Reading
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
We sing #16 in the back of the book.
#16 in the back of the book Jesus, friend Unfailing.
How dear art thou to me our cares or fears of sailing. I find my strength indeed. Why should my feet grow weary of this? My children way rough though the path, and Drury it ends.
Perfect day #16 in the back of the book.
Jesus, friend.
Our carols are here now, today. I find my life is trending today and everything.
Where I refuse to be, in fact, you don't want to go for me.
I love to get all the Lord.
Jesus.
Why thank you so much.
But when I was.
Fresh.
Villains and I think my heart.
What fill my heart in my life?
Sitting inside.
Wherever I am, I love you, and I am.
Why she is so on my way?
No, I never bathed, I figured.
Anything.
No.
Why should I feel?
Like.
My son.
Why strange?
What can I have never been able to come on.
When I cry on the ladder.
Take what it's doing while the body will begin.
There is a storm.
Despise for the day and not just the earth, considering if you're out of getting anything.
Oh well, they fall out of hand flows.
Agreed. In your time I'm stressed out again.
00:05:03
I.
Like sweetheart.
I found the Lord everything.
Where?
Screaming.
Ground.
There is my God down the road.
And every child I came on to give you a lightweight.
For every Lord.
In your hands I cry out, Lord again.
So I'm stranded in my bedroom.
Our dear heart.
You need.
You pray.
Two Corinthians 3, verse 7.
But if the administration of death written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the administration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the administration of condemnation be glory, much more doth administration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect.
By reason of the glory that exceleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech, and not as Moses, which put a veil over his face at the children of Israel, could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But their minds were blinded, for until this day remain at the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament, which Vail is done away in Christ.
But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.
Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Verse 7 to the end of verse 16 is a parenthesis.
And if we take the end of verse six for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life for 17 of the Lord is that spirit.
So behind all the letter of the Old Testament and the law and all its rituals and ceremonies and all that went with it.
The true object of it all in the mind of God. The purpose of God.
Is Christ himself and it all speaks of Christ and so he is the spirit of it, so to speak. It's all about him really in the end and so verse 7 to verse 16 really gives a contrast of.
The Old Testament.
And the law and what we have in the ministry of grace and perceiving the purpose of God and the Spirit of Christ behind all of those Old Testament types. And so we see far more than any Old Testament St. ever did. When we turn to those scriptures. They saw the letter, we see the Spirit and so verse.
00:10:21
Seven that we began with down to verse 16 is a parenthesis.
We mentioned false apostles in the first meeting, how they were trying to undermine the apostle Paul because apostleship, his word written by the Spirit of God. But it wasn't just that these false apostles were also Judaizing teachers.
And they were trying to bring the Saints under the ******* of the Old Covenant.
And they wanted to have them take up with the principle of law and they looked at Christianity and they said that's fine, Jesus, that's fine, the cross, that's fine. But you also have to be circumcised. You also have to follow the law.
And so the apostle Paul in verse 6 takes up the New Testament, the New Covenant.
And the very fact that there is a new covenant shows the deficiency of the old, and Hebrews takes us up how it would have to be set aside.
And he goes on.
As as Justin mentioned.
How these verses provide a contrast between these two ministries?
What will be a ministry to death as we take up with it? Or what will be a ministry to life if we take up with it?
And when we introduce law or the principle of law into Christianity, it creates death, it stunts our growth. We no longer continue to grow and we need to be on guard to ensure that we do not allow what is a ministry of death to come in to our lives. We can't take up with it and expect there to be blossom.
I think this point is so very important, and there's a great attempt among Christians to get rid of it because there's something in our hearts that loves law.
And so it's been a real trouble all through the long years of Christianity, from the days when these words were written first.
And that the bringing of the law and trying to mix it and mingle it into Christianity has always been there.
And so the attempts tend to run along lines like, well, we're not under the ceremonial law anymore. We don't do the sacrifices because Christ, the true sacrifice, has come, but we still have the 10 commandments because that's God's perfect moral law. That has always been. And so we're still under that part. And there have been many attempts like that to try to separate the law.
So that Christians can be still brought under it. But these verses start right out and I think it's helpful to see.
To completely say that's not the case says if the administration here in verse 7, the administration of death.
Written and graven in stones was glorious and so on. Was that talking about the.
Ceremonial law, he said, speaking about the offering.
Or is he speaking about the law that was written in tables of stone?
I think that's pretty clear, isn't it? It's talking about the 10 commandments, and it's saying that to take up with the 10 commandments that part of the law and indeed all of the law, but specifically it's talking about the 10 commandments. It's calling that.
Administration of death. And it goes on in verse 9 to call it administration of condemnation.
There is nothing in that. For the believer, it is absolutely.
What we've been brought out from the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If we either were under it to begin with, as Gentiles, we weren't. Jews were, and Jews were brought out from under it by death with Christ and all of us. We've passed out of the whole world that the Law even spoke to it speaks to man in the flesh, and we're not in that world anymore. When Christ died, we died and we were brought out of that world into a new place.
00:15:21
A new place beyond death, where we have the life of Christ and now we have the administration of the spirits. What it speaks of it here.
As in verse 8, administration of the Spirit and then down at the end of.
Verse 9 The administration of righteousness. That's what we have now, the reality of life in Christ.
A very, very different thing. And to go back and take up with these things, you can't mingle them. They bring us into that which is really death and condemnation. And so we have this over and over again in the New Testament. And so of all importance that we see it otherwise we're going to become compromised in our Christian position.
And lose what is our place in Christ, Not meaning that we lose our salvation, but we'll lose that which He wants us to enjoy as Christians here below, and will lose the power of righteousness as well.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness through everyone's belief.
It's so simple. Christ is our righteousness, you know, it tells us that he was made sin.
Who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God?
In Him that's a perfect righteousness. Now, if we try to set out to establish our own righteousness based on our performance and what we think we can do.
We are sadly mistaken because we all fall short, and so we find out that the law is that which only condemns.
Whereas grace justifies.
But the law condemns.
And the result is.
The law exposes my sin. And what's the result of sin? Like a brother is sick, it's death. So that's a sequence, OK.
Law, Sin, Death.
It's not a good ending.
But in contrast, we got grace.
You know, grace is God's riches at Christ expense. We often speak of that acronym. It's very nice.
God's riches that Christ.
Expects.
So we find that God sets out.
To make you and I righteous.
Through his own dear son, what he accomplished at the Cross of California.
And so God gets active, you know, under the law in the Old Testament, you might say God is inactive and he puts.
Man on the stage, he puts man up there to do a performance, to see how well he can perform before God.
And we find out the performance is a total mess. It's a failure. So we got to pull this.
The curtain.
On that situation.
So when we come to the New Testament now, we find that God takes over.
And he becomes active, we become passive, and he provides everything for us.
Through the person and work of his own dear son.
As wonderful to contemplate the grace of God that shows you and I favor we don't deserve it, but we get.
Very righteousness of God.
To faith in Christ and the work that he has done so.
The result is life.
So where the sequence was law, sin and death, now it becomes grace, righteousness and life.
That's a good ending.
Eternal life.
00:20:00
It's all of grace.
Administration of.
Death.
Written in engraving in stones was glorious.
And in Exodus, the first time, Moses went up into the mount, and those tables of law were written by the finger of God and stone, and he brought them down. Before he had come down, the people had made the golden calf and were worshipping it, and their sin was great. Before God. Moses comes down, the Lord told him what was happening.
And he comes down off the mount.
And it says in Exodus 32.
Verse 19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and break them beneath the mouth.
Those tables of stone never came into the camp, the law.
Just as purely law could not come into the camp of that sinful people, otherwise it's just penalty must be met and all would die. And so Moses without a command from God, but by divine instinct he dashes those stones to the ground and shatters them.
He then.
Appeals to the Lord.
And intercedes for the people and their sin. And it's a beautiful intercession that he takes up with the Lord and.
In chapter 33 we get that intercession of Moses.
As the mediator.
Just looking down and.
Verse 12 Moses said unto the Lord, See thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people.
And thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name. Thou hast found grace in my sight. Now therefore I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight. And consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, The Lord said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. In other words, Moses.
But my presence isn't going to go with its people. It will go with you, Moses.
And he said unto him, If thy presence go and leave out the italics, Carry us not offensive. You don't go with us, not just me. He wouldn't leave himself out of connection with God's earthly people. Carry us not up. Hence. When shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in Thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people from all the people?
That are upon the face of the earth. The Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also, that thou has spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.
And he said, I will make all my goodness to pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.
And I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face.
For there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass all my glory. Pacify that I will put thee in a Cliff of the rock, will cover thee with my hand while I pass by, and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. And so that took place. He used 2 tables.
He goes up to the mount. The Lord descends in a cloud. Chapter 34.
Proclaims the name of the Lord, and the Lord passed by him while he was in the clift of that rock.
And proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. And that will by no means clear the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third, unto the 4th generation. And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worship. And he said, Now, if now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray Thee, go among us, for it is a stiff.
00:25:34
Necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us.
For thine inheritance.
Moses comes down off the mount after that.
End of the chapter when he speaks to the children of Israel.
They see his face, and his face is shining with glory.
And they beg Moses that they don't want to see his face. They were afraid of it, and they were afraid in verse 30 to come nigh to him.
And so Moses covers his face when he is speaking with them, but when he went into the presence of the Lord.
He took off that covering, that veil.
The second time, when the law is brought down, it's mixed with grace.
The Lord will be gracious to whom he will be gracious, and have mercy, to whom he will have mercy. And the second time Moses comes down because he had seen his glory, what glory was that? The glory of His grace? His face shone.
And yours will, and mine will too, in that way.
If we have had a glimpse of the glory of His grace, it is the topmost stone in His glories. And Moses got a little glimpse of that. Yes, it was mixed with law, but that law brought down the second time was introduced with glory. But they couldn't look at His face. They didn't understand it, they didn't perceive it. And so He was alone and that perception and in that sight.
And he covered his face that was shining with a reflection of that glory when he spoke to them. So that's why the apostle says in our chapter.
It was glorious so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance. The first time his angers face wax hot. The second time it's shown.
But that glory was done away, as wonderful as it was, as beautiful as it was. And it's a it's a worthwhile meditation to go through that wonderful intersection of Moses on the mount of the Lord. But it's done away. What do we have now? The administration of the Spirit. All the Spirit of God has come from where?
Where is the Spirit of God come from?
From heaven itself, the gift of the Father, and what is His.
Purpose.
We had it in the beginning of the chapter, writing Christ in the fleshy tables of the heart. He's come down from heaven itself, not from Sinai.
He's come down from heaven itself to tell us of a man and the glory, a man there, the object of our renewed hearts, a formative object, an object with whom, if we are occupied, we will become more like Him.
And our face will shine with the glory of His grace. How much rather this administration be glorious.
And even that which was introduced with Glory and Exodus 34.
And speaks about this glorious thing done away as you mentioned.
I've often wondered about that too, but it was just that it faded away with Moses. I'm not sure about that part, but it does.
It is a fact that the glory was done away.
With death. And that's how the verse begins.
It's administration of death, whatever glory was there.
00:30:02
Whatever grace was on God's part, the people were under that law.
And death came in as a result of them trying to keep it. And there was number continuance of that glory. There couldn't be it was just a brief show of it and it was the end of all who were under that covenant. But for us, how entirely different isn't it? There's a permanence to this glory. It's really, I think the the point of this verse, these verses 7 and eight is speaking about the permanence and then.
Verses 9 and 10 speak about the fact that the glory that we have with the Spirit is greater, but the permanence of the glory of this administration of the Spirit of God for the believer goes on forever.
If we look up and we see Christ in glory now.
That will never end for us. There's no end to that. Wonderful Moses only had a brief privilege of enjoying that the people couldn't bear it.
It doesn't speak of that for them, does it? Only they're running away from it and so it must ever be under that old covenant. And someone said either we hide from God like Adam did or.
We try to hide God from us by putting a veil, which is what the children of Israel did, and we get to that later in the chapter 2. There's a veil over their hearts. They can't look to see this wonderful glory that is now. They still want the old, but they can't bear to face God with the law who could. The only way that we can is by the Spirit of God and that work that he does to.
Occupy us with Christ.
Founded on the very work of Christ, this is something that we can see that Gloria changes us, it affects us, and it will go on forever.
If the administration that could only condemn man in the flesh be glorious.
How much more the administration of righteousness?
We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. God's righteousness has been fully established at Calvary's cross.
Ye on a righteous basis has become just and the justifier of him that believe it. On a righteous basis we can enter into His holy presence without conscience of sin. All was dealt with at the cross and we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. We have liberty and freedom to enter into His holy presence at any time. Only Moses could go in and stand before the Lord.
As we look back at that Old Testament account, and as that administration rolled on and the priesthood was developed, only the priest could go in to the holy place. And then through the sin of nadav and abaya only once a year, we have access at all times.
Into His holy presence on a righteous basis, how much more does the administration of righteousness?
Exceed in glory, where is righteousness placed us?
In his very presence. In his very presence.
Administration of righteousness exceeds.
In Glory.
This is not the way we think, is it? Naturally, as people, the administration of righteousness means that I need to have a code, a way that I can know how God wants me to be righteous. That's the way I naturally think. I had a Christian ask me that one time. How can I know what God wants for me if I don't have something like the law? Well, you want to know what God wants from us, He read this chapter.
It's very funny. He wants us to be occupied with his Son and that's administration of righteousness, the Spirit of God occupying us with the Lord Jesus Christ. The other could never do it. And I think it's good to go back and look at that again. No Romans 8 was mentioned, but if we just go back to Romans 7, it's.
So definitely there.
In terms of fruit.
It's just skipping down to verse 4. Wherefore, my brethren, ye are become dead through the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who was raised from the dead.
00:35:09
For what purpose?
That we should bring forth fruit unto God.
There is no other way to stay in that position of being alive, this man in the flesh. There is no way to bring forth fruit to God, no way to produce righteousness. One thing that God desires, there's no way to do it.
But this is what we have in the death of Christ, isn't it? That we've been made dead to that all those things of God over us under the law we guide to that. And now we're made alive in a whole new position that we should be married or belong to another, even to him who is raising the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ who belong to him. And that's what produces fruit for God.
So I think it was mentioned in the last meeting, but.
We go over to Romans chapter 8 and justice. See what it says there in those.
First verses it explains that there is therefore now no condemnation.
To them which are in Christ Jesus, period, there just isn't. You're in Christ Jesus. There's no condemnation. The rest of the verse doesn't belong there. It's positional.
Verse 2 For the law of the Spirit of Christ, of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free.
From the law of sin and death, now we find a whole new law.
It was the law of sin and death. That's what we're talking about in this section of our chapter. But now there's a whole new law. So law, the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
And that is life. As we often talk about a law, the law of gravity, It's it's an actual, this is a spiritual law and something that produces.
That which pleases God in a believer. It goes on to say and explain that verse three, what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own son the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned it sin in the flesh. And so wasn't the law week, but we in our sinful flesh could not please God and so he sent his Son and his son condemned sin in the flesh and that was in his death.
Verse four, so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in US who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And so now this is our new walk. It's after the Spirit, it's this new law, the Spirit of life working in US, and that's what pleases God.
The righteousness of the law, it says, is automatically fulfilled. Do we try to keep the law? No. Specifically, we're told that we're not to. That's not what we're under. We're under something new. It's the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
And it's only as under that law, and only in him under that law, do we then keep that righteousness of the law, and far beyond as well. We actually live out the life of Christ himself, which went far beyond the law.
Somebody might ask if God gave the law, The law was wholly just and good, but it was a ministry of death, condemnation. What's the point of the law?
Why? Why would God ever even give the law? Was it because he needed to see if man could merit favor? Well, he answers that question after asking it first in Galatians chapter 3. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions.
It was to prove to man that he came utterly short of God's standard.
And we have page after page after page in the Old Testament that proves to us that man can't keep the law and that the law is a ministry of death. Not that there's anything wrong with the law, but there's something wrong with us, our flesh.
We come into the New Testament, we come into today.
And what is what is one of the great struggles that we have in Christianity Today?
It's still thinking we can. It's still thinking we can take up with this or take up with part of this and make it good. We can take our Christianity. We can take the Spirit of God that dwells in us. We can take this new life that we have and then we can use that.
00:40:05
To keep the law.
But that's not what Tim just read to us in Chapter 8.
It's not that we use that spirit that has been given to us to keep the law. It's the righteous requirements of the law. It is not putting ourselves under law, which is the ministry, ministry of death, condemnation. That's as far as we'll get when we do that.
It's recognizing that that thing is done away page after page. The Old Testament shows us man cannot do it. And so on the other side of that, what do we see? We see the cross.
We see, as our brothers have been mentioning over and over again, we see grace, which is unmerited favor, and it's that unmerited favor in recognizing that God did all this for me when I could do nothing for Him. It gives us the springboard to want to do anything for Him. If it's on any other reason, me trying to merit or earn or gain favor before God, it's law. It's the principle of law. It's death.
Somebody might say this sounds like semantics, but it's not. It's a heart issue, and each one of us needs to address our heart when we go over this chapter in chapters just like it. Where is it springing from? Is it springing from a thought that I can somehow merit favor before God? I can be a little bit better than my brethren. I can be a little bit better than you?
I can be a little bit better than that guy down the street. Or is it coming from just recognizing God and his unmerited favor that would give His son for me a Wretch like me?
I might be stressing a situation a little bit, but the scene that we had before us with Moses on the mount was glorious, wasn't it? And.
As the Gospels, we also have another glorious scene, that is the configuration of the Lord Jesus. If we look at.
Mark's Gospel, Chapter 9.
And verse two and it says after six days Jesus taketh with them, Peter and James and John.
And leaded them up onto a high mountain apart by themselves.
And was transfigured before them then it says if comments.
In each of the gospels on his raiment, and here it says his raiment became shining, exceeding whitish snow, so as no four on earth can wipe them. Well, we have that expression used in our chapter.
The righteousness exceeded in glory, glory that excelleth.
Well, here we have Raymond that became shining white. There was no poor earth could wipe them. So that was another glorious scene, wasn't it? Maybe there's not a direct parallel to what we've had brought before us, but it was something in God's sight. God.
Was.
Very anxious to preserve that glory because we had.
One that wanted to make 3 Tabernacles, but that would not take place, would it? Because there was only one.
That deserved that attention, that full attention.
In Matthew, it says his face shone as the sun.
And in chapter four of Second Corinthians.
We read.
If our gospel be hid verse three, this hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.
Bless the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, or the gospel of the glory of Christ.
It is the image of God should shine unto them, for we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.
Ourselves, your servants, for Jesus sake, for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
00:45:04
Oh, that's what he wants us to be occupied with himself in the glory. And there will be the reflection of it in our life and our walk and our ways and our talk and every aspect of our conduct. That Old Testament administration of death and condemnation, though it was glorious, has ended. As we've said, it's been done away.
But that which remaineth, verse 11 is glorious. As our brother Tima said, it's permanent. There is not some new dispensation coming that's going to introduce some other change, some new thing. No, this is the object that God was moving towards all along, the glory of His beloved Son. And that's what He wants to fill our hearts with. So that which was.
Glorious was done away, but that which remaineth is permanent in its glory. And he goes on to say in verse 12, seeing then that we have such.
Fault. We use great plainness of speech. All the gospel is open and plain, the gospel of the glory of Christ. We can't be too plain, we can't be too open, we can't be too clear.
In declaring that there is a man in the glory.
That glorified God here in Calvary's cross. That God is raised from the dead and seated him in heaven's highest place. There he is Savior of sinners.
What a glorious gospel, the gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ. We use great plainness of speech, not like Moses with a veil over his face. All the gospel preacher that's occupied with Christ and glory in the subject of the gospel.
It just flows out of the heart. It's seen in the face, the reflection of that glory.
I noticed.
Brother Steve, that in my margin of my Bible for plainness.
Verse 12 Says boldness.
Mr. Darby used that word boldness.
And.
You know, it says that the righteous are as bold as a lion, and I believe if we are.
Enjoying the righteousness of God that is ours in Christ.
You can be bold about that. We know it's perfect, doesn't change.
But if we're talking about our own righteousness, I don't think we can be.
Very bold about that because.
We know we really don't measure up as we should. We all fall short.
And yet, how many there are that are trying to establish their own righteousness based on their own effort, their own performance?
And it doesn't yield boldness.
Of speech.
Because.
Our righteousness.
Fails.
In fact, it tells us back in Isaiah that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
But there are those that think they're decent people.
And they take great offense if you suggest that there is Sinner.
But you know, it only takes one sin to make a person a Sinner. Just one sin.
Now, is there anybody on the face of this planet Earth?
That would be willing to say.
That they have never ever sinned, not even one time.
I never met anybody like that. I don't think you would either, although you know the elder son in the story of the prodigal.
He spoke in those terms, you know, he said never once. Let me just read that what he said.
Over there in Luke 15.
And it shows how people can become so disillusioned and inflated with themselves that they're totally off base here in Luke chapter 15.
00:50:06
You read about the elder son.
Verse 29 he answers his father.
Luke 1529 Go these many years do I serve thee.
Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment.
Yet I never gave me a kid that I might make married with my friends.
Now that sounds like boldness of speech, you know, He says.
Neither transgressed I at anytime thy commanders like I never ever seen.
But if you begin to probe this individual, and maybe you begin to ask others about the individual, you find out that this is totally erroneous.
But you know, when we are resting on the finished work of Christ, we know that the righteousness that we enjoy in Christ is perfect.
And we can use boldness.
Speech in your Pastor Paul, he did. When he preached the gospel, he came with great assurance, knowing that the message that he presented.
Was.
A surefire remedy, if I could put it that way, for one's sinful condition. Gospel of the grace of God. I just enjoyed the thought of being bold though connection with the gospel. The Lord gives boldness in certain situations. I remember years ago meeting a brother who was living in New Jersey, but he was originally from Romania and went through a lot of persecution during the communist regime there under Czech crew.
And he and his family.
Had hidden Bibles in their house and on one occasion the authorities came and confiscated those Bibles and brought them before a judge.
And.
The judge that I want to just repeat the charge brought against you and he said I understand that you have hidden a Bible.
In your house, which you know is not permitted. And he said to the judge, you have it all wrong. I hit many Bibles in my house. And so the Lord gave him boldness to testify on that particular occasion. And the Lord does give boldness in these occurrences or situations.
At Mars Hill, I'm sure the apostle Paul used boldness in his beach there, but he took advantage of what he saw, didn't he? He perceived that their worship was superstitious and gave him the opportunity to proclaim that one true God. They had many gods that they had worshipped, and he brought them to the very.
Basics. There was one that gave them breath and light.
And being so, he was able to take advantage of that situation that was presented to him.
Well, the flesh could not bear and still cannot and never will be able to bear. Looking at that administration of condemnation that only condemns man in the flesh, they really couldn't bear to look at Moses face. Ask them to cover it with a veil. But how about us?
We look back now on the grounds and basis of the finished work of the Cross.
Of a glorified man in heaven. And we look back at all of those Old Testament scriptures.
Of the law and all its ordinance and ceremonies, and on and on. And what do we see on every page?
We see Christ on every page. We see that the true end of what was abolished, the true object in the mind of the Spirit of God, in what was abolished in the administration of death and condemnation, was actually Christ.
00:55:11
All those Old Testament sacrifices and ordinances, and the Tabernacle and its furniture, and on and on and on, all looked on to one object in the mind of God, and that was His beloved Son. And now we have the liberty to turn back to those Scriptures and see Christ on every page.
Those who are under the law will see nothing but death and condemnation.
We see Christ, the veil is over their face. And you know, most of Christianity looks at Christianity as a way to improve the flesh through the principle of law. Jesus Christ himself being the crown jewel of what humanity can be under Christianity, and they completely missed the mark. They look at Christianity as law mixed with grace.
But we who know Christ, we who know the man and the glory.
Know that the true object of God and all of that was Christ Himself, and we were on the grounds of the pure sovereign grace of God. And we see those Scriptures in a new light. And what you will find amongst our brethren and amongst those who profess Christianity in a large part the Old Testament is a closed book.
It is a closed book that they see nothing more than antiquated rituals and ceremonies and on and on and a list of commandments to try and keep as best you can. And that's all they see. They don't see Christ on every page. I'll tell you, if you meet a believer and you have opportunity to speak with them, someone that's out in the systems of men, share with them.
Something you've seen of Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures, some typical teaching of Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures. And I'll tell you, you'd get a blank stare, but you'll give them something they lost. You'd give them something they've lost. That's Christ in every page of that which was done away for that which is of a greater glory.
Book chapter 24 and verse 27 and beginning at Moses and all the prophets.
Expounded unto them.
In all the scriptures.
The things concerning himself.
There is a coming day.
When that veil will be taken away from the heart of the nation of Israel.
Think of it They too, in a coming day, are going to look back at the pages of the Old Testament.
And they are going to see what they never saw before.
What a thrill is they open those scriptures up and they begin to see what you and I have known from the time we were so young. Christ on every page. Oh, it's going to be like a new book to them. A new book. And that veil is going to be taken away. And they too will see what you and I have the privilege ahead of that day to see.
Scriptures.
You can just see the Apostle Paul traveling around.
Going from city to city, going into the synagogue and reasoning out of the scriptures from those same Old Testament scriptures.
Turning them to Isaiah 53, turning them to those, all of those sacrifices.
And in turn, he was beaten and stoned and whipped because they would not believe some beliefs like the Apostle Paul, someone who was born out of due time. But nationally they still remain in that same unbelief.
And so that's what the liberty is of verse 17. You know, from the time I was little, I often heard this verse applied that.
01:00:05
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. In other words, where the Saints are gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit has liberty to use whom He will for the ministry of the Word, and so on. That's not what this Scripture means.
It's not what it means.
It's Christian privilege. You and I have the liberty that those under the old covenant do not have. We have the liberty to see Christ everywhere in the Scripture. Now, the Lord is that spirit. The Spirit of that is behind all the Old Testament scriptures. He is that spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Not only free from the law and its condemnation, but free to see Christ on every page.
And what is the result when we do that?
We're changed into the same image from glory to glory. As we contemplate one glory after another of the Lord Jesus Christ as we trace it through the Scriptures. We're changed into the same image, and that is the way the Spirit of God writes Christ on the heart.
From occupation with him as we find him in the scriptures, they are the ones that reveal.
That is what reveals Christ to the heart. That is what the Spirit of God uses to write Christ on the plushy tables of the heart.
So this is practical sanctification, isn't it?
As the Spirit of God occupies us with the Lord Jesus.
We are changed from glory to glory. It's a progressing, increasing thing. Transform more and more into His image, becoming more like Him. And that's what produces the righteousness. That's why it's the administration of righteousness, isn't it? And this goes on in each one of our lives as long as we allow the Spirit of God.
To occupy us with the Lord Jesus Christ. And it will go on as long as we're here until the Lord Jesus comes and, and then we have that beautiful verse in first John chapter 3. It says when we see him, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. Then we'll actually see him in just a moment of time.
We'll transverse all the rest of that distance.
To become exactly like him, wonderful moment could happen today.
Brother Stan Jacobson said the first look.
In the Savior's face will finish the work of God, the Spirit of God, and our souls.
Look, look, you Saints within the bell, and raise your happy song.
Your choice can never ever help the Lord you to Christ being alone.
Oh, I see things forever free from you alternative.
World of those subjects in green.
Why did your horse should never do not go hard to get a smoke and freely.
I trust forever, trust in God for every promise in heaven.
01:05:12
She's a fart where thin a warehouse happened.