2nd Corinthians Lesson 13

2 Corinthians 3:14-

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Listen to Lesson Audio:

---

Lesson Transcript

Opening

Good evening. Please open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 3. We’ll be starting in verse 14 in a moment and then continuing on to the end of the chapter. This lesson is ending our first series of classes on 2 Corinthians. And next week we will move into chapter 4, but I believe David will be starting his section next week with the next three chapters. So this will conclude our look at the first three chapters.

Verse 14: The Blinded Minds

And let’s start then with verse 14 of 2 Corinthians chapter 3. “But their minds were blinded. For until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ.”

Now, we talked about the veil last week, and we’ve been kind of working through Paul’s argument here as he defends his boldness to the Corinthians, and particularly his boldness in writing that letter that we’ve talked about. And I think he’s still continuing on with that theme. And that’s certainly his main goal here: to defend his boldness as a minister of the New Covenant, as an apostle of the new covenant.

Paul’s Compassion for the Jews

But Paul has something else in mind here as well, and we start seeing that here in verses 14, 15, and 16. In defending his boldness, Paul, as any good preacher does, sees an opportunity and goes into something else and talks about it for a while, but sticking with his main point.

Paul here sees a perfect opportunity to discuss an issue that was very important to him and very dear to his heart: the situation of the Jews who had not obeyed the gospel.

Well, why was that issue so important to Paul? Well, there are a lot of reasons. For starters, Paul knew perfectly well that he himself would have been in that very situation but for his encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and the events that followed soon thereafter.

Second, Paul, of course, was a Jew. His friends were Jewish. His family was Jewish. And most, perhaps all of them, had been left behind when he became a Christian. But I’m sure Paul still loved them and he still wanted the best for them.

And third, Paul’s love for his friends and for his family would have extended to all Jews, all of his Jewish brethren. In fact, we can see Paul’s great love for his Jewish brethren, in the greatest discourse on this subject, which is in Romans 9, 10, and 11.

Romans 9:1 through 3, for example, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

I can’t imagine a stronger thing to say than that. That I would rather be accursed myself to help them and to lead them to Christ. You can just see Paul pouring his heart out, and here he sees an opportunity to talk about that. And that’s why I think he’s moving into that somewhat here in these verses.

Understanding “Blinded” vs. “Hardened”

Verse 14 says that the Israelites’ minds were blinded. Now, I think a better translation is hardened. Some of the modern translations may have that instead. And when we see a hardened heart, we should be reminded of the discussion we had in our study of Daniel. Particularly when we looked at that special lesson on prophecy, where we went back and we looked at Pharaoh’s hardened heart and kind of how that worked. So we’ve actually spent a lot of time looking at that issue, just not in this series of lessons.

The NIV translates that, “their minds were made dull.” That is not a good translation. That is just not a good translation. It suggests their problem was just a lack of understanding. But we know sin goes so much deeper than just a lack of understanding.

People can understand perfectly what God wants them to do, and yet persist in their sin and in their rebellion. These people suffered from stone, hard hearts, not simply from dull minds.

To really understand what this hardening of Israel is here, we would need to study Romans 9:10 and 11. And in the past, I’ve done a verse-by-verse look at those three chapters, and they are very, very interesting. But of course, we’ll have to save that for another time.

The Veil in Paul’s Present Day

Verse 14 makes it very clear, though, that Paul is not just talking anymore about ancient Israel. We’ve been looking at Moses and all the things that happened back there. Verse 14 is much broader than that, because he writes there, “for until this day.” Which means he’s bringing his argument up into his present day. Things have not changed, is what he’s saying. Until this present day, this is still going on.

And again, Paul mentions the veil. Except now the veil is no longer over Moses’ face, as we saw it last week, but now it’s covering the hardened heart of one who hears the old law but fails to see Jesus in it.

There is one and only one way for that veil to be removed. And verse 14 tells us it’s done away in Christ. That’s how that veil is removed.

Paul’s Personal Experience with the Veil

Now, for Paul, that veil first started to lift on that road to Damascus, didn’t it? When he saw Christ on that road to Damascus. And by the time he meets up with Ananias, and that’s described in Acts 22:16, that veil is completely removed. That’s the removal of the veil in Christ.

And it’s interesting to me that Paul uses this metaphor here of a lifted veil to describe the understanding that comes when you suddenly see Jesus in the old law. And you see Jesus in the plan of God.

Why is that particularly interesting with Paul? Well, because when that veil first began to lift for Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul was struck physically blind. He was totally blind at the time, physically. And yet, at that very time, the spiritual veil was just starting to lift, and he was starting to understand the role of Christ in God’s plan.

And when Ananias arrived, of course Paul again received his physical sight. And at that time he also received his spiritual sight as he had his sins washed away in his baptism. Acts 9:18, “immediately there fell from his eyes that it had been scales. He received sight forthwith and arose and was baptized.”

Paul understood a lifted veil. He had experienced it physically and spiritually. You know, I would think that being blind and not knowing if it’s permanent or temporary would have filled Paul with anxiety. In addition to all the other anxiety he had, just, you know, will I ever see again? Paul must have wondered. And that must have filled him. It must have been an experience that he never forgot. And I think he’s recalling that experience here and discussing this veil.

The Real Problem: Not Education, But the Will

This veil is not simply a metaphor for Israel’s failure to see and to understand. As some commentaries suggest, we’ve already suggested the problem goes much deeper than that. Even today, you hear people say that education is going to solve all our problems. That’s not true today. It wasn’t true in Paul’s day.

Sin is usually not the result of a lack of education as to what’s right and what’s wrong. I mean, sometimes I guess it is, but usually it’s not. That could be solved by education, but that’s usually not what’s behind sin.

Sin is a result of a lack of a desire, a lack of a will to do what is right, knowing what is right, you still lack the will and the desire to do it. That is not going to be solved by education. That sort of transformation requires something else, and we’re going to get to that in verse 18.

Now, Israel’s fundamental problem was not a failure to comprehend the law, but a failure to obey the law. That was the fundamental problem. Galatians 6:13: “For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law.” They did not keep the law. They knew the law. They didn’t keep the law. They didn’t suffer from an intellectual deficiency. They suffered from a moral deficiency that prevented them from seeing and believing and hearing and understanding. Prophets all talked about that.

A Historical Pattern

Was this a new condition for Israel? Hardly. Hardly. Paul has already shown that it goes all the way back to the very first time they ever heard the law. When Moses came down from the mount, that’s how far back it goes. It’s always been the condition. It’s not something new for Israel. From the very beginning, when the covenant was first read to them by Moses, they suffered from a spiritual hardening of the arteries.

Now, the Corinthians, we’ve talked about how this was important for Paul, but the Corinthians had witnessed this. The Corinthians knew all about this veil, they had seen it. Remember what happened in Acts 18 when Paul first showed up in Corinth, Acts 18 verses 4 through 6?

“He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timothy were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean. From henceforth I will go into the Gentiles.”

That happened in Corinth. So they’d all witnessed this. They knew all about this veil and the hardening.

Verse 15-16: Responsibility and Hope

“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.”

The Jews remained stiff-necked. They refused to turn to the Lord and refused to do his will. Whose fault was that? Moses, the law, Paul, God, Jesus? No, no, no, no, no. It was the people’s fault. Those who heard, not those who proclaimed the law, but those who heard it and were hardened. It was their fault.

Israel persisted in rejecting the only one who could remove that veil that was over their heart. That was true in Paul’s day. It was true before, and it is true today. It is true today.

Israel’s Misplaced Expectations

Jesus did not come in a manner that the Jews expected for him to appear in. They expected something else. They didn’t expect a king born in a manger. They didn’t expect a king to live as Christ lived among the common people. They didn’t expect their king to die on a cross. Jesus did not fulfill their expectations.

He should have. If they’d known the old law, if they’d seen Christ on every page of the Old Testament, they should have recognized it, but they did not.

John 5, verses 38 through 40, “and ye have not his word abiding in you, for whom he has sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.”

The Old Testament, Jesus said, testifies of me. And you’re looking in them for eternal life. You need to be looking to me. And I’m on every page of that Old Testament. That’s what Jesus was telling them.

How the Veil is Removed

How is that veil removed? Verse 16 tells us how it’s removed when one turns to the Lord.

Well, what prevents Israel from turning to Christ? Well, the Jews had not only misunderstood the law, but they had misunderstood something crucial about God’s plan. And something about God’s plan that had come long before the old law, the old Mosaic law.

God had promised Abraham in Genesis 22, verse 18, that “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” And Israel had forgotten that. The Jews had forgotten that.

Instead, they had twisted the law. So instead of it being a schoolmaster leading to worldwide blessing in Christ, Galatians 3:24. It had instead become an end unto itself and a source of national pride in which the Jews looked down on all the rest of the world rather than seeking to bless the rest of the world. That was the condition.

And when Paul was writing this, Paul told the Romans, Christians in Romans 10, verse 4: “For Christ is the end of the law.” In other words, the law is not an end unto itself. It was leading to Jesus. It was leading to Christ. Christ is the end of the law.

Paul’s Personal Transformation

Paul knew this all, of course, very well from his own personal experiences. Galatians 1:14, “and profited in the Jewish religion above many of my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.”

No one had a better Jewish pedigree than Paul. At that time, Saul. And it was no doubt something in which Saul had taken great, great pride. And yet, in a moment, that pride all went away, didn’t it?

And in fact, in Philippians 3, verse 8, Paul would later write, “yea, doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ.”

Yes, he had lost all those things, and you can read how he considered that when compared with his Christian blessings.

Why Jews Struggled with Christ

Why then did the Jews have such a hard time turning to Christ? Why was he a stumbling block for them? I like what one commentary said about that.

“When they reveled in their own achievements and failed to recognize that all they had was a gift from God, And when they exalted themselves even for such a praiseworthy virtue as their zeal for God, they blinded themselves to God’s exaltation.”

And that’s not just true for the Jews. That’s something that can happen to anybody. Something we all need to guard against.

Another commentary said: “Those who are consumed with their own glory, with pride, and boasting, will miss the glory of God revealed in Christ, for it is a peculiar sort of glory, one that radiates from the humiliation of the cross.”

Yes, they had missed it. That was not what they were expecting. And of course, 1 Peter 2, 6 through 10 explains that Christ was a stumbling block to them. And that was their fault. It’s not Christ’s fault. It’s not the apostles’ fault. It’s not God’s fault. It was their fault. And it was because they did not see Jesus in the old law. They had misunderstood it from the very beginning. And now they were still misunderstanding it, but you can see Paul’s great love for them, how much he wanted them to turn and obey.

Verse 17: The Lord is the Spirit

Verse 17. “Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

Now the Lord is that Spirit, or perhaps a better translation is “now the Lord is the Spirit.” What does that mean?

Well, the first word, “now,” is important because it ties back to something that came before. That tells us verse 17 is looking backwards. This is kind of a conclusion: now, and then what? Well, okay, so it’s looking back to something.

Two Possible Connections

Now, commentaries differ on this. It may be pointing back to verse 16, which said, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” One commentary said that the first half of verse 17, “now the Lord is the Spirit,” explains the first half of verse 16, “but when one turns to the Lord.” And the second half of verse 17, “and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,” explains the second half of verse 16. “The veil is removed.” I mean, I like the symmetry, so maybe that’s correct.

Paul had just been speaking of Moses’ transformation after being in close proximity to God, and perhaps Paul’s point here is today we can all experience that transformation. Because we can all approach God’s throne through Christ, and in fact, we can do so boldly in Christ. Hebrews 4:16.

Another explanation, though, is that verse 17, instead of pointing back to verse 16, is pointing all the way back to verse 6, which we spent so much time on. Verse 6: “For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” Verse 17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit.” The Lord is the Spirit I was talking about there up in verse 6. Paul wants to make that point very clearly here, if that’s what his goal is.

Jesus is the source of life about which he has been speaking. Jesus overcame the problem with the old law, namely our inability to keep it. Jesus kept it perfectly. He gave himself as a sacrifice for us. He suffered the death that we deserve. That is the gospel. That is the Spirit that giveth life. The Spirit is the Lord.

I favor that second view: that verse 17 is going all the way back up to verse 6 and tying the whole argument together.

The Liberty of the Spirit

What is the liberty or the freedom that Paul refers to there at the end of verse 17? Freedom from what? Well, many commentaries point back to Romans 8, verse 2 as an answer to that question. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death,” and we certainly have been set free from the law of sin and death.

Colossians 2:14 makes the same point. It tells us when it happened, “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” And that very well may be what’s under discussion here.

But there is another possibility that arguably fits a little better with the context of what’s going on here. What is the point of Paul’s discussion here? Well, it’s to defend his boldness to the Corinthians in writing that sorrowful letter. It’s still his main point, even in these verses.

Paul then perhaps here has in mind his bold proclamation, his freedom to boldly proclaim the gospel, his freedom to boldly and openly proclaim the gospel of Christ. And that would be in stark contrast to how others were proclaiming it.

Chapter 2, verse 17. “For we are not as many which corrupt the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.”

And later in chapter 4, “But we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully.”

Paul here, I think, is saying, We boldly proclaim it, and we have the freedom to do that. We have the liberty to do that. And that fits pretty well with the context. Although, the other fits fairly well, also. It could be either one of those.

Freedom from Veils

But I think in short, Paul here can proclaim the gospel to the Corinthians without the need to wear any kind of veil. Remember when Moses came down from the mount, he had a veil on his face when he read the Old Law. Paul can proclaim it freely, with liberty. He doesn’t have to wear a veil, and that certainly fits very well with the context here.

Now, it’s not because Paul’s better than Moses. It’s because the new covenant is better than the old covenant. That’s why Paul is able to do these things.

A Note on Hebrews

You know, by the way, there’s always been a lot of debate over who wrote the book of Hebrews. And modern commentaries will tell you that Paul definitely did not write the book of Hebrews. I tend to waver between saying he did and saying he might have, but I definitely would never say he never wrote it. That’s not correct. He may have written it.

But when I read this chapter of 2 Corinthians, I get very close to saying he did write it. Because look at all the things that are the same here. The emphasis on boldness, you see that in Hebrews. The emphasis on better, that’s the key word in Hebrews. The comparison of the old with the new, all throughout Hebrews. When I read 2 Corinthians 3, I’m thinking Paul may have written Hebrews.

Another interesting suggestion, though, that has something to do with the Corinthians is that Apollos may have written Hebrews. We know he learned at the feet of Paul. We know he was a Jew. We know he was an eloquent man. We know he was mighty in the scriptures, Acts 18:24. And we know that Apollos was at Corinth, Acts 19, verse 1. That’s a little aside, but that’s another possibility that kind of ties it into the Corinthian letter that Paul has in mind here.

No Need for Veils

Now, under the new covenant, there’s no need for veils. This fact is a sharp contrast between the old and the new covenant. Those under the new covenant are free to enter the presence of God and to do so boldly, as Hebrews tells us.

Paul does not veil himself. Paul does not veil the gospel. He makes all things evident. And he spreads the knowledge of God for all to see and all to hear. Nothing is hidden.

Verse 4, chapter 4, verse 6: “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.”

For all to hear and for all to understand. The uncovered face of Paul that looks up to God also turns uncovered to others and proclaims the gospel. Beautiful.

Verse 18: Transformation by Beholding

Verse 18. “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.”

That is one of the most beautiful verses anywhere in the Bible. It’s just breathtakingly beautiful. And, of course, meaningful.

The Privilege of All Christians

Moses wore the veil over his face when he spoke with the people, but he removed it when he spoke with God. Exodus 34, 34. “But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off until he came out.”

Paul is saying here that Christians can approach God with unveiled faces, just as Moses did. The emphatic “we all” emphasizes that Paul is not just saying it’s true of Paul or just true of the apostles. Paul is saying that’s true of all Christians. We can all do this.

Well, for whom is it not true? Who is not able to do this? Well, it’s self-evident. Those who are still wearing the veil can’t do this. If you’re still wearing the veil, you can’t do this. It’s not true of those in verse 15 who still have the veil over their heart. They can’t do that. But if the veil is removed, then they can do this.

To see God with an unveiled face, we must remove the veil. How is the veil removed? Verse 16: Turn to the Lord, obey the gospel, the veil is taken away.

The Result: Transformation

What is the result when that happens? Well, with Moses, the result was transformation. Transformation. Exodus 34, 35. “And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone.” A transformation.

With Christians, the result is transformation. That’s his point. Same result. “We are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Moses was transformed, we too are transformed.

We are transformed into an image of what we behold. Man was created in the image of God, but sin tarnished that condition. God’s work of redemption from the garden on has been to restore that relationship. And our life under the new covenant is a constant transformation back into the image of God.

Romans 12:2. “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

And to get back to Paul, has anyone ever experienced a greater transformation than the one from Saul to Paul? I mean, what a remarkable transformation. Paul knew about transformation.

A Great Lesson for Us

Now, I think we should pause for a moment and notice a great lesson for us here in verse 18. “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.”

If we behold Christ, we will be changed and transformed in His image from glory to glory, which means we become more and more like Him as we follow His perfect example, as we walk as He walked. 1 John 2:6.

It’s a moral axiom that we become like the God we serve, which means we better be serving the only true and living God. Romans 6:16, “know you not that to whom ye yield yourself servants to obey his servants ye are to whom ye obey?”

So what if instead of gazing at Christ, we spend our time gazing at something else? And copying that other thing, and walking as that other thing walks, we know what’s going to happen. We’re going to be transformed into that other thing. Because when you gaze at something and you walk as that thing walks and you study and copy whatever that is, you’re going to become like whatever that is or whoever that is.

What Do We Behold Today?

At what do people gaze today? “But we all, with open faith, beholding as in a glass the what.” How do we fill in that blank today?

You know, there are many things that could be put in that blank, but one that comes to mind immediately, and one that even comes with a sheet of glass, is the television. How much time do we spend staring at that sheet of glass?

Let me read to you from the 23rd channel.

“The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want. It makes me lie down on the sofa. It leads me away from the scriptures. It damages my soul. It leads me in the path of sex and violence for the sponsor’s sake. Yea, though I walk in the shadow of my Christian responsibilities, there will be no interruption, for the TV is with me. Its cable and remote control, they comfort me. It prepares a commercial before me in the presence of my worldliness. It anoints my head with humanism. My coveting runneth over. Surely laziness and ignorance shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in my house watching TV forever.”

Well, of course, that’s not a real Psalm. Let me give you a real Psalm. Psalm 101, verse 3. “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes.” Maybe that should be written on our remote controls. Psalm 119, 37, “turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.”

The Transformative Power of Media

Do people become like what they watch on TV? Is TV transformative? If you listen to the TV executives, they’ll say no. They’ll say there’s no evidence that viewing violence and immorality on TV causes anyone to become violent and immoral.

Yet how do those same TV executives make all their money selling commercial time on those TV shows? How do commercials work? Don’t they work by people who watch them wanting to be like the smiling, happy people drinking the liquor or doing whatever it is they’re doing by copying the people they see in the commercial?

And are they seriously going to tell me that the people who are copying the commercials are not also copying the content of the show? Or at least some of them? I mean, it’s nuts. We know it has a transformative effect because we can see the transformation, can’t we?

Where would the homosexual agenda be today without Hollywood’s help?

The Internet’s Influence

But some may say, oh, but TV viewing is way, way down these days. People aren’t really watching TV anymore. You’re right, kids aren’t watching much TV, but what they’re watching is infinitely more dangerous than that. Infinitely more dangerous, the World Wide Web.

What little control remains over TV today is out the window when it comes to the World Wide Web. The Internet is changing our society. We’re being transformed by it, and the change is swift and dramatic. Is it also changing us? Is it making us more godly or less godly?

Yes, the Internet can be used for good purposes. In fact, this lesson that you’re hearing tonight will soon be on the Internet, available for download by people all over the world. And in fact, the website where it’s hosted gets 10,000 visits a week from all over the world.

But the web also has a very, very dark side, larger than the good side. Do you know what the biggest driver of technological advance in networking communications is and has been for quite a while? Pornography. Pornography, streaming video, webcams, digital photography, large bandwidth, e-commerce, that all started with pornography. They created the demand and they filled the demand.

Depending on how it’s measured, some studies suggest that thirty percent of all Internet traffic is related to pornography. Do we really doubt the transformative effects of the Internet and the media? How much of that traffic is being directed at our children?

What Hollywood Attacks

One of the most profound verses in the Bible is 1 Timothy 6, verse 6, “but godliness with contentment is great gain.” What are the two things that are attacked most by Hollywood? Godliness and contentment.

The Mirror of Christ

Finish up this verse. What is meant by beholding into a glass or into a mirror? Some point back to 1 Corinthians 13, verse 12. “For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.”

I don’t think that’s Paul’s point here in this final verse. In 1 Corinthians 13, the contrast is between being childish and being grown up, between seeing things darkly and seeing things clearly. Knowing in part and knowing in full. Those are not Paul’s points here.

Seeing through a glass or a mirror does not suggest we’re seeing something darkly or indistinctly. It says we’re seeing something indirectly. And the key, I think, to verse 18 is found in chapter 4, verse 4, where it talks about the light of the glorious gospel of Christ.

Man cannot see God and live. That was certainly true of Moses, Exodus 33, verse 20. But Christ is the perfect image of God. And we can see Christ. He lived on this earth. He walked among us. And when we see God reflected in Christ, there is no distortion of any kind, of any kind. We’re not seeing in a mirror darkly. We’re seeing a perfect image, the very image of God.

John 1:18, “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, he hath declared him.”

John 6:46, “not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.”

John 14, verse 9, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, show us the Father?”

Colossians 1:15, “who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.”

Christ mirrors God for believers. God is no longer isolated on some faraway mountain. He has been perfectly revealed to us in Christ. Beautiful.

Any questions on chapter three?

Review and Conclusion

Well, a quick review of the first three chapters in our closing seconds. Keep in mind as we move on to the rest of this wonderful letter, the theme: strength from weakness. We’ve seen it all throughout the first three chapters, and we’re going to keep seeing it all throughout the remaining chapters. That is a unifying theme in this letter.

And anyone ever tells you this letter should be sliced apart and made into separate? No, no, no. That theme runs throughout from beginning to end.

We saw key words in chapters 1 through 3. We need to keep looking for key words that repeat and come over and over. We saw comfort. We saw suffering. We saw glory. How many times were those three words used in these first three chapters? Suffering, comfort, and glory.

And what a wonderful way to see the theme: strength from weakness, comfort from suffering, glory from suffering. We see it throughout the first three chapters.

And another thing I think we should keep in mind as we move on to the rest of the letter is that this is Paul’s most autobiographical letter. We see Paul pouring his heart out on the page. And what a wonderful and beautiful heart we see in his love for God, his love for Christ, his love for God’s people. His love for the church, his care and concern, it’s all on the page. And what a beautiful, beautiful letter it is.

Next week we will start with chapter 4 with David teaching. I’m looking forward to that. Let’s end with our closing prayer.