Pastor Stan Mons
Sermon Transcription:
We're going to get into the Word, and I'm so excited. Another thing that came to my mind as we were worshiping was the verse that says, "Whoever is forgiven much, loves much." Sometimes I find myself drawing a little bit near to a place where, in my flesh, I would consider becoming almost apologetic for how excited I get—and continually am—about my Jesus.
I often talk about the simple things of Jesus because I repeat them a lot, and I can never stop being so excited about them. Sometimes, I feel like I'm a little bit more excited about them than others. But then, a verse like that comes to mind, and you'll have to excuse my excitement. I was forgiven for an awful lot—amen—so I love Him an awful lot. I am in desperate need of Him. But I never really had to ask for God; He always gave Himself to me, and that's when I realized how much I needed Him.
I've very rarely prayed the "right" prayer. I don't even fully understand what that means, and I don't pray very well either. My prayers have always been very short, very simple—prayers a child could pray. And yet, it is my Lord who always responded, which made it a special experience. Amen, amen. It's been a good walk, trusting and surrendering to Jesus. Let's get into the scripture portion that we have been talking about: 2 Corinthians chapter 3. We're going to start in verse 14. 2 Corinthians 3, starting in verse 14: "But their minds were blinded. For until this day, the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ."
We looked into this deeply in the previous words—the experience of people believing in God, possibly even worshiping Him, but when they read the Old Testament, it feels closed off, like they are left out. Some of the New Testament they can read, and some of it seems easier to understand, but the Old Testament feels like a closed book to them. The veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ. "But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lays on their heart. Nevertheless, when one 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 liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."
Now, there are three ways of blindness mentioned right here: the veil laying on the mind, the veil remaining—which implies blindness to the physical eyes—and a veil that lays on the heart, creating a threefold blindness. If you've ever had the privilege of Jesus rescuing and saving your life, then you know exactly what this is talking about. You know what it's like to try and understand the things of God or even try to read the Bible, and your mind just isn't working. You can't see it. When you read the Word with your physical eyes, it literally hurts you. It's difficult, it's straining, and after three or four verses, it feels like you've read an entire book. It's hard to swallow, it's hard to digest, and the heart is blind.
Not only is there a lack of understanding and comprehension, but even if someone helps you, even if they write it out for you and you repeat it, your heart can never receive it. The joy cannot be received, the peace cannot be received, and the revelation cannot be received into the heart. It becomes cold, hard knowledge. You might collect knowledge and even become argumentative, but in your heart, the peace of God is not found, the joy of God is not found, and the divine understanding—the vision to see Jesus on every page of the Old Testament—is not there. Let me read to you again, verse 17: "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Right after the veil is declared and explained, this is the verse that comes up. In many ways, it may almost seem out of place because we go from talking about the veil to this verse of liberty that many of us have heard many times, and then it goes back to talking about the veil.
Many times, when we hear this verse quoted, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," it's taken out of context—or, at the very least, not in the context where it is actually written. It's right in the middle of Paul explaining the generations of people experiencing a veil that shields them from something. Until God, by the blood of Christ and through an act of the Holy Spirit, removes that veil, it remains. No matter what you do, how good you are, how hard you work, or how long you attend, the veil remains. Then we have that verse: "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." This verse is often greatly abused and misunderstood, but it's packed into this explanation that Paul is giving about the veil.
A more accurate translation of this Bible verse would be: "Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where that Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." The Greek word used here is a distinguishing word—it sets this Spirit apart from others. It implies that when you recognize the liberty, you know it is that Spirit of the Lord—the Spirit of the Lord who has greater glory than the law, which also had a measure of glory, as we talked about last week. That word "liberty" is incredibly important in this verse. You can recognize that it's that Spirit if you see that word "liberty" in your life. If you don't see it today, do not feel condemned. God is offering you a lifeline. But if you do see that word, this is a moment of rejoicing. If you don't yet understand what it means, the Holy Spirit is giving you an invitation to learn something about turning to Jesus today and not making excuses. I had so many excuses. I went to church, I believed in God, and I trusted that He could do miracles. I even grew up saying, "If God asked me, I would give Him all things; if God asked me to give all of my life away, I would do it." He just hasn't asked me.
But I wouldn't say that part—"If He would, I would give Him." I believed He could do all things. I believed so many things, but with all of my heart, turning to Jesus and having no other reason left but Jesus—that God would accept me, treat me with perfection, treat me with favor, bless me, order my steps, always be with me for no more reason other than that the Father had given me Jesus Christ—I just could not trust that. Not with the things I was doing. Not with the past I had. Not with the inability to read the Bible, the unwillingness to come to Him, the lack of excitement I had about the things of God. I believed that first, all of that had to go. One day, I thought, it would go, and then, one day in the future, maybe I could become a church person, a saved person, a person of the people of God, or whatever you call it. I believed that was possible—one day. But not today. Today, that hadn't happened. That's what I believed. This word "liberty"—some translations render it as "freedom," which is an even poorer translation. It's not just a poor translation; there's no real clear word for it in the English language. Now, we're not going to invent a new word today, but I do want to look deeper into it with you.
I studied hard and really practiced a lot to say the Greek word properly. I'm not going to do it, but I was going to, and I figured it's not going to help anybody. But here's what the Greek word means: It means "legitimate" or "licentious liberty." "Legitimate" means wrong that is legally wrong—wrong that you understand, wrong you are convicted of, sins you have been pointed out to by the law, sins you've experienced shame from. These are legitimate wrongs in your life. But it means "legitimate" or "licentious." "Licentious" means without conscience—wrong things you either don't care about, wrong things you've forgotten about, or wrongs you've never been convicted of, even though they were wrong. These are the wrong things you've pushed away, the wrong things you want to keep, the wrong things you've never said sorry to God for, never repented of, never acknowledged before the Lord.
This is what it means—legitimate or "licentious" liberty. That Greek word has its root in the idea of being unrestrained, not a slave, exempt from obligation or liability. So, in one sentence, we can sum it up: exemption from obligation or liability to all the wrong I know I have done, and all the wrongs I have never acknowledged. That's what this word means—to be exempt from obligation or liability to all the wrongs I know I have done, and all the wrongs I have never acknowledged. This word "liberty" is only found a handful of times in the Bible. If you know this, that's great. If not, here's an interesting fact: the Bible is made up of nearly 800,000 words, just shy of a million. The word "freedom" is counted so many times in the Bible that when I tried to research it, I couldn't come up with a number. I even thought about counting all the scriptures myself, but I didn't have enough time.
The word "freedom" or "liberty" is used an incredible amount of times in scripture, to the point where even Google had no answer for it. However, this specific Greek word for liberty is only used 11 times in the entirety of scripture. This word that the Bible uses for you and me to understand—this liberty that comes from the Spirit of God, the God who came in greater glory—only appears 11 times. When we look at some of the verses where this word is used, it gives us a comprehensive understanding of how it's used and what it truly means. For example, Romans 8:21 says, "Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." In other words, all of creation will eventually partake in what God has done in you—it's going to change everything. 1 Corinthians 10:29 says, "Conscience, I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience?" It's ownership—this liberty belongs to the Christian, the believer, the saved sinner, my liberty.
Galatians 2:4: "And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in, who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage." Galatians 5:13: "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Galatians 5:1: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." Every single time you hear the word "liberty" in the Greek, it is the same word: to be exempt from any obligation or liability to anything wrong that could ever, in any way, be associated with your life. I'll read to you again verses 16 and 17:
"Nevertheless, when one 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 liberty."
Where the Spirit of the Lord is—that Spirit—there is liberty. What is there, if the Spirit of the Lord has come into your life? An exemption from all obligation and liability of anything wrong that, in any way, shape, or form, could ever be connected to you. That's what you own—your liberty. That's what will be under attack—our liberty. That is what has been given to you. That is what proves that the Spirit has come upon your life and taken that veil away. And what is the result? Verse 18: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into that same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." I can't tell you how many churches exist today where, Sunday after Sunday, week after week, all you hear is how you can change your life, how you can walk away from sin, how you can become a better disciple of Jesus, how things can be worked out of your life. But it's right here in the Word: if these things have not happened in your life, you don't need a bigger head, you don't need more knowledge. You haven't seen yet. Your eyes have not opened yet. You're still stuck under something that is keeping you in a place where you feel and experience, "Things should really change in my life."
The only way any believer in history has ever felt that something should change in their life is because they are still under the old covenant—the covenant of dos and don'ts. And if I do not live up to it, I believe something needs to change. When you have come into the new covenant given from Heaven, nothing needs to change anymore. This is a good covenant, Church. What does the Bible say? The Father, speaking through one of the prophets, speaking about Jesus, literally says, "I give you as a covenant to the people." Our covenant is a person, and when you have been brought into that person, into Christ—our liberty in Christ—when you have been brought into Christ, you can trust me: nothing needs to change. Nothing's wrong anymore. Everything is being changed. Everything is an opportunity. Everything is bringing glory to Jesus—not to a church, not to a pastor, not to your works. Nothing gets the glory. Nothing has the answers. The only answer is Jesus Christ the Lord. When I saw Him, all things in my life were changed. When I saw who He was, there was a seeing on this side of eternity that every single forgiven, saved, born-again Christian partakes in.
"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding..." That means seeing. We're able to see something now—a seeing, beholding as in a mirror. Now, a mirror then is not like a mirror today. Unfortunately for some of us, the mirrors now are really good, and we can see every wrinkle added this year, every gray hair that was added this year. Sometimes we wish we had those old mirrors. The old mirrors were often made out of brass, polished to an incredible shine, and they did a good job reflecting, but nowhere near as good as the mirrors we use today. Some of you might say, "Ah, the good old days!" Amen. But the Word speaks of that kind of mirror, which gives you a high percentage of reflection, but not quite the full clarity of today. So there is a seeing as in a mirror—there’s a measure, is what he's saying. There's a measure of the glory of the Lord that we can see now. Remember, we don't have all the vision, but in measure, there is a seeing of the glory of the Lord.
I've heard this language before. Paul uses it in the last letter he wrote to the church in Corinth—the second letter he wrote, though we call it the first because the real first letter was lost. Let me take you to 1 Corinthians 13:12: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I am known." Here again, Paul is using the same analogy to explain it more deeply. Now I know in part—he’s describing that mirror. It’s not perfect. It’s not a perfect reflection. "Now I know in part, but then I will know just as I am known." But for now, we do see. We see in a mirror dimly.
We, believers—the saved of the Lord Jesus Christ—can see. Now, I want to take you to a story where believers in God went from seeing to seeing Jesus, and it changed their lives. Let me take you to Luke 24. We will start in verse 13. Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. They talked together of all the things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"
Then one, whose name was Cleopas, answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which have happened here in these days?"
And He said to them, "What things?" So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened." See, these were people who had that wishful thinking kind of faith. They believed God is able to send the Messiah. They believed God is going to keep His promise. They believed He’s going to do it. They just didn’t see it happening today anymore.
"We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened." People full of doubt, going the wrong way in life.
"Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women said, but Him they did not see." Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself
See, that's what Jesus does. He comes to you, and He begins to explain the things about Himself to you. You don't have to do it by yourself. Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone further. But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they knew Him—other translations say "recognized Him"—and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. Here we have people who have a reverence for God, a respect for God, even a willingness to figure out if they can follow Him and believe in Him. These people, full of doubt, were not good enough to stick it out with the eleven and the others. They had given up. They were moving on. They had given a portion of their life to follow this Jesus, to trust in this Jesus, and it wasn’t working out.
Now, they were on another road, and they had an encounter with Jesus, walking in the midst of their doubt, going the wrong direction in life. They couldn’t see, and then they encountered Jesus. Their eyes were opened, and they got up, turned around, and went the right direction again. All of a sudden, they had joy. All of a sudden, they had purpose. All of a sudden, they had something that needed to be shared. And that is what happens when the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the Lord, comes into your life and begins to show you Jesus. You are brought into that liberty. You are brought into the place where, not only do you know, but your eyes can see, your mind can see, your heart can see. You experience: "I am exempt from any obligation. I am not liable anymore to any wrong that could ever be connected to my life."
The Lord is that Spirit, and where that Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. When you recognize, as it were, the risen Lord Jesus Christ—because they did not believe Jesus was risen—the resurrection proved and sealed that this Jesus was indeed the Messiah sent from heaven. Now that meant something. If God finally had sent the Messiah, then we don’t need to sacrifice in the temple anymore. Then we’re actually perfectly forgiven from here on out. Then the year of the Lord’s favor has come upon us. He will redeem Israel. He will redeem His people. He will fight our battles. There will be no reason in the mind of God or in the world, in the universe, ever again for God to be separate from His people or for us to fall into decay because of our wrongful actions. Instantly, when you recognize the risen Lord Jesus Christ, instantly you realize: this is who you become.
Remember, it is my liberty—this becomes your identity. You are exempt from obligation or liability to all the wrong you know you’ve done and all the wrong you have never acknowledged. Their eyes were opened—Jesus is alive! And that means so much. So much so, that they got up, and the direction of their life was changed. Even though Jesus did not remain with them—Jesus disappeared—all they had seen was that this Jesus is actually God’s Christ.
Church, it changes everything. Recognizing Jesus—recognizing with the eyes of your heart, the eyes of your mind, even your physical eyes on the pages—when you recognize Jesus, the King of Kings, it changes your life forever. And let me tell you this: you will not be the one who's an exception. You will not be the one that falls through the cracks. You will not be the one that stands on the sidelines. You will not be the exception. You will not be the one that says, "Well, everybody else is falling in love with Jesus, but I’m stuck." You will not be the one that falls through the cracks.
What does the Bible say about you? Let me take you again to verse 18: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord..." We all—not only the ones that are discipled well, strong in the Lord, willing, and able. Every single person over whom the gospel has been declared—this is what God says about your life. This is what the Word of God says about your vision today: We all will behold. We all will see the glory of the Lord. Remember, the glory of Christ is greater than the glory of the law that also came from heaven. This is what people are so often stuck in. Let me read to you verse 10: "For even what was made glorious..." This is speaking about the law—the very thing that has the power to make you feel, "Something should really change in my life. Until something changes in my life, I can’t expect God to be with me, to fill me, to strengthen me. Until something changes in my life, I can’t expect my devotional life, when I read the Bible or when I pray, to change. Of course heaven feels like brass when I pray—if you'd only know the wrongs I have done, the things I’ve probably forgotten."
For even what was made glorious, given from heaven—the law of God—"had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels." If you do not see the glory of the Lord, all you're able to see is the glory that came before—the lesser glory. And when all that you can see is that former glory, designed to pass away by the greater glory that would follow, if you cannot see it, this is what it may feel like. You can testify on the stage of all the wrongs you’ve done, because it still feels so shameful. It still feels like, "Maybe people will judge me. Maybe people will think of me a different way or look at me a different way, or behave towards me a different way, or now look at me like I’m expected to struggle with the same things again in the future." When you are still under that former glory, these things still feel like they belong to you. They’re still part of your identity. You're still carrying them. You may believe Jesus can forgive you. You may believe He is the only way. But unless you have been brought into that liberty—where who you are has changed, who you are is no longer the summary of the rights and wrongs of the past behind you, who you are is now made up of what God has done in your past—you are exempt from obligation, exempt from liability. This is who I am now. That’s who I used to be.
God gave this liberty to someone with a past like that—there’s hope for you as well. When you cannot see the greater glory, it feels dangerous to step fully into the light, because the only light you know exposes your darkness. The only light you know shows all the things that you are not. Let me read to you verse 10 one more time: "For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels." Now we see Paul write about this with similar words again in the letter that he sent before. Let me take you to 1 Corinthians 15:41: "There’s one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for one star differs from another star in glory." He uses this analogy of light, of a smaller light and a greater light. In his next letter, he again begins to speak of these different types of glory, and he uses the parable of light to explain.
Now, in the second letter, deeper to the Corinthians, listen: the law had one glory, but then a greater glory from heaven was given that makes the other one disappear—makes the other one fade away, makes the other one invisible, as it were, in your life. And I want to show you what the writer means, what the author means, what the God who inspired the Word means when He had those things written down for you and me. "We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord"—the greater glory of the Lord. Let me turn on a small flashlight. Now, there’s a faint light on that screen, and that is really what life is like when you are under that first covenant. It has a glory; it has a light. It did come from heaven. It is good—nothing of the law will pass away. Jesus said nothing; the law is good.
But the law could never give me righteousness—maybe for the perfect person, but not for Stan. The law is good, but it could not give forgiveness to Nadia. The law is good, but it could not bring peace to Tony. The law is good, but it could not bring redemption to Iryna. It could not bring restoration to Russ. The law could not do these things, and so the Father sent something of greater glory to do what the other one could not. And that is where He gave a greater glory. That doesn’t annul the other one, but it simply... give me a second here. It doesn’t turn off the other beam of light, but it shines so bright—the glory is so far greater that you cannot see anymore at all what was visible before that greater glory came on. This light that causes you to understand that you are a sinner—it doesn’t get turned off. That law has not been done away with. Jesus fulfilled the law, and the Father gave Jesus as a greater glory from heaven for you, so that when the veil is removed, and you see the kind of glory that the Father actually sent for you from heaven, all of a sudden, you only see what God has given.
What was before is not even visible—it’s not turned off, but it’s not visible anymore. The greater glory causes the former glory to pass away in that sense that there is a greater light than the light that was given before. The lesser glory, or the lesser light of the law, had the power to make you aware of guilt before God—a divine power given from heaven. But the greater glory of Jesus has the power to make you aware of your liberty before God, exempt from any obligation, any liability to any wrong ever committed. Only the greater glory has the power to wash away that former glory completely and make you aware of what God has done. It makes the smaller bundle of light disappear simply because the other light has greater glory. Now, church, have you seen the Word? Have you seen the greater glory? Ask yourself, "Is this written about me?" I am beholding, without a veil, this greater glory with unveiled face, and no longer—no matter how hard I try—can I see that former glory of the law that used to make me ashamed of my wrongs, that used to make me experience guilt when I did something wrong, that used to make me feel like something really needs to change in my life. "Pastor, I need a change."
When you feel you need a change, what you really need is for Jesus to open your eyes to the glory that has been sent for you from heaven so that the former glory passes away, so that you can see that nothing needs to be changed by you anymore. What God has done overrules it all, changes who you are. Has the greater glory shone in your heart yet? Has it shone in your mind? Has it shone in your eyes? Are you seeing that you have no obligation to your sin anymore—meaning you don’t have to make up for a thing, you don’t have to be apologetic for a thing, you don’t have to live somehow forced more humbly than other people because you were forgiven for so much? I remember when I was just saved. Someone said to me, "Who do you think you are, with a past like yours, that you think God would speak to you?"
Church, have you seen yet that you have no obligation anymore to your past? You cannot be liable to anything wrong—remembered, forgotten, ignored—anything wrong ever committed. Psalm 32:1: "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered, whose sin is covered." The greater glory of Jesus covered all of my sin, never to be seen by the Father again, never to be seen by me again. Once that glory has come, once the veil is removed, and I can see the glory of heaven that was given by the Father, no matter what I do, I can never see the former glory again. The Father does not see the former glory when He looks at you. The veil is removed in Christ Jesus. And when the veil is removed in Christ Jesus, only then can you really see what the Father is truly like. Only then can you see that the Father really desires for you to be exempt. Up until then, we sometimes feel like Jesus is on our side, but the Father... I'm guilty before the Father. It’s the Father’s law, the Father’s standard—I couldn’t meet it. Jesus, it feels, comes to rescue me from the expectations of the Father.
Until the veil is removed, we cannot see the Father for who He truly is. The Father desired for me to be exempt from all obligation and all liability, so He sent His Son. He sent a greater glory that would wash out any light that may have been there before—light nonetheless, but in glory, also less. He sent His Son to make a way for you that is so powerful, so glorious, that it makes the law fade away. The law had the power and authority to condemn you because of your sin, and the Father’s desire over your life made that law fade away. You know, the guys on the road, they recognized Him, and their life’s journey, their life’s direction, was turned around. When the veil is taken away, church, and we see in measure the glory of Jesus on our life, it changes everything. He is the Messiah. The Father sent Him for me, so that it would wash out that law that used to have the power to condemn me.
If you would stand with me for a moment—if you need a divine turnaround point in your spiritual journey, your direction turned around—you may be that person who thinks today, online or here in person, "I don’t know how to do it. I don’t even know really how to respond to God, but I know in my heart something needs to change. I need a change." Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away, as if the light comes on—the greater light. When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. If today you say, "Now I see. The Holy Spirit is doing something in my heart, in my mind, in my vision today, and I feel now I see what Jesus has really done for me. Now I see what the Father really desires for me, and I believe, and I need, I want that turnaround point." Don’t exactly know what to do, but I see—my eyes are open—and I want to get up, as these guys did. I want to get up and get into a new direction. If that is you—if you say, "I see now, and I believe, and I want that turnaround point in my life"—I want to ask you, if that is you, to join me here at the front. We’re going to pray together, and we’re going to ask God to send His Holy Spirit to remove the veil and to allow the vision of God’s glory to give you new direction for your life.
-Pastor Stan Mons