This evening, we'll be considering together 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 7 through 18. As preparation for that, I would like to read from Exodus chapter 34, a few verses there, six verses from Exodus 34, and then we'll consider especially 2 Corinthians 3. So I would encourage you to turn in your Bibles to Exodus 34, beginning with the 29th verse. So we consider a key theme that the Apostle Paul picks up on as he's explaining what it is that the Corinthian church ought to believe. And this is a key aspect of Israel's history and a key part of the image that he uses. So we'll begin reading Exodus chapter 34, beginning at verse 29. This is the very word of God. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands, He was not aware that his face was radiant, because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward, all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the Lord's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord. In connection with this, I would encourage you to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 3. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 beginning at verse 7 and reading to the end of the chapter. Actually, I'll begin with verse 1, chapter 3, verse 1, to set the passage in context. This is the Apostle Paul's second, possibly third letter to the Corinthians. There may have been one in between, but we have this as 2 Corinthians chapter 3, picking up at verse 1 on page 1120 in your pew Bible. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? you yourselves are our letter written on our hearts known and read by everyone you show that you are a letter from Christ the result of our ministry written not with ink but with the spirit of the living God not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts such confidence as this is ours such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. And now our text. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness? For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts? Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull. For to this day, the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Praise be to the Lord our God for his holy and inspired word. In connection with this, I would encourage you to turn in the back of the Psalter hymnals. This is Lord's Day 24 of the Heidelberg Catechism, our confessional statements that we subscribe to, believe wholeheartedly, to be a faithful summary of the word of God. And you'll find this on page 31 in the back of the Psalter hymnal, dealing with the question of what our good works and what do our good works contribute. We'll read three questions. I'll read the question to you if you would respond with the answers together. First question, why can't the good that we do make us right with God, or at least help make us right with Him? Because the righteousness which can pass God's scrutiny must be entirely perfect and must in every way measure up to the divine law. Even the very best we do in this life is imperfect and stained with sin. How can you say that the good we do doesn't earn anything when God promises to reward it in this life and the next? This reward is not earned. It is a gift of grace. But doesn't this teaching then make people indifferent and wicked? No. It is impossible for those grafted into Christ by true faith not to produce fruits of gratitude. Beloved in the Lord our God, having recited the Catechism's responses to these three major questions that arise, whenever we talk about salvation in Christ, I would invite you to keep your Bible open as we go through the Apostle Paul's message to the Corinthians and to us this evening. For here in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, we have this fascinating description of two ministries. One, a ministry of condemnation. And the other, a ministry of the Spirit, a ministry of freedom. And now if someone came up to me and offered me two options, and one of them was condemnation and the other was freedom, I can say for certain that I know which one I would pick. We can immediately tell that one option is infinitely greater than the other. Freedom? Yes, please. And yet a choice that seems so obvious to us, choosing this freedom in the Spirit, is somehow still a major obstacle for us. And the reason why the Apostle Paul has to address this issue, and the reason why the Catechism poses the questions that it does in this regard, the reason for this rests in this fact, that we cannot see the true glory of freedom in Christ unless we are given eyes to see this new ministry of freedom. For we do not know what freedom from the law looks like until we are brought to a new vantage point, given a new perspective, having unveiled eyes to see. And that's the radical nature of this ministry, this new ministry that Paul is proclaiming. And that is truly what it is that eludes those who still today remain in unbelief. Those who remain anchored to the works they do in the vain hope that being a good person will save them. And that can be a tough truth to swallow. For in ourselves, we don't do very well seeing things rightly. We have a persistent seeing problem. And no matter where we are in our Christian walk and whatever place of Christian maturity we may be, we absolutely need the Word of God to open our eyes on this vital matter, a matter of condemnation and freedom. And the Word of God addresses us this evening with clarity and force to say, don't allow your vision to be clouded. And don't allow the cataracts of daily life to blur your eyesight on this crucial matter. For if you are in Christ Jesus, you are freed from the condemnation of the law and you are to live then in the knowledge of that every day. And so I want to walk through our passage this evening with the questions of Lord's Day 24 in mind. But we need to bring into greater clarity what it is that we confess about this ministry of righteousness. That is our hope and confidence in the source of our great joy in Christ. First, we'll unpack the Apostle Paul's description of the glorious ministry of condemnation. And then we'll walk through the surpassing glory of the ministry of righteousness. And as we pick up the Apostle Paul's words in verse 7 of chapter 3, it's probably most helpful to set the scene for you. For Paul here in this letter to the church in Corinth addresses these massive problems that the church is having. He needs to remind them again and again of the whole truth that he taught them when he labored among them as an apostle, as an early church planter. For the work that he did among them is in danger of being snuffed out by false teachers, By these super apostles that he confronts who want to claim a certain glory for themselves. Or by these so-called super Christians who want to remake the way of salvation into a way of personal gain or personal profit for themselves. And so he spends several chapters in the opening part of this letter describing the nature of his work among them. And he describes to them what the purpose of his apostolic ministry is. That He is one who has been sent out by the Lord to proclaim Christ Jesus and Him crucified. And it is this Christ Jesus who has opened up a new way of life for the Corinthians, who is still present among them, to be sure. And that's why in the verses preceding our text, Paul goes so far as to describe them as a very letter from Christ. The result of our ministry written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, Not on these tablets of stone, but on human hearts. And Paul's concern for these people, who are a testimony of Christ Jesus, a walking witness, is that they have become seduced by a proposal which is common to people of all times. Look to what you're doing as the measure of who you are. And look at your actions and then calculate the rewards that you can expect. Merely follow the directions and get paid for what you've done. And isn't that the natural impulse that we have wired into us? That we are oriented, we are lawed people. We think in these exchange categories so very often, I do this and I receive this in return. And what Paul sets out to argue here is this central teaching, that that is a ministry of condemnation. Nothing good comes from a reliance upon the law of action and reaction. And being judged apart from Christ in the merits of what you have done is not only foolish, it is downright scary because the only result of it is condemnation. And that's why this passage speaks so clearly to us. And it speaks so clearly to the same issues that are raised in the questions we read from the Catechism. For wrapped into those questions is the voices of those who ask, but why can't the good I do contribute to the good things that God is doing for me? Or another way, why can't I do my part to save myself? And these were the questions of the priests and the theologians of the Roman Catholic Church who had developed an elaborate system of doctrine that assigned different values to the type of work that you did and assigned different paths for relieving oneself of sin. Big sins? Do this. Little ones? Well, just use this prayer. A stomach ache? It's probably a sin you need to confess. go to the confessional and come back if you still don't feel right. Can't the good that we do make us right with God? Or if not completely, at least help make us right with Him? Further, aren't we told in Scripture that we will be rewarded for the good that we do? Doesn't that have to factor into our salvation somehow? And one more thing, if this is what you're teaching to people, if you're teaching them a gospel of free and unmerited grace, A gospel of receiving from Christ all that you need for life and godliness. Doesn't that mean that you'll become a lazy or careless sinner who boasts or coasts on the coattails of the gospel? And that's what the Reformers, and that's what we today must confront regularly in large part because of the sense that we all have. That we have a debt that is due that we need to pay. For we know our sin. Even the most calloused person out there or the adherent of a false religion all know their sin and realize that something must be done. And that's why the impulse to do in order to make ourselves feel better is so readily present, so able to see it all around us. And this is also what explains the willingness of the Corinthian church to listen to these false teachers who were bringing in a message that conflicted with the very message that the apostles had taught them. False teachers who were proclaiming some kind of a return to the old covenant law keeping that defined the people of Israel under Moses and Joshua and Samuel and the kings throughout the history of Israel. These false teachers who were ignoring what had happened on the cross at Calvary and who were announcing an ongoing but distorted role for the Corinthians to play in the working out of their religion. And Paul uses this most direct and memorable way to confront these false teachers and to call true believers back to their senses. A call that is still necessary in our own day as we face legions of people who keep trying to add to the requirements of what one must do to be saved. Let's unpack how Paul addresses these believers. Now, if the ministry that brought death, says Paul in chapter 3, verse 7, which was engraved in letters on stone, which is clearly a reference to the Ten Commandments that came engraved on stone tablets on Mount Sinai, that ministry came with glory so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was. And here's Paul teaching Israelite history to the people of Corinth. He's calling to their minds the history of Israel in its exodus from Israel, from Egypt, and the great occasion on Mount Sinai when God met with Moses and Aaron to give them the law. For after Moses' encounter with God, his face was aglow as we read in Exodus 34. And every time that he would go into the tent of meeting with God, the glory of God was evident upon his face as he radiated that glory of the divine presence. And as Paul describes it, The Israelites could not look steadily at Moses. Here, the Israelites had the law in all of its glory. They had the man of God, Moses himself, giving them the commandments of life. And the words of this covenant were, do this and live. And the glory of God was evident. The presence of God, the very stamp of approval. If there was to be any doubt about whether or not Moses was conveying the will of God to the people, Those doubts were being drowned out by the very glory of God evident in Moses. This was truth being revealed to them. And the show of glory by God Himself was establishing this law and this lawgiver in the hearts and minds of the people. And that's why even today, when we hear the law of God from Exodus chapter 20, for example, as we do most Sunday mornings, it does us well to let our eyes go to the bottom of the page, to the actions which immediately followed the giving of the law. For I'm convinced that sometimes we neglect this part of the giving of the law as we sit in church each Sunday morning, hearing these words read to us, sort of complacent and kind of sitting back. And yet that's why the connection with 2 Corinthians 3 and the glory of this ministry is so important. For what do we read in Exodus chapter 20 just after the Ten Commandments are given? We read, When the people saw the thunder and the lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, They trembled with fear and they stayed at a distance and said to Moses, speak to us yourself and we will listen, but do not have God speak to us or we will die. Moses said to the people, do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning. And the glory of God and the awesome might of his presence was before them in the delivery of the law and they were scared and they were stunned and they understood what it was that was taking place as we also should reflect on this awesome display of God and the giving of the law each and every Sunday. And what was it that was delivered at Sinai? Well, we know well that it was the law of God being written on two tablets and then being delivered to Moses himself on behalf of the people. Perfect plans for the tabernacle, sacrificial systems and the laws of clean cleanliness and uncleanness, all in its exacting detail and obligation, was a glorious, a God-honoring and a God-imaging precision being written with the very finger of God, as we heard in this morning's sermon. The law of God delivered on Mount Sinai was giving the covenant people of God a clear identity and a clear way of life. And they were to be defined by the fear of God and by a love for his law. So then what is Paul describing here in our text this evening? He calls it a fading ministry that brought death and one that was being surpassed in glory. The very pinnacle of Israel at Mount Sinai, the day when the relationship with God and his people was most clearly represented as he was among them and delivering to them his will for their lives. Condemnation, death, fading. And with our big picture view of the whole Bible, we should still be taken aback at Paul's words here. And even more so, imagine hearing this as a Jewish Christian or as a Judaizer who's urging new believers to become more Jewish in custom and practice. Paul, what are you saying? And as Paul says in verse 14, their minds of the Israelites, they were made dull for to this day the same veil remains when the Old Covenant is read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. He would ask Paul, are you describing the Sinai event that we all know about? Yes. And here was the truth that the Corinthians and all of the early Christians could not miss. That the law in all of its glory was wonderful because even though it was a tool of condemnation and judgment, it was always intended to point to Christ, the perfect mediator of this covenant. And the fundamental purpose of the law was being distorted. And the veiled impression that the people had of Moses was the same type of veiled impression that the people had of the mediator to come. But the veil was blocking a full knowledge of what was taking place. And this veil, a picture as it was, was increasingly coming to define the people and their relationship to the commandments. Again and again, they incurred the judgment that was upon them for failing to uphold these laws. They were forced to wander in the desert in response to their sins, and they were confronted again and again with their faithlessness. And through it all, the law's purpose of pointing to Christ as the one to come, who would then save them, was always being held out to them if they would just listen, if they would just see. And yet they were blinded. And they were unable to see this as their sins piled up around them and their unbelief and their lack of devotion and faith in their delivering God began to color their view. And now Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and countless others were not being saved on the basis of their good living and living in accordance with this law as it came later. Instead, they were being released from condemnation through the promised Savior who was always being pictured in the glory-filled exchange between Moses and God on Sinai. And so even with the veil in place, it was still possible to see this greater Savior, this greater than Moses who was to come. And that is why the saints of the Old Testament church are those who place their trust and confidence in those promises made to Abraham that a seed would come who would free them from their sin and bondage to their fallen nature. And so what does this all represent within the context of the question, what must I do? What does the good I do play in my salvation? What this passage brings home so powerfully is this key message. If ever there was a time, ever a moment that we were to look to ourselves and to our own actions to contribute just a little bit some part of a righteous obedience surely it would have been with Moses and Israel in the promised land at Sinai after all on a scale of closeness to being able to earn God's favor surely the Israelites were our best hope as skewed as it is to see it that way for they had the law in all of its glory in all of its revelation and they had the man of God Moses giving them the commandments of life. Do this and live. Isn't this so much more than Roman Catholic teachings about a supposed goodness that comes from a grace infusion that then begins a treadmill for us to run hard on in this life? Isn't that so much more complete than many of our contemporary churches around us that merely call for acts of goodness that come from your own conscious decision of the will to believe, to persevere, and then to earn God's favor through acts of ongoing goodness and piety? And this at Sinai, this people with the law was certainly a lot more than unbelievers and adherents of false religions who merely want to live by the golden rule or to follow their false patterns of worship to false God with false religious services as a means of meriting good rewards. All of these latter inclusions of works in one's righteousness before God must pale in comparison with what the Israelites could have done if it was ever the purpose of Sinai to offer an alternative way of salvation. And I want to be clear about that. That Moses brought a particular law from God for the people to follow, but this was never intended to at least help make them right with God. Moses brought a law from God for the people to follow, and it was only ever a law of condemnation, a law of revelation of sin, a law to teach the people of Israel about the character of God and to serve as a tutor to them, a master to them and their children. And so if ever there was a moment in time when it seemed that we were in a position to follow some standard or some merit to merit a part of our salvation, Paul is saying it was at Sinai and you don't understand Sinai if you think that that is what it was teaching. For the glory of Sinai was not a glory of a new way to merit salvation. The glory of Sinai was a revelation of God Himself, the just God of all creation. And this helps us to understand the contrast made in John's Gospel in John 1, verse 17 that the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. For cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out are the words of this covenantal revelation of God to his people. That is why that God, in his laws, one writer said, demands what is due to him and at the same time gives no power to perform it. God demands those things and yet in the law there is no power to do it. And as the catechism addresses the question of why our part is not to contribute in any way to our salvation, to our justification, we need to see that this is a constant temptation to us. We are always wanting to do our part because by doing a part, it validates us to make us feel like we've contributed somehow. And the Scriptures tell us over and over again that there is no way that we should take this upon ourselves. For even our good works, the good things that we do in response to the Gospel, a full and free salvation in Christ, is being done in us by the Holy Spirit. As Ephesians 2, verse 20 so beautifully says, we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. This is what we must understand as we read that the minds of Israel were made dull and that even to this day the same veil remains when the Old Covenant is read in their presence having not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. As they participated, as Paul says, in the ministry of death, the ministry that condemns men as glorious as it was. But as the question raised in the catechism prods us to ask, isn't there anything we can do? Or shouldn't I be on the hook for something in this regard? We come face to face with the greater glory, the greater than Moses who is our hope and salvation. For it's the greater glory, the glory that lasts, the glory that surpasses the glory of the old covenant rests in these amazing words of comfort. Look at 2 Corinthians 3 verse 16. Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The darkness and the veiled form of the old covenant is replaced by the sunlit days of this new covenant. And as Adam and Eve saw a glimmer of light in the distant future, a sufficient promise of a Savior to come, so too did the Israelites who labored under moonlight, as it were, of the old covenant. A light that was reflected upon them. Sufficient to point to the promise of the Savior and sufficient for them to walk in. But now, the believer, us, are washed in the sunlight of the Gospel, the broadest revelation of our Lord's favor to us. We ride in the train of our conquering King, our King of light, who has overcome the Prince of Darkness. And that is what the glory of the Son and His conquering ministry of righteousness is that we need to see in this day. Just as Hebrews 8, verse 10 describes it, I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. It's in the grace of Christ Jesus our Lord that this free gift is given to us by the perfect law keeper. The one who took our condemnation, our sins upon His shoulders is the one who now gives us the righteousness that we need in a way that is most surprising and out of the ordinary. For whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The blinders fall away and a new heart is planted in you that causes you to look up in a way that you never could before. Looking away from condemnation and looking to the glory of the righteousness of the ministry which our Lord has done. And because you begin by the power of the Spirit that is at work within you to be able to see that Christ has fully satisfied for all your sins and He has given you a new righteousness that escapes that condemnation. Because Christ died on the cross of Calvary, because He lived a life of perfect obedience and holiness, His righteousness can pass God's scrutiny. It can be and is perfect in its entirety for His righteousness in every way measured up to the divine law, the divine law that required perfect and perpetual obedience from our Lord. And so don't go looking for alternatives. Don't go forward in your own power or confidence in your own acts of goodness for they are nothing. They are incomplete. and imperfect. And the good that you do as a believer in the Lord is a goodness that isn't even truly yours. For left to yourself, you must see that the Scripture is clear that you're not doing anything worthy of life in the kingdom. And that's why this profound passage recorded by the Apostle Paul gives us such great hope and joy. For after describing this ministry of condemnation that came on Sinai, This revelation of the divine lie of God, we read about the greater revelation of His glory and holiness. Paul describes the Israelites being made dull and being unable to see through the veil, which was obscuring the glory of God on the face of Moses. And now, that veiled image is transformed as we have the veil removed. Every time that we turn to the Lord, there is no more veil. There is no more shame. There is no more condemnation because of Christ alone. His work and His righteousness is given to you in faith. And as we read next in our passage in verse 17, we see that the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory. We are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. We, with unveiled faces, reflecting the Lord's glory, being transformed with ever-increasing glory into His likeness, why would we look anywhere else? Why would we cast our attention to any works that we are doing to contribute to this? Beloved, if you believe in the Lord of all, Jesus Christ, the crucified and resurrected Son of God, You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in your heart. Do you believe in your heart and know with your mind that you have placed your faith in this Jesus? Do you believe that you are right with God because of His perfect work on your behalf? Believe these things. For they are the very message that you need to comfort you in those times when your conscience accuses you and your heart says, while you've now sinned again, Surely you can't be as good of a Christian as you said you are. No. That former condemnation is replaced by the ministry of the righteousness. Christ's righteousness and holiness given to you, clothing you, making you right before God. And that's why we answer question 64 in the Catechism in the way that we do. For the perennial constant question that always opposes the doctrine of a full and free deliverance from sin and of duty before the law is this, if all that you say is true, doesn't that give you no motivation whatsoever to do good? Doesn't that make you carnal, indifferent, and wicked? And as we look again at verses 17 and 18 of our text, do you see any indication that this is a concern that Paul is wrestling with? For no, with the catechism he is essentially saying it is impossible for those grafted into Christ by true faith not to produce fruits of gratitude. For the link between our unveiled hearts and the Holy Spirit's presence and the ongoing transformation that is occurring in us is too tight. There is too close a contact between our renewed hearts and the Spirit Lord within us. For we are being transformed, as our text says, into His likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. And as Paul writes here, the identification between God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is so close that he is describing them together in the same sentence. For the acts of God are present among us and the work of God to create and redeem and transform a people for Himself are on display here. And all we can do is look on with awe. All we can do is praise God indifferent and wicked cold and calloused how can that be for the unveiled faces which reflect the Lord's glory are marked and defined by that glory and believers you who are here and know what the life of the Christian is like you do know that the glory of the Lord and the power of the Spirit at work within you is really the only explanation for the good that you do That the good that flows out of your heart in gratitude for all that Christ has done on your behalf. And the more that we see ourselves as merely reflecting the glory of the Lord. And the more that we see that we are only doing what humble servants should be doing. It is in that that we show that we are reflecting the glory of our Master. And that is why with the disciples, we too are instructed by Jesus in what our proper response to any admiration or any praise from others might be. As Jesus says to us in Luke 17, So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, We are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty. We have only done that which reflects the glory which is at work within us. But the good that we do in this life is a sign of the unveiling that has taken place in our lives. And the good that we do is a demonstration of the Spirit active at work in us, bearing fruit in our lives, a process that does not fail, that does not bear no fruit. For where the Spirit of the Lord is, where He is present in your heart, there is freedom from condemnation. And there is freedom from a bondage to the law that weighs every last sin in the scales of judgment. Instead, we are freed to delight in this law and to delight in the will of God in a new way. Free to live our lives that are pleasing to God in a way that we never could have while we remained in a veiled state. And reflect, brothers and sisters, here this evening on what it is to be transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory. And the source of this transformation and ever-increasing glory, verse 18 we read, that which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. Our unveiled faces, unveiled by the Lord of all, gives us a new vision of the Gospel, seeing the glory of the cross, the glory of the resurrection, the glory of Christ's ascension, and the glory of our transformation into the image of God. And so after all that we've heard this evening from the Word of God, do we see more clearly what it is that lies at the heart of our quest to be right with God? For the three questions here in our catechism are arising out of a profound human awareness that something is not right between us and God. And these questions are coming from a sense that we as fallen men and women have a debt to pay. But that is where these questions come from. We're confronted with these three questions that arise from a very persistent point of view that we know well. Why can't the good that we do contribute just a little bit to our effort to be made right with God? Because that is to seek to place ourselves into a distorted ministry, back into a ministry of condemnation under law that fails as it looks away from one Savior and looks to one's own action. And over and over again we must confess that not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul. And not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole. Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God. Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load. This evening we come face to face with the heart of the gospel. If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness? And as we grasp this truth, that we cannot see the true glory of freedom in Christ unless we are given these eyes to see it, we are compelled to live differently in this week, to praise God more boldly in our lives, and to share this glorious news with others who still labor in vain under the law. See this grace held out to you in Christ. A promise of a full and free salvation that isn't dependent on anything that you are doing. And see as you go through this week, see to the impossibility of fully languishing in wickedness as you are now participating in the ongoing transformation of your heart and your life through the freedom that is yours in the Spirit of God. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for His great work of deliverance, of full and complete salvation on your behalf. Amen. Let us pray. Our most merciful and gracious Father, we bow before you, Lord, humbled by the goodness of your grace and mercy and love to us that you have taken us from condemnation, a condemnation that we deserved because of our sinfulness, and you have made us alive in Christ by the power of your Holy Spirit. O Lord, help us as we see this more and more clearly. Give us eyes to see this and give us hearts, Lord, that yearn to live a life of love that reflects Your glory, that reflects the ongoing transformation of our hearts. Father, help us as we seek by the power of the Spirit within us to put away the sins that so quickly entrap us. Lord, the struggles that we still face, may they not be so grave that we lose sight of Your great glory and Your work in our hearts. Father, forgive us of our sins. Show us Your Son that we may delight in Him and that we may delight in the righteousness that we've been given. All this we pray in the name of our Savior and Mediator. Amen.