1 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:11,760 So we are, if you've got a Bible, it'd be really useful to 2 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,040 find it, whether it's a physical one or digital one. 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,000 Really used to find it because we're going to be in the whole 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:23,160 of Two Corinthians chapter 3 and all the way chapter 4, verse 6. 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,000 Now I'm not going to read all that right now because I haven't 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,880 got time, but it'd be really helpful if you hand that have 7 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,680 that to hand because I'm going to be going through it and 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,000 pretty much. So if you've got it, I'm going 9 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,760 to be going for a I'm going to be starting at the end. 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,600 And then what you'll know that I've finished because I've just 11 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,200 read chapter 3, verse one. OK, That's when you'll know that 12 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,080 I'm pretty much I'm done. So here we go. 13 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,040 What I've got today. I believe that out of this 14 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:56,280 passage, God's got 4 questions that he wants to ask us all. 15 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:02,440 And the first one is what is the ultimate end of the gospel? 16 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:05,319 What's the ultimate end of the gospel? 17 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:06,920 What's the highest? What's the best? 18 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,400 What's the sweetest? What's the final end to the 19 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:17,720 gospel #2 what obstacles stand in our way? 20 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,200 What, what stands in our way from receiving that highest, 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:29,480 most wonderful, most sweetest end of the gospel #3 what has to 22 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:33,240 change? What has, what has to change? 23 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,800 Because actually, whether you have received the gospel or not, 24 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,560 at one point we were all in darkness. 25 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,520 And So what has to change or what changed so that you could 26 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:51,840 receive, so you could experience the gospel and #4 what does God 27 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,040 call us to do now? Now that we've received the 28 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,760 gospel, what does he call us to do now? 29 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:08,520 So #1 what is the final end to the gospel? 30 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,600 Gospel meaning good news. What's the final end to the 31 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,200 gospel of good news? What is the, as I said, what is 32 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,360 the, the, what is what if you took it away? 33 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,560 I'm going to put up on the screen a second a load of good 34 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,840 things that the gospel gives us. And what what one thing, if you 35 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,000 were to take it away from the gospel, the gospel wouldn't be 36 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:32,000 good news. What is the final end of the 37 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:33,880 gospel? You see, here are some things 38 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,160 that the gospel does for us. I mean, these are awesome. 39 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:42,880 The gospel justifies us. In the gospel, we are forgiven. 40 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,480 The gospel removes God's wrath from us. 41 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,440 The gospel redeems us from guilt. 42 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,960 The gospel liberates us from slavery. 43 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:59,160 We looked at last week that once we were slaves to sin, but now, 44 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:01,600 thanks to Jesus Christ, we are now free. 45 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,680 The gospel means that we are free, that we will not, that we 46 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,600 don't go to hell. The gospel means that we will 47 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,640 enter into heaven. The gospel means that we have 48 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:16,160 eternal life. The gospel means that we can be 49 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,720 delivered from all sickness, pain, suffering. 50 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:25,040 And the gospel tells us that one day God will make everything 51 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:29,080 new. Now all these things are 52 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,200 amazing. All these things are what Jesus 53 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:38,080 has bought for us in the gospel, But they are not the final end, 54 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,240 ultimate purpose of the good news. 55 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,160 Let's read chapter 4, verses 4 to 6. 56 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:54,720 It says this, the God of this age has blinded the minds of 57 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,920 believers so they cannot see the light of the gospel that 58 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:03,680 displays the glory of Christ who is the image of God. 59 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:08,920 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as 60 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:14,400 Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. 61 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:20,079 For God who said let light shine out of darkness, made his light 62 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:24,840 shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of 63 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:29,680 God's glory displayed in the face of Christ Jesus. 64 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:32,800 So he says here. What Paul says is that that the 65 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:37,320 light of the gospel is the knowledge of God. 66 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:43,000 The glory of Christ is the same as the glory of God. 67 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:51,400 Then the image of God, the glory of God is found in the face of 68 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,040 Christ Jesus. So what Paul is saying is that 69 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,080 the ultimate end of the gospel, what it's all about the reason 70 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,600 ultimately why Jesus died. Yes, he died to, to to forgive 71 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:03,400 you. He died for your justification. 72 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:04,880 He died so you could go to heaven. 73 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,880 He died to so that he could create a new heavens and earth 74 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,760 with you in it. But the ultimate goal of the 75 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:16,280 gospel is the glory of God. It is the glory of our Father. 76 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:21,120 It's the glory of Yahweh that is displayed in the face of Christ 77 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:26,320 Jesus. See, God is beautiful, He is 78 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:33,280 glorious, He is wonderful, He is magnificent, and the gospel is 79 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:38,360 all about being able to be with him in His presence, to dwell 80 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,720 with him in His glory, to dwell with him in His beauty, in His 81 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,080 magnificence. You see the life, the death, the 82 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:52,360 burial of the ascension of Jesus Christ, it displays the glory of 83 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,320 gods. And as Christ was there upon the 84 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:03,800 cross, obediently hung to that tree, as the wrath of God was 85 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:10,320 pouring out upon him, the glory of God was emanating from him, 86 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,040 was emanating from Christ to the Father. 87 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,880 See, that is the end of the gospel. 88 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:23,440 The end of the gospel is for us to see, for us to savour, for us 89 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:27,360 to enjoy, to treasure, to be wrapped up and experienced and 90 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:32,400 be in the presence of our gods. That's what the gospel is all 91 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:37,400 about. You see, we don't behold His 92 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,200 glory. We don't get to be in His 93 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,760 presence to have a stepping stool to something else. 94 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:50,640 We don't get to be with our God to have something better. 95 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,400 There is nothing better than being in the presence of our 96 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,480 gods. There is nothing. 97 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,160 It is the end. It is the point of the gospel. 98 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,640 You see all those things that I put up there, all of them, they 99 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:09,960 point to the greater good. They point to the greater being 100 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,520 in the presence, being in the glory, being able to behold the 101 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,520 beauty and majesty of Jesus Christ. 102 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,200 See, we are justified in the gospel. 103 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:22,640 Why are we justified? We are justified so that we can 104 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:30,360 stand accepted in the presence of our Lord and Saviour, the one 105 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,800 who satisfies our soul. I mean, why are we forgiven? 106 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,920 Miss is really important. Why do we need forgiveness? 107 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,560 Why do you need forgiveness? To not go to hell. 108 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,840 I, I don't want to go to hell. But let me say, if that's your 109 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:49,800 answer, it's a really bad answer. 110 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:55,000 It's a really bad answer. And it, it, let me put it, give 111 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,160 you an illustration. OK, Why that's a bad answer 112 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,640 because, because I imagine, OK, this is completely fabricated. 113 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:06,480 OK. I come downstairs one morning, 114 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,640 OK, And as I'm going into our kitchen, I trip over a pile that 115 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:13,280 my lovely wife has left on the floor. 116 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:16,160 And as I trip over completely fabricated. 117 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:22,480 As I trip over this pile I I snap and I shout at her and I 118 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:24,000 say, what on earth are you doing? 119 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,320 What's wrong with you? Why did you leave your stuff all 120 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:31,120 over the place? As soon as I've said it, I 121 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:32,720 realise I probably shouldn't have done that. 122 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:40,720 OK, Several minutes go by and my wife is is is in the kitchen. 123 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,400 She's at the stove with her back to me, literally and 124 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,800 metaphorically. The room is icy. 125 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:53,000 Anyone ever been there? Yeah. 126 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:57,000 The room is icy. I know. 127 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:01,720 I need to be forgiven. Why do I need to be forgiven? 128 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,880 Why do I need to be forgiven? Let me give you a bad answer. 129 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:09,920 Because I don't want to feel guilty anymore. 130 00:09:15,390 --> 00:09:18,150 Maybe another. Another bad answer, because I 131 00:09:18,150 --> 00:09:21,270 don't want her to throw that dinner she's making at me. 132 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:24,640 She'd never do that. She'd just slam it down the 133 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:29,240 table in front of me. That's another bad answer. 134 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:34,560 Actually, the reason why I need forgiveness is because I want 135 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:40,640 the ice to melt between us. I want her. 136 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,320 I want her to turn to me. I want to see her. 137 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,120 I want to feel her. I want to know her embrace. 138 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,800 I want to be with her in her presence again. 139 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:56,360 That's why I need forgiveness. And it's the same with Jesus. 140 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,240 We don't need forgiveness so we don't go to hell. 141 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:04,680 I don't want to go to hell, but we need forgiveness so we can 142 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:13,800 see His face, so the ice between us can be dissolved, so that we 143 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:18,800 can know His warm embrace, so we can know His pleasure, so we can 144 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:21,720 know life with Him alongside Him. 145 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,040 See all of these things that I said? 146 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,280 Justification, forgiveness, freedom from sin. 147 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:37,160 They're all great, but they all point to and get us to the 148 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:42,720 greater good, which is a life with Christ, to be in His 149 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:47,160 presence, to be in his glory, that we may see, we may savour, 150 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:53,480 we may reflect, we may behold and be transformed by his very 151 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:58,080 presence. So that's the end of the gospel. 152 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:07,760 That's the point of the gospel that we get Christ #2 what 153 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:13,920 obstacle stood in our way, what stands in our way for must be 154 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:19,520 able to be in God's glory, to be in His presence, to gaze upon 155 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:26,800 his beauty and His wonder. In chapter 3 and chapter 4, Paul 156 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:31,160 is going to draw from to explain this problem from the book of 157 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,840 Exodus. He's going to draw from Exodus 158 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,320 34. And in Exodus 34, we've got 159 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:43,400 Moses and he is up the mountain of God and he is spending time 160 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,880 with Yahweh. He's spending days, he's 161 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,760 spending weeks in the presence of Yahweh. 162 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,560 And it says that he comes down the mountain with the tablets of 163 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,040 gods. And as he comes down the 164 00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:01,200 mountain, the people are it freaked out as they gaze upon 165 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,160 Moses. They're freaked out because his 166 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:08,200 skin literally starts to glow. It not, not like a oh, you're 167 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,920 glowing today, Moses, you have a, a wonderful complexion about 168 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:12,560 you. No, no, no. 169 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:15,400 He's literally lighting up. You know, it's like that. 170 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:17,760 The people would be standing there at dawn and be like, oh, 171 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,120 the sun's coming up early. No, no, it's just Moses coming 172 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:22,840 down the mountain. He is shining. 173 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,080 And so because the people have freaked out, he puts a veil over 174 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:31,800 his face so the people can no longer see the glory that is on 175 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:33,600 him. See, God has been spending time 176 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:34,760 with him. He's been spending time with 177 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:38,320 God, and therefore the glory of God has been shining into Moses, 178 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:41,920 and he is then radiating that glory from himself. 179 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,520 But the people can't stand it, so he puts a veil over his face 180 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,760 so they are unable to see the glory of Gods. 181 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,720 And it says that he would only take it off as he came into the 182 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:53,880 presence of God. As he came into the presence of 183 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:57,720 God, he'd removed the veil and he'd speak to Yahweh face to 184 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:06,320 face. And he says here in 2 185 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:14,600 Corinthians 3 verse 13 to 15, he says we are not like Moses 186 00:13:24,870 --> 00:13:28,590 who put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from 187 00:13:28,590 --> 00:13:32,990 seeing the end of what was passing away, but their minds 188 00:13:32,990 --> 00:13:36,670 were made dull. For to this day, the same veil 189 00:13:36,670 --> 00:13:40,880 remains when the old covenant is red, it is not. 190 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:46,640 It is not being removed because only Christ is it it in Christ 191 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,800 it is taken away. Even to this day when Moses read 192 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:57,040 a veil covers their hearts, It's it once, once, once each one of 193 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:04,600 us, our eyes were veiled. We were unable to see the glory 194 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,800 of God. We were supernaturally poor, 195 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:11,480 would say blind. He says in verse chapter 4, 196 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:18,440 verse four, he says the gods of this age has blinded the minds 197 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:22,960 of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel that 198 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:27,480 is displayed in the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 199 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:30,040 See, we've looked at this, we've looked at this. 200 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:32,880 There are physical, there's a physical reality and there is a 201 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:37,960 spiritual reality and there is a spiritual reality that it is at 202 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:43,360 war with God and at war with us, who, as Paul says, the gods of 203 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:48,840 this world are preventing us from seeing the glory of gods. 204 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:58,000 So when you tell someone about Jesus, when you're ridiculed, 205 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:04,800 when someone opposes Jesus, when people just don't seem to 206 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:10,320 understand, it's not that they're an idiot. 207 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,760 It's not that they're stupid. It's because a veil has been 208 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:20,280 placed over their eyes. They've been blinded by the gods 209 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:28,600 of this world. See, we are surrounded, church 210 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:34,160 by blind people, by people who are blinded to the glory of God. 211 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:40,280 They can see reflections, images, echoes of glory When 212 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,960 they watch something amazing happen in a sports game. 213 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:49,240 They can see echoes, amazing sense of glory in in at the 214 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:54,560 birth of a child or in a relationship or an amazing job 215 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,880 done in work. But when it comes to the 216 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:06,440 ultimate highest, greatest glory as a veil as a haze over their 217 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:11,600 eyes that they are unable to see past. 218 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,120 So what is the end of the gospel? 219 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,680 What's the point in the gospel? It's to be in the glorious 220 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:25,000 presence of Christ Jesus. What prevents us, what stops us? 221 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,520 What obstacle is there is there? I said we were blind. 222 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:32,920 We were literally blind. The gods of this world have 223 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,640 blinded our eyes and there's a veil over our face. 224 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:42,360 So what has to change? What needs to happen for us and 225 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:47,360 what still needs to happen for some people so that we may gaze 226 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,800 upon the glorious face of Christ Jesus. 227 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:58,440 He says in verse in chapter 4 verse six, he says for God who 228 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,480 said let light shine after darkness has made his light 229 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:06,839 shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of 230 00:17:06,839 --> 00:17:10,400 God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. 231 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:16,119 Why he's talking about this. He's he's, he's echoing, he's 232 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:22,839 drawing imagery from creation. He says God has shone his light 233 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,480 into our hearts. It's the same as the first page 234 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,640 of the Bible. There was darkness, there was 235 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:36,000 chaos, there was disorder. But God spoke, let there be 236 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,840 light. And there it was no battle, no 237 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,080 struggle. It just lit up. 238 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:49,320 And he says that's what God needs to do for each one of us. 239 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,920 He must share. He must, he must, he must, He 240 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:59,960 must call his light to shine into the darkness of our lives. 241 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,960 See, we were once going around stumbling. 242 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,480 We weren't once blind. We were once unable to see 243 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:07,160 because we were just in darkness. 244 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,720 We were just doing the best of what we could had. 245 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,960 But then God shone his light into our eyes. 246 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:22,720 He shone light into our hearts and we were able to see. 247 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:28,800 Is that the end? No, Paul gives the illustration. 248 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:31,280 He says. He says there was a veil over 249 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,000 our face. Not only did we need light, but 250 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:42,880 we needed this veil removing. And so to be saved we need God 251 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:46,080 to speak life. But to see His glory. 252 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:50,080 Church, you need to look. You need to look at him. 253 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:54,200 You need to gaze upon him. He's never going to force you to 254 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,280 look upon him. He's never going to force you to 255 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,560 change your direction of how where you're going. 256 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:01,960 But to receive Christ, you see his glory. 257 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:06,280 You have to look upon him and his promises. 258 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:14,040 He says every time, every time we turn to look at Him, the veil 259 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:18,560 is lifted from our face and we get to spend time, we get to be 260 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:24,800 with him in his glory. He never ever says as we turn to 261 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,120 him, Oh, I didn't mean for you to look at me. 262 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:33,400 I didn't want you. No, no, no, no, he every single 263 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:37,240 time, Paul says. He promises that when we look 264 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:43,480 towards Him, He takes the veil off our eyes so that we are able 265 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:49,000 to see Him in His glory. You see the Israelites, the 266 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,480 ancient Israelites, they were God's chosen people. 267 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,920 God chose to let His light shine onto them. 268 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,080 He chose them. They were His chosen people. 269 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,000 He shone his light, He shone His presence, He shone His glory 270 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:06,520 onto them, not so that they would keep it, but so the 271 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:11,560 nations. Would see so the nations you're 272 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:19,240 right in so the nations don't die so the nations would see so 273 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:25,280 the nations would come see the purpose we see in in the in 274 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:32,360 Genesis Chapter 11, the tower of Babel God disowns the nations, 275 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:37,760 but then he chooses Abraham. He chooses Abraham and from 276 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,480 Abraham he produces a supernatural people, a people 277 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,160 born from a supernatural birth. And he says I'm going to let my 278 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:49,960 light shine in you through you not so that you can have God all 279 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:55,520 to yourself so that the nations may see as the book of Hosea 280 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,680 would say so that those who are not my people. 281 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:03,160 That's us here. If you weren't born Jewish, who 282 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:07,960 those who are not my people would be called my people so 283 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:13,280 that we'd see the light and the glory of of God through his 284 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:17,120 people. As we know they failed, they 285 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:21,520 failed, they needed a Saviour, but Jesus came who was the 286 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:26,720 perfect Israelite. And it is through his glory that 287 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:30,400 we can come, that light has shone into our lives and we can 288 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,560 come and we can turn and and have our veil lifted so that we 289 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,400 can gaze upon the glory of Christ Jesus. 290 00:21:44,030 --> 00:21:54,630 Paul says in verse 15 of chapter 3, he says even to this day, and 291 00:21:54,630 --> 00:21:58,040 I'd say even to this day, not just when he was writing it, 292 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:05,400 even to this day, when Moses read a veil covers their hearts. 293 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,040 Now he's talking about the Jewish people in his land. 294 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,760 I just want to encourage you. We want to pray for all people 295 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,120 and we're going to pray for all people for their eyes to be 296 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:21,080 opened, for blindness to go, for the veil to be lifted. 297 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:27,080 But this just reminded me this week, let's pray for our Jewish 298 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,720 brothers and sisters. As you know, just hit me with 299 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:37,320 one of the the interview with one of the people from the from 300 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:41,760 the the synagogue tragedy last week is you know, they said that 301 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:46,440 every week, every week we go to synagogue, every week we read 302 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:49,360 Torah. Every week we pray for our 303 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:54,040 nation. You just think they've got the 304 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:58,680 life, they've got it, but they've, as Paul says, their 305 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:05,920 eyes are veiled to it. Pray, pray that their eyes would 306 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,760 be open to the Gospel, that their eyes would be open to the 307 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:16,040 glory of Jesus Christ, he says. But whoever turns to the Lord, 308 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:21,720 the veil will be taken away. Now the Spirit is the Lords, and 309 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,240 where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 310 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:30,400 And we all with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, 311 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:36,640 are being transformed into His image with ever increasing glory 312 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,600 which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 313 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:45,360 So what changed? God spoke light into your life, 314 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:54,440 and then we turned in grace and He opened the veil so that we 315 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:59,240 could see the glory. We could see in faith the 316 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:05,080 wondrous, glorious majesty of His presence, that you are 317 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:09,080 accepted, that He loves you, that He wants to spend all 318 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:16,360 eternity with you. So number one, that's the point 319 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:22,040 of the gospel, that we may see His glory #2 we were blind, the 320 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:26,120 veil was over our eyes, that we could not see the glory of God. 321 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:29,680 What changed? Jesus shone light into our 322 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:33,720 lives, we turned to Him, and the veil was removed. 323 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,680 And so finally, what does God call us to do now? 324 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,640 Well, if you're not a Christian, God calls you to turn to Him. 325 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:53,320 God calls you to turn to him and he will not reject you to turn 326 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:55,160 to him. And he will remove the veil so 327 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,680 that you will be able to see the glory of Jesus Christ. 328 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:02,520 I mean, isn't it amazing? I'm I've never seen anyone glow 329 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:07,240 up like a light bulb. But when you see someone go from 330 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:13,040 life, from death to life, when you see someone one week and 331 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,720 they're not following Jesus and the next week they've 332 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,960 surrendered their life and they call him King, there's something 333 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:25,320 different about them. Their face looks different. 334 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,360 They may not be glowing like a light bulb, but they look 335 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,120 different. The that's the glory of God has 336 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:36,240 been revealed to them and it is emanating from them. 337 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:39,800 That is what to church. If you don't believe, if you 338 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,600 haven't put your faith in Jesus, if you haven't said, Jesus, you 339 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:44,760 are my Lord and King, I want to live for you. 340 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:46,800 That's what he wants you to do right now. 341 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,200 It's as easy as this. You say, Jesus, I am sorry for 342 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:56,160 the way that I have lived. God, I ask you to forgive me. 343 00:25:57,680 --> 00:25:59,960 And God, I thank you that you do forgive me. 344 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:05,480 And I want from this day forward to live, not for myself, but I 345 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,120 want to live for you, King Jesus, Amen. 346 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,640 That's it, That's it. And then you do it, and then you 347 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,440 fail and you come back to him and repent and you say, Jesus, 348 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,960 I'm sorry, I love you. You're still my king. 349 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:27,000 That's as simple as that. And for the rest of us, for 350 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,160 everyone else who knows Jesus Christ, who says Jesus, you are 351 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:38,080 my king. Jesus calls us now to help 352 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:42,440 remove the obstacle of blindness from those around us. 353 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:48,680 God has called you to be an obstacle to to remove obstacles. 354 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,280 He's called you to remove obstacles from those around. 355 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:54,320 He's called you to remove the veil of blindness. 356 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:59,200 We are surrounded by a town, by towns, by a county, by a nation 357 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:02,240 that is blind to the glory of gods. 358 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:07,320 And Jesus answer to that is to send you and I into the world to 359 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:12,240 help remove veils from blind people, to remove those veils 360 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,160 from blind people. And he Paul says, how do you 361 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,320 keep doing that? How do we do that? 362 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:22,920 Well, First off, we have to keep looking at Jesus church. 363 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:27,880 The Israelites became dull and useless to the surrounding 364 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:31,040 nations because they didn't look at their gods. 365 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,320 They didn't look at their king church. 366 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:40,160 We are only able to see the lost saved if we are focusing on the 367 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:41,840 king. If we're giving them something, 368 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:45,880 the lost something to look at, we're not giving them life 369 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:49,080 skills, we're not giving them better life management. 370 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:52,760 We're giving them Christ. That's who we're giving them. 371 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,440 See how we're the the hundreds of years ago when most people 372 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,640 couldn't read the church, they came up with things called 373 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,960 catechisms and the Westminster Catechism. 374 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,920 And 1st question and basically how the catechisms worked is you 375 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,640 would learn a question and you'd learn the answer to it. 376 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,360 Do you need to read or you just learnt by rote question and 377 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:18,400 answers and the Westminster Catechism first question is what 378 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:21,440 is the end of man? What's the point of living? 379 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:26,440 What's the point of life? It says to know God and to enjoy 380 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,520 him forever. That is what you and I are 381 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,160 called to do. How do we know him? 382 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:36,520 We look at him. How do we enjoy him? 383 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:43,040 We look at him. You are cool to look at him and 384 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:49,480 as you look at him you will become like him, he says. 385 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:54,480 And we who with unveiled faces, who now can see the glory as we 386 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:58,680 contemplate, as we, as we think about, as we study the Lord's 387 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:03,280 glory, are being transformed into his image with ever 388 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:08,200 increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit, 389 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:15,440 See a life, life to the full life that Jesus promises you is 390 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:19,400 not found in life without conflict, life without fights, 391 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:22,120 life when everything goes exactly how you wanted to know. 392 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,080 Life's, the full life that Jesus promised you, the best life 393 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:30,000 possible, is found in gazing at the face of Christ Jesus. 394 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,160 That's who. That is how it is found by 395 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:38,160 gazing at him, by treasuring him, by being wrapped up in Him. 396 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:42,200 And as we do, we are transformed more into His presence. 397 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:50,000 See, as we look we are changed. As we look we become kinder, we 398 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,520 become more gentle, we become more joyful. 399 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:59,360 As we look we become generous. As we look we become servant 400 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,920 hearted. It's just a side note. 401 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:07,040 If we spent more time looking at Jesus and less time looking at 402 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,680 our problems, the vast majority of past dinner or pastoral 403 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,280 issues would disappear. They would did just go away. 404 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,480 Our problem most of the time is we're not looking at Jesus. 405 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:24,480 As we look at Jesus, depression goes, joy increases. 406 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:28,760 If you look at Jesus, your friendships will get better, 407 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:33,680 your marriages will improve. See life change. 408 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,000 It's it's what happens when we gaze at Jesus. 409 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:40,720 But you may be saying, well, yeah, life change is great, but 410 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,680 that wasn't the question. The question wasn't how are we 411 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,000 changed? The question was what does Jesus 412 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,360 ask us to do? And how you seem to answer that 413 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:53,040 was that Jesus asks us to go into the world and display his 414 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,440 glory. So what is looking at Jesus got 415 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,760 to do with that? I mean, surely our answer should 416 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,120 be we should be praying for blind eyes to be opened. 417 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,280 We should be going to the world and talking to people. 418 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,680 And you'd be absolutely right. That is good. 419 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:12,760 That is great. But here's the thing, If I was 420 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,800 to set everyone a target this week, then I want you to pray 421 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:21,040 every single day for blind eyes to be opened. 422 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:27,520 If you were to pray every single day for, for opportunities for 423 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:31,080 God to use you. If you, if I was to say right, I 424 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:34,080 want you every single day to talk to someone who doesn't know 425 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,560 Jesus, that would be a great goal. 426 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:41,560 But the reality is, come Tuesday, you'd have forgotten, 427 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,920 let's be honest. And then come next Sunday, I'd 428 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:48,520 go, how'd you go? And you'd be, you'd be having a 429 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:52,160 great time until I said that because you'd be, you'd be like, 430 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:56,040 my, my week's been great. I've enjoyed praising Jesus. 431 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:57,960 And then all of a sudden, how did you do? 432 00:31:57,960 --> 00:31:59,040 Who have you shared the Gospel with? 433 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:04,280 Oh, oh, oh, well, I did pray What? 434 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:07,560 Every day? No, no, I'm so useless. 435 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,680 I'm a failure. That's how it goes. 436 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:18,520 But here's the thing. As we gaze upon Jesus, we become 437 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:24,920 more like Him. And Jesus prayed for us. 438 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:29,520 Jesus, the Scripture tells us, is praying for us right now. 439 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:35,080 He is interceding for us. So as we become more like Jesus, 440 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:39,120 we gaze upon Him. Guess what, we want to pray for 441 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:41,920 people. It's not something, oh, I need 442 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,920 to fit in my prayer time to pray for blind eyes to be opened and 443 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:46,200 for obstacles. No, no, no, no. 444 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:49,080 It's I'm gazing at Jesus. I'm becoming more like him. 445 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,440 And as I become more like him, I'm becoming more like the one 446 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,280 who intercedes for me. Therefore, I just naturally want 447 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:59,320 to intercede for others. Jesus, who is the greatest 448 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,440 scent? One, He's the ultimate apostle. 449 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,160 He is the one who left heaven and came to earth. 450 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:09,520 And so where if we go around thinking, I have to tell someone 451 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:13,480 about Jesus today, I have to tell I'm failing because I 452 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,000 didn't do it tomorrow, I didn't do it yesterday and I haven't 453 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,480 done it today. That's not what it's about. 454 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:22,280 As we become more like Jesus, we gaze upon him. 455 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:26,760 As we become like Him, we become like the great scent. 1 And what 456 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:31,120 you just find, you meet people and you just start talking about 457 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:36,040 Jesus because it's natural, because it's who you are now. 458 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:39,440 It's not a tick list of things to do. 459 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:41,800 It's something that you want to do. 460 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,880 It's not a a target that I have to reach. 461 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:47,760 I have to do this or else God's not going to be pleased with me. 462 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:51,160 It's that Jesus is like this. I'm more like Jesus. 463 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:56,240 I just do it now. I do it now as I speak to 464 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,640 people. I just find I'm just naturally 465 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:03,440 starting to speak about Jesus, to speak about him. 466 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:14,159 You see, and I'll end with this 3 verse one and two, it says we 467 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:23,199 are we beginning to commend ourselves again or do we need 468 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:28,960 like some people letters of recommendation to you from to 469 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:34,880 you or from you, you yourselves are our letter written on our 470 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:39,840 hearts, known and ready read by everyone. 471 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:42,320 What he's saying here is just just kind of just step back and 472 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:45,760 just give you some context. In the 1st century, it was 473 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:49,040 really dangerous to be a Christian, really dangerous. 474 00:34:49,679 --> 00:34:52,159 You'd be killed. You could you could be, you 475 00:34:52,159 --> 00:34:54,480 could be crucified. You could be awful things would 476 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:58,400 happen to you. So when travelling Christians, 477 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,480 some of you know, you might go to another town, you might visit 478 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,800 another church. When that happened, they would 479 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:07,440 take letters from their elders to say, so when they arrived at 480 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,320 that new church, the elders would go, oh, OK, here's your 481 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:12,920 letter recommendation. Oh, you really do follow Jesus. 482 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:15,600 You do love him. You're not a spy sent by the 483 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:17,920 Romans to to come in and slaughter us. 484 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,480 No, no, you love Jesus. Come on in, come and worship 485 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:22,080 with us. Come and take communion with us. 486 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:24,840 And Paul's saying we don't need that. 487 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:26,920 Me and Timothy, we don't need that. 488 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:29,640 He's not saying that because we're super famous Christians. 489 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:35,280 He's saying that because the letter of recommendation isn't 490 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:37,320 something written by human hands. 491 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:43,040 And she says, you, Corinth, are our letter of recommendation. 492 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:50,200 As we have gazed upon Christ, as we have drunk him in, as we have 493 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:55,080 looked upon him, he has then through the Spirit started 494 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,080 writing letters of salvation on your hearts. 495 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:05,240 He has started writing letters of healing, of glorification on 496 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:08,520 your hearts. It's a church. 497 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:14,280 Who are you? Who is the Holy Spirit writing 498 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,560 letters of salvation on through you? 499 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:22,680 Who as you gaze upon Jesus, are you spending time with? 500 00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:29,160 Who are you mixing with? Because the Spirit writes 501 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:32,480 letters of recommendation on those who we spend time with. 502 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:39,760 He is sanctifying those. He is saving those who you spend 503 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:43,760 time with. It is the glory that is shown on 504 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:48,240 you that is then reflecting. That is reflecting. 505 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,280 Think of the guys as they shared their testimonies 2 weeks ago, 506 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,760 Brian. He is a letter of salvation 507 00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:02,200 written from the glory of God coming to Mikey's life. 508 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:08,480 That's what it is. Think of Karina, she is a letter 509 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:13,840 of salvation written by people like Olympia, Kika, others in 510 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:18,360 this church spending time sowing seeds of the gospel, letting the 511 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:21,560 light shine that is in them onto her. 512 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:29,360 Who are you spending time with? The answer should be Jesus and 513 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,400 then people. As you spend time with people 514 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:38,480 and God, his light will radiate from you and write letters of 515 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,400 salvation upon them. Let's pray. 516 00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:47,600 Lord Jesus, God, your gospel is so amazing. 517 00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:52,560 God, I want to thank you that I am justified, that I am 518 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:57,360 forgiven, Lord Jesus, that I have eternal life, that I am 519 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,440 going to heaven, not hell. Lord Jesus, that one day you're 520 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,800 going to make all things new and I'm going to rule and reign with 521 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:07,720 you on the new heavens and new earth, Lord Jesus, but all that 522 00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:11,880 is nothing, all that is rubbish without you, God. 523 00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:16,920 God, we thank you that you've done all of that so that we 524 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:20,640 could know you, so that we could see the glory, the beauty, the 525 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:25,400 majesty, the wonder that we could be wrapped up and 526 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:31,080 experience life with you, the King of glory, Lord Jesus. 527 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:35,200 And I pray that we'll be a people that longs to, that 528 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:39,520 spends time gazing at your face, Lord God. 529 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,960 And I ask you that if there's anyone here right now or who 530 00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:48,280 listens or watches this who does not know you, Jesus, I pray that 531 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:52,640 they would turn to you now, and as they do, you would keep your 532 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,800 promise and you would lift the veil of blindness from their 533 00:38:55,800 --> 00:39:00,400 eyes so that they may see you for themselves, Lord Jesus. 534 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:06,360 And I pray for us here. I pray that we, like Moses, will 535 00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:10,480 be shining your glory to the people around us, Lord God. 536 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:14,480 And I pray for more letters written on hearts of salvation, 537 00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:18,640 Lord, letters that have been written because we loved you, 538 00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:21,840 because we dared to become more like you. 539 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:25,080 And we shared about you. We worshipped you. 540 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:30,120 And as we did, those around us saw that light of glory. 541 00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:34,600 And you opened their eyes and you saved them. 542 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:37,240 You changed them. You were made. 543 00:39:37,240 --> 00:39:39,840 You began to make them more like you. 544 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:43,320 Lord Jesus, do it. Grow us Lords. 545 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:48,080 Sluse, us Lords, by your holy precious name. 546 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:49,200 Amen.