There's an interesting flower that I'm learning to enjoy. And one of the reasons why it happened is when I went to Karamoja for three months, they had a farm full of it, sunflowers. Have you ever seen one of those? Those are huge. I was shocked how big they were. And they get so big that the stem cannot hold it. That's how big they get and heavy they get. And what's interesting about these sunflowers, I don't know if you've ever seen one, they look like a sun, right? It's kind of fascinating. But another fascinating thing is that when they're growing, when the flower blooms, about to bloom and then they're growing, it's a heliotropic, meaning it turns as the sun moves. So in the evening, it faces the sun, east side, and then as the sun is moving throughout the day, it actually turns. Very fascinating. Toward the west, in the evening, it turns back. It takes all evening to turn back, and then the cycle repeats. It's a very interesting flower, and it looks cool, and it has wonderful seeds that I love chewing on and enjoying. But in one sense, the sunflower is reflective of how we are to grow in the image of Christ. As the sunflower beholds the sun, it seems, and it turns into look like the sun, in a similar sense, our sanctification begins as we look to the glory of the risen Christ. If you forget everything here this evening and you go home, one thing I want you to remember is that it is as we behold the glory of the Son, as the Spirit mediates that toward us, that we become more like Christ. And that's very important because so often we think sanctification as something we gotta do. In one sense, there is a required effort on our part. As creatures, those who are being sanctified by his word and spirit, it is right and fitting that the people have got to pursue holiness for God is holy. that your heavenly Father is holy, so it is fitting that his children are holy as he is, or at least pursuing to be. So there is an aspect where we are to pursue that. But sanctification is act of God's free grace, it's the work of God's free grace, that it is God who sanctifies us by his word and his spirit. Let me put it this way, you cannot just get it done yourself. And if I had it my way, I'd be sanctified already. Don't you think so? I mean, we live in a time where we want everything immediately. Microwave generation. I made baked potato yesterday. It didn't take me an hour. It took me 10 minutes in the microwave. Amazing. And we want that kind of sanctification, don't we? We want to just be transformed. And we just want to be holy. But we have just read earlier that it takes a lifetime to be sanctified. So it's okay to be slow. But what is not okay is to do it on your own. What is not okay is to give up. What is not okay is to walk in our flesh saying, I give up, I can't, it's just not working. No, no, no. just as a sunflower tilting his head very slowly. It's a macro, it's a micro level. It's actually growth of cell on the east side is actually faster during the day, that's why it turns, and even the evening time, the growth of the cell on the west side is actually faster, so it turns the other way. It's fascinating. In a similar sense, we grow and mature and are sanctified slowly, But in that process, it's to be like Christ as we behold His glory, it's the Spirit's work, the Spirit of the Lord that is at work in us. Now tonight, this morning's text is 2 Corinthians chapter 3 here. We're doing a little series on ordinary means of grace. That's what this morning series is. I'm preaching in the mornings. We're going through once a month. We're going through this series of how do we grow? How do we become more mature in our walk? How do we grow in our grace? How do we grow in our faith? How do we become more like Christ? And one of the first things we looked at was that it is all about Christ. It is about Christ that we're sanctified. It is not through gimmicks, it's not some other things, but it is when Christ is set before you, that is how we are sanctified. Because he is the only mediator between God and man. He's the one who's the living spirit, the risen and ascended Christ. He is the one who pours his spirit upon his church to sanctify it. And it is this Christ that is now at work in us. And second thing we looked at is it's done in the context of the church, of the body of Christ. It's in this body that we grow. There is no Christian apart from the church. And it is in this church where you receive the Lord's means of grace, which we'll get into later part as we look into our studies as further. But it's significant that the means of grace are given in the context of the church. And we have looked at how if you're going to sin, sin in church. I know that sounds crazy, but it is in this church where we forgive one another, where we are hurt by one another and be able to confront each other and say, you have sinned against me, but in that context, the spirit of risen Christ comes and gives us grace to forgive and ask for forgiveness and repentance and to mature and grow. It's like your little children, they fight and you tell them what? Give her a hug. Say, I'm sorry. Say, I forgive you. In similar sense as the children of God that were gathered in the body of Christ, it's in the context of the church where we grow. It's in the context of church the word is proclaimed and the sacraments are given and administered to his people. It is a grace that's given to you in the context of the church. So there it is. It is about giving of Christ to us. The gospel is the giving and offer of Christ. Not of salvation, but of Christ. And with Christ, we're saved. And with Christ, we're sanctified. And it is in the context of the church that Christ is offered to his people. And this sermon is really about the Spirit's work, how we are redeemed, and it's the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, Book of Second Corinthians, because we're kind of jumping into the middle of it rather than in the beginning of it, I want to kind of go back a little bit, because as I studied this, I realized how intricate Paul's argument is as he's getting to Chapter 3. It's fascinating how genius of a man he is as he's articulating the biblical truth for us, that it does not quite make sense unless we kind of come a little bit in the earlier section of 2 Corinthians here. So one of the issue that the church in Corinth had, let me kind of go from the background there, is that church in Corinth had an issue with Paul. Matter of fact, there was a little breakup. It's Paul who planted the church in Acts 18, and it is that the church eventually turned against Paul at a certain period, and that's why he wrote the first letter. The first letter was given with a harsh warning to them to turn, But they did not turn. So Paul had to go and visit them, and he brought harsh words against them. And then he left, and it seems as they repented by it, and he sends another letter of harsh letter, that's not the second Corinthians here, there's a letter in between, it's really confusing, isn't it? There's another letter that's sent, which was harsh and strong words, by which they turned. The Lord used that letter to turn the Corinthian church to him. Now, it's not preserved for us, probably it's because it's a little too harsh, maybe. But now we have the second or the third letter here, 2 Corinthians, is now sent. Maybe there's more in between, I don't know, but here is another letter now he's sending to them as he heard of their repentance, as he heard of their loving arouse once again to him, and he's writing this letter to remind them. Remind them not to walk in the flesh, but walk by the spirit. And one of the things that he is doing as he's writing this, and this is the importance here, that he's making distinction between we and you. And the we here is referring to him as the apostle. and his brothers who does the work of proclaiming the truth to the ends of the earth. So there is a distinction between we and you that's given here, that's present here. So if you look at it, verse 19, chapter one, Verse 18, he says, as surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been yes and no, for the son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus, and Timothy, and I, was not yes and no, but in him it is always yes. The importance of this text is he's referring to we as these three people, him and his crew, and you is the Corinthian church. And then he says in verse 21, and it is God who establishes us with you in Christ. And here we go. And he has anointed us. He's talking about his ministry as an apostle and his brothers as those who are evangelists. And he's saying, we've been anointed by God. He make the distinction between the Corinthian church and him and his brothers as the one who's been anointed. And what is this anointing? Verse 22 says this, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. See the distinction here? He's saying we are the apostles, he is, and the evangelists given this ministry of gospel proclamation, and the Lord has poured Holy Spirit upon them as an anointing. Is that okay? It is the Holy Spirit anointing given to the apostles and given to the evangelists for the ministry of the gospel, to proclaim it faithfully. And the power is to come through that spirit. And then so he continues and this in chapter three, we're going to jump now to chapter three. And verse one, he says, are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation written on our hearts to be known and ready by all. And you show that you're a letter from Christ delivered by us. So he makes, again, this distinction is clearly given here. We and you. We are the anointed by the Spirit, and you are the letter, a recommendation from the Lord. And how is the recommendation written? It says in verse three, and you show that you're a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on the tablets of stone, but on the tablets of human heart. He's referring to the Mosaic Covenant, the tablets that's given in Exodus. That first one that which Moses broke and that he need to renew in Exodus 34. And the importance here that I want us to think about is this. It is a spirit written in our hearts. Right? So they're the ones who receive the Spirit to proclaim the truth, and as they receive it, it is the Spirit's work to write that letter recommendation in their hearts by the Spirit. And he says, and it's not, and he refers to now, Mosaic Covenant, not like the tablets of stone. And he introduces this idea of the Mosaic Covenant. Let me take a break here. Because this can be confusing, and I'm trying to simplify it as much as I can. Here's the thing, this is what Paul is saying. There is Moses in the old administration, and then he's gonna say, now we have Christ as the new mediator between God and man, the true mediator between God and man, which Moses was a type and shadow of. And in this distinction, Paul is gonna continue this argument. But what is given to Moses is the Torah, the law, the entire law. of Moses, not just the moral law of the Ten Commandments, which summarizes the Ten Commandments, but it is, the Ten Commandments here is the tablet that's written, right, on this tablet, is a symbolic of the entirety of the Mosaic law and its legal system. So have that mind in you as you think about it, because when we get to the freedom section, it's gonna make more sense. But here is the old administration, is the Mosaic law that's given to it, and it's symbolized by the table of stone of the Ten Commandments that's symbolizing the entirety of the Mosaic covenant and Mosaic law. And he says, look, God gave Moses these tablets of stone. And that's a recommendation to him of God's revelation to him. And here, to the apostles and evangelists, it is the Spirit's work that's written in your heart. that which he is referring to. He's not referring to a couple different things here, but the significance really comes down in the latter part. He says in verse four, such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, verse six, who has made us sufficient to be, here we go, ministers of the new covenant. That's from Jeremiah 31, where God promises that there's going to be a new covenant that God will establish, the one that's unidirectional, the one that's full of grace and salvation and mercy to God's people. It's an extension of the Mosaic covenant, but it is of something newer and something greater and something better and something more full. the new covenant. And Paul says, this is the covenant that I am ministering now, not the mosaic covenant, but the fullness of it, the better version of it, the true version of it, the new covenant that Christ has established with his church, the new covenant in his blood. And then he continues and says, what makes this new covenant significant and different? He says in verse six, not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. The letter here is not a letter you write to someone, it's more like written things, things that are written. And so here is what he's saying, he's making comparison. He's making comparison between Mosaic Covenant and the law that's written on a stone, and you look at it and you say, I gotta obey it, right? And to be right with God, I must obey it. That's the strength of the Mosaic Covenant and it's Mosaic law. But he says the new covenant is different because new covenant gives you a new heart. Now he's looking at Ezekiel chapter 34. This is the new heart, that God took away the heart of stone, interesting, and then God give you a heart of flesh, a new heart, and this new heart is where the Spirit has written that word in it. The words and the commands of the covenant. See the tension here? There's a Mosaic covenant of the dead law that's written on the stone, and there is a spiritual covenant, the new covenant, that's written in your heart, Corinthians, by the Spirit of the risen Christ. And he takes this antithesis even further. Verse seven, he says, now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came in such glory that Israel could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was to be brought, being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have more, even more glory? So he says Mosaic covenant, the Mosaic administration is that of death, but he's still glorious. And he refers to Exodus chapter 34, where Moses went up to Mount Sinai, right? He received God's commandment. He came back in Exodus 30, and he breaks the tablets that the Lord has written with his own fingers, because he was angry. He shouldn't have done that, oopsie. God calls him back up in Exodus 34. He tells him, now here's a stone, you write it down this time. So he chisels it down. I'm sure it was lousy, probably like my handwriting. He brings it down, and now he give it to them. But then when he was coming down to deliver to his people, he says his face was radiant with glory. So he had to put a veil over it so they don't see it. And what's interesting, at the end of chapter 34, his regular routine is that he goes before the Lord, and this is what he does, he takes the veil, he takes it off when he comes into the presence of God. He takes it off. But when he goes back down, he puts the veil back on. Very interesting. He puts it back on so that they cannot see. And he's referring to this, and he says, verse seven, that the Israelites could not gaze at the face because of the glory which was being brought to an end. It's because that glory is not ultimate. That glory is transient. It's here today and gone tomorrow. and he refers to the glory that's mediated by Christ as that's permanent, as that is eternal. And he takes these two glories, fading glory of Moses and the Mosaic covenant, and he takes the new covenant by the blood of the Lamb of God of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he makes that comparison, and he says, you know what? Compared to the glory of the Son, the glory Moses had is nothing. You see this? Now, this has to make sense before he goes. In verse 9, he says, the glory of the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of the righteousness, far exceeds in glory. So look at the way he's describing Mosaic Covenant. It's the ministry of death, and then now he goes even further, it's the ministry of condemnation. And then here is the new covenant. He says it's ministry of grace, which we're gonna come to, and then it's the ministry of righteousness. In every way, this is greater than this in its permanence and what's being given. Now why is this significant? Because he goes even farther from this Mosaic Covenant, the veiling, and he says that the veiling of gospel is before the people of God, especially Israelites. So he says, verse 15, yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. Because they're in the Mosaic Covenant. But, he says, but when, verse 16, but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. And he is actually taking Exodus 34. When Moses goes up to the Mount Sinai, what does he do? He takes the veil away. That was only applied to Moses. Only Moses was able to unveil his face and bask in the glory of God. But you know what happens as he's turning this? He says, but one, or he, whoever, so he's talking now, please understand what's going on here. And this is the significance of this. Paul was anointed by the Spirit for his calling as an apostle, right? Right? You would think he has received more Spirit or more powerful Spirit than rest of the Corinthians, right? That's what you may think, because he needs extra strength, to do harder work, it seems. But look what he continues, verse 17. Now the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Verse 18, and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord. See, look what he did, verse 18. And we, and he uses another word there, we all. That's what he's doing. He's saying this, I'm an apostle. Guess what? I received the Spirit. I've been, matter of fact, anointed to do this amazing work to serve the Lord, right? It's like Moses who beheld the glory, and he was one out of millions. Only him had a glory, but it was still fading. But you know what he's saying? Here's my point number one. Behold the glory of the Lord. I know I finally got to point one. But the significance is this. As Moses beheld the glory of God, one amongst millions, and only one, and Paul says, now look at me, I'm an apostle, I've been anointed by the Spirit, and you may think I have a special unction and I have something more powerful than you people who's sitting on the pew. small and weak, or maybe strong and powerful. I don't know where you are or how you view yourself, but he says, we all, he says, behold the glory of the Lord. What an incredible statement is that? It's like the sunflower looking up to and face the radiant glory of the sun. In a similar sense, you, the veil is taken away. There's nothing between you. There's no sin that's between you. There's no guilt that's between you. The law that used to, in the Mosaic Covenant, condemned man and required man to turn to God for salvation and put a veil upon them. They could not face the glory because of our sin. Now it's been dealt with. You're free from the law of Moses. You're free from the bondage of sin and the power of sin and condemnation that comes from it. And the beauty of it is just as Apostle Paul had that unction and had the spirit and have faced the glory, guess what? You have exactly the same thing, not less. Not less. The Lord does not show favoritism. He doesn't give you more portion than the other. No, he lavishly pours his spirit upon his people. And it is verse 18, beholding the glory of the Lord. The Lord here is of the risen Jesus Christ. So here it is, the sanctification begins here, as we already discussed, as you behold the glory of the Lamb that which was slain, as you behold the risen and ascended Christ who is seated at the right hand of God the Father, as you consider and meditate and as you rejoice and bask in his glory. That's where it all begins. And it's not measured more for one or the other. Here is the thing. One of the struggle of being a pastor is I look better than I truly am. I look way better than I really am. I'm a sinner, just like you. I'm a wretched sinner, just like you. If not, I'm the chief of sinners. It may look like, oh, Jooheon got it put together because he has a tie on, because he has a suit on, I don't. And I'm just as sinful as you are, and I need grace of God, who is sufficient for these things. I don't stand here because I am good. I don't stand here because I have a degree. I stand here only because of God's grace, and His strength is made perfect in my weakness. So the measure of the Spirit that's been poured upon me, or Apostle Paul, out of all people, Spirit is poured upon all of us, and we are not privileged to behold that glory. My young ones here, my beautiful little ones here, look at this. You have the greatest thing that the world can ever offer, the glory of God, and it is yours just as much as it's your parents, just as much as it's mine, just as much as it's King David's or Moses or Apostle Paul. You have received God's, and we are called to behold this glory without veil, without unhinderance. So behold His glory. And what's interesting, he continued, continue number two, as you behold the glory of the Lord, he says, we are number two, transformed into that glory of the Lord. verse 18 it says and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the lord it says are being transformed into the same image from the degree of glory to another as you behold The Son. As you behold the risen Christ, given through the gospel, administered by the sacraments, as you behold the realities of who he is, guess what? You are being transformed. Metamorphosis, a caterpillar becoming like a butterfly, a sinner who's becoming like a saint. That's a beautiful word, isn't it? It's not like the Catholic Church where you gotta accomplish great things to become canonized as a saint. No, we're all saints in Christ because the Holy Spirit is given to you in the same measure as it's given to the apostles. And we now behold his glory and now we are being transformed into that image of the Son. Chapter 4 really reiterates this even further and it is of the Christ. It says verse 4, chapter 4 verse 4, in their case the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. It is image of the glorious Son that we're being transformed into. Let me ask this way. Have you ever considered, is Jesus beautiful to you? Jesus is the most beautiful man that has ever lived and moved and had his being. He's a full image of God. He's the son of God. He's the most beautiful one. I'm not talking about physical, I'm talking about who he is. Have you ever seen yourself in the, not just mirror, but the way you lived? Isn't our, aren't our days full of repenting? I mean, we have a little short moment of repentance and a call of it, a little prayer in our worship service, but in some sense, I'll be honest with you, I hate myself. The world says, no, love yourself. No, I already love myself way too much. I think I need a little bit of hating myself. And I must say, as I grow, as I try to walk with the Lord, I realize how disgusting and vile I am, how unlovable I truly am. But the beauty is, as we behold the Lord Jesus Christ, the beautiful one, we are becoming like him. Is that what sanctification truly is? To be like. But it all begins as you behold the Son, that you're transformed to be like Him. And number three, it is the Spirit that is the one who's doing this. And at the end of the verse, it says, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. Sinclair Ferguson says, actually, the Lord of Spirit, the one who's poured His Spirit Just as much as upon Paul, he pours that exact same spirit upon you and I. Every prophet of the Old Testament received the same spirit. You know what's incredible? We received even greater measure than the Elijah and Elisha. Those who resurrected the dead, guess what? We have received even greater spirit in its fullness. Have you ever heard this people say? Oh, I wish I was there in the times of Elijah and Elisha. Fires falling from heaven and all kinds of miracles and people are excited about it and wanna be there and done that. And what's fascinating is that they were actually looking to be to where we are and they wanted this, the full measure of the spirit with only an ending. cup that overflows by the Lord's blessing, which is the Lord of the spirit. The risen Christ pours that spirit of power upon you, pours that spirit of sanctification upon you without measure, because it is all the work of the Lord. Let me put it this way, maybe this might be helpful. The Spirit created the heavens and the earth. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the earth was formed. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit the dead were raised. It is by the power of the Spirit, the Spirit of holiness, that Christ was resurrected. And in that same power is poured upon you and I. And we are new creatures. The old has gone and new has come. The encouragement of this is this. You feel like you're not growing in the Lord. Matter of fact, as we have read in the confession earlier, we're going backwards. Do you ever feel that way? You feel dry, and you feel weak, you feel sinful, you feel dirty, you feel corrupt, you feel shame. and you just don't want to run with the Lord anymore, you want to kind of crawl and maybe stop, maybe walk back a little bit, maybe go to the edge of the boundary and test it around, and you have this temptation that come against you and you feel weak, or maybe it's your family that brings temptation to you. Have you ever had that happen? And you go, man, Lord, give me, I cannot, why can't I just say nice things? It seems like sanctification is so hard. And you look at others and say, man, he's a good husband. Well, she looks like she's a great mom. Well, they look like great kids. And we feel like we just don't measure up. We feel like we messed up too many times. We feel like I cannot do this, and I want to give up. Is it just me? Christian life is hard. It's hard to bear the cross. And sometimes I don't think my knees can handle it. But you know what the beautiful thing is? It is the Spirit's work. Even when you're weak and you feel sinful, even when you feel like you can't do it, feel like you made such a big mess, you cannot get out of it, guess what? It is the Spirit's work. It is the Spirit. It's like the sunlight that just radiates through, and the sunflower, it just grows and grows more like the sun. It's a similar light. that it is not for you to say, I cannot do this, but rather have great confidence, beloved people of God, the Lord, the Spirit is working in you. As the Spirit took away the heart of stone and gave you a new heart, as He has done a new and creative work in you, so the Lord will do amazing thing in your life and conform you to the image of the Son. Don't give up. You mess up, you sin, you feel like you had sidesteps or backsteps, backslid, and you feel like you've gone too far back. But the beauty is where our sin abounds, His grace abounds. and His Spirit is there to catch you. For the Lord of Spirit has poured the same Spirit that's poured upon Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Amos, one of my favorite Old Testament prophets, even King David, even Christ Himself. That same Spirit that's poured upon Paul, We all have received the same Spirit, and we all behold the Son, not mediated through any other person, but through His Word and His Spirit. Isn't that a good news? That even when you fail, you can say, time to get up, and let's keep on marching. I feel weak, I cannot do it, say, Lord, Holy Spirit, come and pour upon me. Let me be like Christ. And beloved people of God, keep seeking to be like Christ. And those of you who have not beheld the risen and ascended son, the invitation is here. Are you tired of yourself? Are you sick of your addictions and your problems and your issues where you feel so helpless and hopeless? I know one who can take away the heart of stone. I know the one who can give you true liberty and freedom. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. Invitation is for you to come and behold his glory and be transformed into him because he's the Lord of the spirit and he'll freely pour that spirit upon you if you come to a risen and ascended Savior. Let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for a risen Christ and the spirit that is at work in us. For you who have begun a great and awesome work in us, we know you will finish it even against our foolishness and sinfulness. We thank you that your grace super abounds that your life penetrate into our lives. And we pray that Christ will be glorified and help us to behold his glory more today, and that we may be transformed glory to glory, to be more like Christ. And we pray that as we bring your tithes and our offerings, we pray that you use it for your glory, that you would edify your church and build it up for your kingdom's cause, that Christ will be proclaimed and be exalted amongst his people, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.