able 299 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,360 to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. 300 00:17:55,640 --> 00:18:00,560 So when we look at the chapter 3 of of Second Corinthians, Paul's 301 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:07,840 writing some some things in here and he says that we are they the 302 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,640 Corinthian believers or the epistle of Christ ministered by 303 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,440 us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, 304 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:20,120 not untabled tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh that is 305 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:23,880 of the heart. So when the Holy Spirit lives in 306 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:29,080 you, God by your response shouldn't be looking at the law 307 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:32,280 and trying to impress God by your ability to think you're 308 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,360 fulfilling the law by your own righteousness, your own ability. 309 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:39,280 It's it's ludicrous. You're reminded that what gives 310 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:44,400 you the compulsion to follow Jesus and to love him and to 311 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:49,600 love others as he loved us is coming completely from the power 312 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:53,400 of the New Covenant. It's coming from Christ in you. 313 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:57,360 He's the one that gives you the desire not to want to sin. 314 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,160 But if you're looking at the law and trying to make promises of 315 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,800 God that you're going to be better and you're going to send 316 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:08,400 less, you're externally trying to communicate with him that 317 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,760 you're going to do something that he's already accomplished 318 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:12,960 through his death, burial and resurrection. 319 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,840 That's that's not real cool, is it? 320 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,360 Like, Lord, I know what you did for me, but it isn't really good 321 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:21,160 enough. So let me let me show you what I 322 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:22,440 can do. And the Lord is like, come on, 323 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:24,440 you know, get in the word. You don't you don't even know 324 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:28,760 what you're talking about. And so the Old Testament 325 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:31,960 prophets, as I read earlier, they were looking forward to the 326 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:34,040 day that the new covenant would come. 327 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:40,080 And so Paul then continues in verses 4 through 6, he says, and 328 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,880 we have such trust through Christ toward God, not that we 329 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:47,600 are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from 330 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,040 ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. 331 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:59,360 So that's Amen, all powerful, 100% the God-given truth that 332 00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:04,720 you and me are not sufficient in ourselves to do anything on 333 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,320 behalf of God. That's in marriage, that's in 334 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:13,240 raising kids, that's in being a, an employee or an employer or, 335 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:17,000 or looking at the world system and, and, and not judging 336 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:21,080 people, but praying for people to get saved by God's grace. 337 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:25,840 All this comes as a result of this recognition that I'm 338 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:30,160 insufficient in and of myself, but my sufficiency is of Christ. 339 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,520 Each Sunday when I come up here and the pastors, the teachers, 340 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:35,760 we come up, we're not like thinking. 341 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,000 We got it all together and we got it all figured out. 342 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,000 We're in process too, like you guys. 343 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,960 But we realized when we come here that everything we have to 344 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,520 give you is from the truth of the Word of God. 345 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:50,200 And it always points to Jesus Christ as being the one who does 346 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,320 this right. All glory to him. 347 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,640 There's no glory to us. We just get an opportunity to be 348 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,880 part of what it is He does through the power of His Word 349 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:03,320 and changing hearts. He works inside to transform 350 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:07,320 you, to make him to make you and me more like Jesus Christ. 351 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,800 It's not like the promises. It's not how many more times can 352 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,360 I repent? How many more older calls do I 353 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:15,400 have to go to to get right with God? 354 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:19,280 How many, you know, whatever this, this treadmill of, of 355 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:23,760 inadequacy and trying to somehow make myself feel adequate by 356 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:27,600 what I do versus what He's done. And that's a big difference, 357 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,080 isn't it? Do we focus on what Christ has 358 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:33,680 done, or do we focus on our failures? 359 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,360 You and I have a list of failures, right? 360 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:43,920 We all do Thank God. He chooses to not judge us and 361 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:46,200 accept us based upon our failures. 362 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:52,000 He He accepts us based upon Christ's perfect righteousness. 363 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:56,880 That should give us like a sense of this major relief. 364 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:05,360 Like that's awesome that I can't be good enough ever to inherit 365 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:07,640 that righteousness by something I've done. 366 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,480 It's been given to me as a gift of God, right? 367 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,560 For by grace you've been saved through faith. 368 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,120 And this is not yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of 369 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:21,080 works. So no one can boast about it. 370 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,880 It's completely the tremendous grace of God. 371 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:31,880 And so Paul talks about this truth in this section of chapter 372 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:37,040 3, that he's made us sufficient as ministers of the New 373 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,760 Covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. 374 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:41,880 For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 375 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,320 The law is good, it's perfect. But what it does, it shows us 376 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:49,520 why we need a Savior. It's not given to us to judge 377 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:53,120 ourselves and have this graft. Well, I'm pretty good because I, 378 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,080 I didn't do eight of these things. 379 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:57,520 I need two of them, right? That doesn't work that way. 380 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,080 I've broken them all. Whether you did it physically or 381 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,200 in your mind or whatever, you're guilty of sin. 382 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,520 We've broken the law of God. And that's why there's 383 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,840 judgement. And that's why the judgement had 384 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:09,680 to be poured out upon Jesus Christ. 385 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:15,520 And so God enables us to be servants of the new covenant. 386 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,600 We want to give you guys the truth of the work of the Spirit 387 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:25,040 in the Christian life, not the letter of the law, which would 388 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:29,320 be killing and diminishing the work and the power of the Holy 389 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:34,360 Spirit in your life. So it's a big deal to realize 390 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:36,320 that we're not sufficient of ourselves. 391 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:40,360 OK, if you think you have something to give or to offer, 392 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,560 you're going to be seriously disillusioned because you're 393 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,280 going to find out in time that this this won't work. 394 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,280 That's why some people stop going to church. 395 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:53,920 They fall on Jesus is too hard. I keep making mistakes, I fail. 396 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,680 The pastor makes me feel guilty all the time. 397 00:23:57,120 --> 00:23:59,800 I don't need, you know, I don't need condemnation. 398 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:03,080 I don't need guilt. Well, the enemy is the accuser 399 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:04,560 of the brother and the Lord isn't. 400 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:09,040 Jesus doesn't accuse you, the Holy Spirit convicts you to 401 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:13,640 continually surrender and allow him to change in your life what 402 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,760 needs to be changed. And so we have to understand 403 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:22,080 that this new covenant is a glorious, glorious thing that 404 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,560 the Lord has given us to be able to experience. 405 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,120 And we have this indwelling spirit in our heart that he 406 00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:35,560 tells me and you how to live. He tells us the wisdom that we 407 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:39,080 need to have in order to live a life that is honorable and 408 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,280 pleasing to God through the power of the Holy Spirit. 409 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,480 He tells us how to treat one another. 410 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:48,480 He tells us how to respond to issues in life and a godly and a 411 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,560 Christ honoring way. It's all the Spirit of God. 412 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,800 God the Holy Spirit, third person of Trinity, lives in you. 413 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,480 Christ knew that you and I could not do this without help. 414 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,240 And that's why he said when he was leaving, he was going to 415 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,680 send another helper, the Holy Spirit, who, who would not any, 416 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:13,400 you know, come to you, but live in you and be in you and live 417 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:16,440 through you. And, and I think the enemy, he 418 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,600 loves the fact that if we don't understand the work of the Holy 419 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,480 Spirit and we're not depending on the Holy Spirit and we're not 420 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,680 walking in the Holy Spirit and we're not overcoming in the Holy 421 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,000 Spirit, we're trying to do it ourselves. 422 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:33,040 And he's smiling because we will have no impact, no power are the 423 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:37,120 change anything, let alone see us change and anybody else 424 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:40,200 change. It's got to be the the work of 425 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,800 the indwelling Holy Spirit in all of our lives. 426 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:50,040 So then he continues, if this ministry in verse 7, the the if 427 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:52,880 the ministry of death written and engraved on stones was 428 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,720 glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look 429 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,400 steadfastly at the face of Moses because of the glory of his 430 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,800 countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the 431 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,720 ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 432 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,880 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the 433 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,000 ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 434 00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:16,800 For even when what was made glorious had no glory in this 435 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:18,960 respect, because of the glory that excels. 436 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,920 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much 437 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,120 more glorious. So you guys know the, the story 438 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:29,240 Moses went up on the mountain. He's, he spoke with God. 439 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,960 The reflection of God's glory was all over Moses face. 440 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,600 And whenever he came off the mountain, people were freaking 441 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:39,840 out because of the, the, the Shekinah glory of God was being 442 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,320 reflected off of Moses. And so he had to put a veil on. 443 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,920 And and this, this glory that Moses had because he was 444 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,520 speaking with God was a diminishing glory. 445 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:54,000 It wasn't a glory that would stay because it was rooted in 446 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,360 the teachings of what Christ initially started with the 447 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:02,680 requirements of the Old Covenant and the sacrifices of animals 448 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:07,320 and the responsibility for them to follow the traditions and the 449 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:11,120 law and all that kind of stuff. And so nonetheless, it was 450 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:13,280 glorious because God was speaking. 451 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,360 He was speaking to the servant Moses. 452 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:19,040 And his law is perfect and holy, but the whole human race is 453 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,480 imperfect and unholy. And he knew when he gave it to 454 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:27,040 Moses, his servant Moses learned real quickly that this is an 455 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,080 impossible situation. These people can't do this. 456 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:33,960 And he was so frustrated when he cracked the rock with the, the, 457 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:38,360 the rod because of frustration, the rebellion of the people that 458 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,480 God had to say, well, you're not going to, you know, have the 459 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,200 opportunity to go into the promised land and we send Joshua 460 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,240 and those other ones in there. And he, you know, he departed. 461 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,640 He was with the Lord. But because of his 462 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:56,000 misunderstanding of trying to dictate self righteousness 463 00:27:56,360 --> 00:27:59,680 through obedience to the law, everyone failed. 464 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,280 Someone said to me this morning, I visited churches here and 465 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:06,040 there and, and they were nice churches and they taught the 466 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,200 Bible, Bible churches, but it was too much religion and not 467 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:13,880 enough grace. We need 100% grace and 0% 468 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:17,800 religion, right? And it's not my job or anybody 469 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:22,160 else's job to make you like Jesus or or more in love with 470 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:26,680 Jesus or more follower of that's up to the Holy Spirit in you. 471 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:32,320 You responding to what the Spirit wants you to do what I 472 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:36,360 think is inconsequential. It's what what the Spirit needs 473 00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:40,520 to do in your life and mine. And so you have loved ones, 474 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,120 family, people rebelling, doing whatever you get frustrated. 475 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:46,760 They should do this, they should do that. 476 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,280 Why are they doing this? Why aren't they doing, you know, 477 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,240 we got all these like ideas of how people should live their 478 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:54,720 lives. That's the wrong way to approach 479 00:28:56,360 --> 00:29:01,560 relationships with people. We need to pray for them, and we 480 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:06,800 need to ask the Holy Spirit to do in them what needs to be done 481 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:08,760 in order for their lives to be changed. 482 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:12,480 You can't change them. You can't Guild them. 483 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:17,240 You can't do anything but love them and share the word of God 484 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:19,760 with them. Share your own story of what 485 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:21,600 you're learning. Maybe share your own 486 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,960 embarrassing sins and how you did stupid things. 487 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,400 And you realize it wasn't until Jesus came and saved you that 488 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,280 you began to understand that you needed to be saved from yourself 489 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:37,920 so that Christ can live his life in you fully and you can have an 490 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,320 overcoming life and you can become more Christ like because 491 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,400 Christ is doing the job, not you anymore. 492 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,960 So Moses went through that process of, of with these 493 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:53,240 people, the, the glory was passing, but the glory of Jesus 494 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:57,720 Christ lasts forever. And it doesn't have to be this 495 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:00,600 reflective light or glowing on our face. 496 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,960 It's it's the salt and the light that you and I have become as we 497 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:07,840 live our lives, People get a fragrance that there's something 498 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:12,280 beautiful is something significant in US and, and 499 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:13,760 through US. It's different than what they 500 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:16,960 experience with with other people that don't have the Lord 501 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,640 in their lives. And that's, that's really what 502 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,840 my prayer is. And and, and, and, and hopefully 503 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:27,360 yours too, that when you're out and about, people recognize 504 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,080 something different in you because you, you're acting 505 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,880 different, not because you're some holy role or self-righteous 506 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:36,560 person. You're just like full of the 507 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:41,240 Lord and full of his joy. And you bless people when 508 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,760 they're around you and they begin to notice that there's 509 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,680 this, this God you say you follow must be real and must 510 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,440 have power because you're not normal. 511 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,040 The way you live is not normal the way everybody else lives. 512 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,600 Some people say to you, how can you forgive or how can you do be 513 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:03,040 gracious to this person who did this to to you. 514 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:09,120 You tell them, well, this is what Jesus did for me and he 515 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:13,680 wants me obviously to let him do that for other people too and do 516 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:18,840 it through me and for me. So it's, it's exciting and and 517 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:21,920 it's something you got. I have to meditate on more. 518 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,680 I have to think about it more in my in regard to my own life. 519 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:33,000 How do I live this this out and listening to the Lord whenever I 520 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,560 I let my wife down once in a while, more than once in a 521 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:40,000 while, we'd be honest with you. It's because I'm living in my 522 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,040 own strength. But if I'm living in the power 523 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,560 of the Holy Spirit, she's blessed when I pulled those 524 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:48,160 weeds out. That's not Clark. 525 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:51,960 That was the Lord yesterday. Believe me, that was definitely 526 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,160 the Lord. And then when I went in, she had 527 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:55,920 this glow about her. She had that. 528 00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:59,320 She said I wanted to be out there but I couldn't, you know, 529 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:02,800 she said what you did for me was nicer than roses. 530 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:05,360 I don't know how many times I brought roses home to try to get 531 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:10,200 on her good side and bless her, but doing that was like a self 532 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,000 sacrifice thing. So Lord's patting me on the 533 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,120 back. You're listening, Clark. 534 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:19,000 That's good, you know. But anyway, so this, this power 535 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:24,160 of this new covenant is, is, is really, really exciting to begin 536 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:28,920 to, I guess, begin to comprehend at a different dimension. 537 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:33,160 Maybe if I noticed at the conference this year, maybe it's 538 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,160 because I'm getting older. I've been been there many times, 539 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:42,840 but there was so much love there and grace and, and this joy of 540 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,320 being around the brothers, you know, meeting new brothers, 541 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,080 seeing guys you've known for years. 542 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:50,600 Joe and I sort of look a lot alike. 543 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,320 We're the same age and Gray hair and glasses. 544 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:55,480 I'm walking on a hallway and this guy comes up to me. 545 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:58,640 He goes, did you start this church from nothing? 546 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:01,480 And it became this church, this huge church. 547 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:03,880 I said, no, my name's Clark. That's Joe. 548 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,440 I have a small church back in Greensburg, PA. 549 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,240 But he's a what? Can I get a picture with you? 550 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,360 I don't know why he thought it was some kind of famous person 551 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,520 or something. But anyway, it was his first 552 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,240 time to be there and he was excited to be at the conference. 553 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:21,080 So, so when Paul had this understanding of this new 554 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:25,800 covenant, the Judaizers at the time would come into a church as 555 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:30,160 I spoke last week, trying to say they were sent by Paul and they 556 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:33,240 would begin to tell these Gentile Christians and even the 557 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:37,880 Jewish Christians that they had to live and fulfill the law 558 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:40,480 along with having faith in Jesus Christ. 559 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:43,160 And that's another gospel. That's a distortion of the 560 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:47,200 gospel. And so Paul said, if I, or an 561 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:51,320 Angel from God, an Angel from heaven, bring unto you any other 562 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:55,080 gospel than that which you've received, let it be accursed. 563 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:59,320 Never let anybody any teacher you're listening to reading 564 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,800 about, if they're putting the law on you and they're putting 565 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:06,520 guilt on you and they're putting pride and self-righteous on you, 566 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:10,800 self righteousness on you and not grace and thankfulness and 567 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,760 gratitude for who Jesus is and what he's done for you. 568 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,560 Shut, shut it, turn it off, run away from it. 569 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:20,239 It's it's poison to your freedom in Christ. 570 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:26,159 So, so therefore in verse 12, Paul says, since we have such 571 00:34:26,159 --> 00:34:30,320 hope now this guy is is preaching in places that don't 572 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,480 want them. People are saying bad stuff 573 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:34,400 about him. They're slandering him. 574 00:34:35,159 --> 00:34:38,040 If it wasn't for Christ in him, he would have just quit. 575 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:41,560 He would have gone back to this making tents, which he did to 576 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:45,880 help his livelihood. He says because of this hope in 577 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,920 Christ, we use great boldness of speech. 578 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,120 In other words, he can come and speak to anybody with a glorious 579 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,760 gospel, knowing it's going to have power and lies for those 580 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:59,080 who believe, he said. Unlike Moses, who put a veil 581 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,000 over his face so that the children of Israel could not 582 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:05,840 look steadfastly at the end of what was passing away, but their 583 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,360 minds were blinded. But until this day, that same 584 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:12,600 veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament 585 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:15,120 because the veil is taken away in Christ. 586 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:19,040 So all these Jewish folks that are still going to synagogue and 587 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,760 they're listening to the Torah and they're being told about 588 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:26,440 kosher and this and that, all these rules and regulations 589 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,320 they're trying to do not most Jews don't even go anymore, But 590 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:34,600 the ones that are trying to be faithful to their heritage, they 591 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:38,120 got to be exhausted because what they're doing doesn't bring life 592 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:43,400 at this brings death. This brings a sense of like this 593 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,360 is impossible to them if they really understand. 594 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:50,040 But underneath the Holy Spirit can take the veil away not only 595 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:54,600 of the Jewish person, but of the Gentile to make us see our need 596 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:57,200 of Christ. I can't do that for you. 597 00:35:57,200 --> 00:35:59,920 You can't do it for me. It's a mystery. 598 00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:03,760 It's a work of the Holy Spirit, how He moves in people's lives. 599 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:08,120 Why did He move in mine? And a lot of people that I grew 600 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:11,640 up with, they still can't see what the Lord has given me grace 601 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:15,240 to see. That's a mystery. 602 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:19,640 But God, that's God's sovereign. He, he does things according to 603 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:21,560 counsel, His own will, not my will. 604 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,760 But you never give up on giving the gospel to people, no matter 605 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:27,600 how many times the veil was over their eyes. 606 00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:33,080 One day that veil may be lifted. The thief on the cross, the last 607 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,880 seconds of his life, he realized Jesus is the Messiah. 608 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:39,960 And then he wanted him to be his Savior. 609 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:44,760 And Jesus said truly this day he shall be with me in paradise. 610 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:49,720 So therefore he has his boldness and he's able to preach the 611 00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:53,320 gospel with power. For until this day, the same 612 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,280 veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament 613 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:58,680 because a veil is taken away in Christ. 614 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,720 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies in their 615 00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:04,920 hearts. Nevertheless, when one turns to 616 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:07,160 the Lord, the veil is taken away. 617 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:10,640 So if you're here today and you can't see or understand 618 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:15,160 anything, I'm saying, ask Jesus to take the veil away so you can 619 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:18,760 see the truth, so you can believe, and He will take that 620 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:20,840 away. And when He takes that away, you 621 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,480 pass from death unto life. You realize you were a Sinner 622 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:28,040 and you need a Savior and he's the only one that can change 623 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:30,680 your life. It says if anyone's in Christ, 624 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:34,120 he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. 625 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:37,440 All things have become new. The new covenant, Amen. 626 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:41,560 All things have become new Now. The Lord is the Spirit in verse 627 00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,200 17. And where the Spirit of the Lord 628 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:48,360 is, there is liberty, not bondage, not guilt, not 629 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:51,280 condemnation, but freedom in Christ. 630 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:56,240 But we all with unveiled face beholding in a mirror as in a 631 00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:59,160 mirror the glory of the Lord. And back in those days those 632 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,280 mirrors were not real clear like ours today. 633 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:06,680 So it was sort of a distorted view, but they knew that they 634 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:08,920 were being changed by the glory of the Lord. 635 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:13,360 They were being transformed into the same image from glory to 636 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:16,800 glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 637 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:19,680 And that's what's happening in your life when you come to to 638 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:23,160 Calvary or any Bible church or you're, you're reading a good 639 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:27,400 commentary that's based on truth and the Bible and you're 640 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:29,240 listening to Grace FM or whatever. 641 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:33,600 You're hearing this word over and over again of the grace of 642 00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:37,200 God, the new covenant, the freedom we have in Christ. 643 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,440 It's just awesome, isn't it? We don't have to walk around 644 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:45,280 with her back bent down and, and oh, look at things are terrible. 645 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:47,000 Look at those going on here and there. 646 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:48,720 Look what they're doing here. Look what? 647 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,800 Don't look at that stuff. Look at what Christ has done, 648 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:56,160 what he continues to do as he saves one person at a time 649 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:57,960 throughout the whole earth, right? 650 00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:02,160 We have good news, right? We have the best news ever. 651 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:05,640 And when people get a hold of hearing this good news, it 652 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:08,520 changes their life. They're never the same again, 653 00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:12,800 and you can go deeper the more you want to experience the power 654 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:16,400 of the new Covenant. You send time with Jesus, read 655 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:20,800 his Word, praise him, thank him for who he is, what he's done. 656 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:24,880 You know, allow the Lord to help you fall deeper in love with 657 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:26,960 him. As you fall deeper in love with 658 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:30,320 him, you're not going to be doing the stupid stuff that you 659 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,480 normally would do when you have an intimate relationship with 660 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:37,000 the Lord. You care about honoring him 661 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:40,400 because it comes from him in you that new covenant giving you 662 00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:43,920 that desire to go deeper with him and to praise him so that 663 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:45,720 the worship team can come forward. 664 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:52,800 And this allow the Lord to open your hearts and your minds to 665 00:39:52,800 --> 00:40:00,040 this. I I trust that this is something 666 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:04,160 that will enable you to experience your faith in the 667 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:10,520 Lord in a much more glorious and wondrous way, to be excited 668 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:14,280 about all that the Lord has done for you and how much he loves 669 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:17,640 you and how much he continually forgives you and continually 670 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:19,840 cleanses you from all unrighteousness and. 671 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,720 There's nothing like this. There's no other message like 672 00:40:23,720 --> 00:40:27,640 this in the face of the planet. No other quote religion out 673 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:31,560 there can give us and do for us what Jesus Christ has done for 674 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:32,560 us. Amen. 675 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,960 Amen. Well, let's pray and allow the 676 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:43,000 Holy Spirit to get our eyes on the Lord as we remember what 677 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:45,480 he's done for us. It's Memorial Day remembering 678 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:50,040 all these men and women have given their lives for Jesus, for 679 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:54,240 the for the USAI mean, but the one that we really memorialize 680 00:40:54,240 --> 00:40:58,840 today more than anyone is Jesus. Every Sunday we remember his 681 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:04,080 death and his sacrifice on behalf of us, not only saving us 682 00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:08,280 from hell and giving us eternal life and forgiveness, a sin, but 683 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:11,240 living in us to help us. And every situation of our 684 00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:17,080 lives, every relationship, every conversation, every temptation, 685 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:21,080 anything that's coming against us, He's with us to show us the 686 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:24,400 way through it. Lord Jesus, we're so grateful 687 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:26,760 for you giving us this new covenant. 688 00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:31,000 We're so thankful that we can walk out of here today with our 689 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,880 heads held high, looking at you, looking unto Jesus. 690 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:37,360 You're the author and finisher of our faith. 691 00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:41,240 The good work you've begun on us, the Word says you will 692 00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:47,400 perform it and fulfill it in the day of Your coming or the day 693 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:49,000 that we enter into Your presence. 694 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:53,280 Lord, we pray if there's any here today and the veil is on 695 00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:56,840 their eyes, that Lord, by Your sovereign decree and grace she 696 00:41:56,840 --> 00:42:00,480 would lift that veil and cause them today for the first time 697 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:05,040 ever to see who You are and recognize what You've done and 698 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:09,520 come to You for forgiveness of sin and to be given new life. 699 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:14,680 On the night that Jesus is betrayed, He took the bread in 700 00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,200 his hands and he broke it and He gave thanks. 701 00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:22,680 He said, this is my body which is given for you. 702 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:37,340 Eat this in remembrance of me. The same manner in that cup and 703 00:42:37,340 --> 00:42:40,260 same manner in that night He took the cup. 704 00:42:42,900 --> 00:42:49,400 He said, This cup is a new covenant in my blood, which was 705 00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:51,720 shed for the forgiveness of sins of many. 706 00:42:52,840 --> 00:43:01,440 Drink this in remembrance of me. For as often as we eat this 707 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:06,800 bread and we drink this cup, we show forth the Lord's death till 708 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:08,080 he comes again. Amen. 709 00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:12,080 Good news, right? Amen. 710 00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:12,640 Be blessed.