{"id":18307,"date":"2017-04-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-23T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/beholding-the-lord-through-his-word-part-1\/"},"modified":"2017-04-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-23T05:00:00","slug":"beholding-the-lord-through-his-word-part-1","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/beholding-the-lord-through-his-word-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Beholding The Lord Through His Word – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[92],"series_event":[476],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[152],"class_list":["post-18307","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-2-corinthians","series_event-behold-the-lord-through-his-word","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-jim-mcgowan","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Beholding The Lord Through His Word - Part 1","sermon_date":"20170423","sermon_month":"4","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4574,"sermon_slides":4573,"sermon_mp3":4620,"sermon_id":"42317953431","series_or_event":476,"service_type":[473],"speaker":152,"books_of_the_bible":92,"chapter_and_verse":"3:18","sermon_transcript":"Dr. Jim McGowan\n\nBeholding the Lord Through His Word, Part 1\n\n4-23-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a02 Corinthians 3:18\n\nGood morning; it\u2019s such a pleasure to be here with you this morning.\u00a0 I\u2019m so excited that you\u2019re here and I just want to welcome you.\u00a0 I also want to welcome all those who are viewing by live stream and we appreciate your regular viewing of our services; we pray that they are a blessing to you.\u00a0 Just let me make a couple of comments here.\u00a0 Number 1 I want to remind\u00a0 you the reason I\u2019m here today is Pastor Woods is actually on a cruise with his wife and they\u2019re supposed to be going all over Europe for a Reformation cruise I think is what it\u2019s called.\u00a0 And you might be praying for them, that they\u2019ll have a great time of restoration and recuperation. I know he\u2019s going to be teaching two or three times there.\n\nAlso let me just mention that yesterday we received word that our dear brother, Jim Hartzog went to be with the Lord and we don\u2019t have any more details about that right now, though it will be forthcoming I\u2019m sure this week.\u00a0 But I just want to mention that and ask you to please be praying for Darlene and Savannah as they\u2019re dealing with the passing of husband and father there.\u00a0 And finally I\u2019d just like to quickly ask you to pray for my wife, Sandra, she\u2019s at home ill this morning, got up with a severe MS related migraine and all that goes with that.\u00a0 So I\u2019d appreciate that if you\u2019d keep those prayer requests in mind and pray for me also, that the Lord will use me.\u00a0 So having said that let\u2019s go to the Lord in prayer and then we\u2019ll get right started into our study this morning.\n\nHeavenly Father, what a privilege and a delight it is to serve You, to know You, to live for You, Father, and Father as we start this new miniseries on beholding the Lord through His Word my prayer is that You will speak through Me, Father God, and to me also and Father, that we all might be filled with the Spirit, might be filled with understanding and wisdom to be able to discern how important this is for us.\u00a0 And Father, I thank You for that.\u00a0 Thank\u00a0 You for always showing up when we come together as Your promised.\u00a0 Thank you for being the great and wonderful God that you are and we praise You now, in Christ\u2019s name, Amen.\n\nAll right, very good, so this morning as I just mentioned we\u2019re going to be starting a new series, it\u2019s going to be a four part series, it\u2019s entitled Beholding the Lord Through His Word, I was just informed that on my handout I had misspelled a word there so you can correct that if you want to.\n\nFirst of all, 2 Corinthians 3:18 is going to be our focal verse for our lesson today and this is our starting point and this is what it says: \u201cBut 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 from the Lord, the Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 So in our session today we\u2019re going to be diving in, digging in deeply on this verse and I\u2019m hoping that this will be a real blessing to\u00a0 you.\n\nNow just by way of information the purpose of this, Beholding the Lord Through His Word is that we want to see the living Word of God in the written Word of God.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we need here, seeing the living Word of God in the written Word of God.\u00a0 And the reason this is important is that when we\u2019re studying the Word of God we don\u2019t want to come to the Bible as if it were just information or data.\u00a0\u00a0 You know, sometimes we get caught up in the little details and the minutia and we miss the big picture.\u00a0 And the big picture in this case is that God wants us to be personally focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, who\u2019s the Living Word, as we come to the written Word.\n\nSo in upcoming sessions we\u2019ll be covering some other verses.\u00a0 First of all let me point out here that in 2 Corinthians 3:18 the most important, or focal point of this passage is that we all are beholding the glory of the Lord.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we want to focus on this morning.\u00a0 But in our next session we\u2019ll be looking at John 1:1-18 and believe it or not we\u2019re going to do all those verses in one session; come and see if I can do it.\u00a0 But the focal point there will be John 1:14, \u2026we saw His glory \u2026 full of grace and truth.\u201d\u00a0 [John 1:14, \u201cAnd the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.\u201d]\n\nAnd then we\u2019ll go into our next session and we\u2019ll look at 1 John 1:1-4 and our focal point will be verse 3, we have seen with our eyes the Word of life, and then the last session will be Hebrews 12:1-2 and we\u2019ll be focusing on the phrase \u201cfixing our eyes on Jesus.\u201d\n\n[1 John 1:1-4, \u201cWhat was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life\u2014[2] and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us\u2014[3] what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. [4] These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.\u201d\u00a0 Hebrews 12:1-2, \u201cTherefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.\u201d]\n\nSo what I want you to understand is, if I back up just for a second here, John 1:14, the Apostle John said, \u201cwe saw His glory \u2026 full of grace and truth.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Let me just make a comment about that; in all of these passages we\u2019re looking at what we\u2019re going to discover is, especially the John passage, is that what John saw personally as he walked with the Lord Jesus Christ for three\u00a0 years on planet earth, guess what?\u00a0 We\u2019re seeing the same thing through the Word of God as we behold the glory of the Lord.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure we think about that very often.\n\nSo this is great Jim, but why do we want to spend our time talking about this?\u00a0 Well, I think this is an important subject; there\u2019s some good reasons here.\u00a0 2 Corinthians 3:18 explains what happens when we behold the Lord through His Word.\u00a0 Notice what it says here, it says \u201c\u2026 being transformed into the same image from glory to glory\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 And then look at verse 1:16 here also, he says, \u201cFor of His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.\u201d\u00a0 We\u2019re going to talk a little bit, again at a later session, what this \u201cgrace upon grace\u201d means.\u00a0 You know, if we want to understand what we have all received, \u201cwe all,\u201d that includes all of us, doesn\u2019t it.\u00a0 We\u2019ve received grace upon grace.\u00a0 [2 Corinthians 3:18 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 from the Lord, the Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 John 1:16, \u201cFor of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.\u201d]\n\nIn 1 John 1:3 you\u2019ll notice here He says, \u201c\u2026our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 [1 John 1:3,\u201cWhat we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.\u201d]\u00a0 So there is an aim in this study of beholding the Lord through His Word and the aim is that we would have fellowship with the Lord Himself.\n\nAnd then in Hebrews 12:1 the focal verse there, \u201crun with endurance the race that is set before us.\u201d\u00a0 [Hebrews 12:1, \u201cTherefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,\u201d]\u00a0 So what we have in this verse is a practical spiritual reason for pursuing this idea of beholding the Lord through His Word.\u00a0 It\u2019s not just to study a book or study some content; in fact, the reason, the purpose is that these things, as we study these things they will have an impact on our life spiritually.\n\nSo as we proceed forward in our verse here let\u2019s do something a little interesting and different.\u00a0 I\u2019m\n\ngoing to direct you to our website.\u00a0 We often get questions from people, well, you know, where\u2019s your website and where can I find this and where can I find that.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to help you a little bit this morning.\u00a0 So this is what our main page looks like mostly.\u00a0 And we\u2019re going to go look at the section of our webpage here that deals with what we believe.\u00a0 That\u2019s our statement of belief page, so the first thing you do is you go to the About button there and then you\u2019ll get a drop down and when the drop down comes up you\u2019ll see Statement of Beliefs.\u00a0 And then you\u2019ll come to a whole list of our beliefs.\u00a0 Has anybody been on our website before and looked at these things?\u00a0 Well if you haven\u2019t I\u2019d encourage you to go look at these, find out what we believe and stand for here.\n\nSo the first thing we want to do is we want to look at what our beliefs are about the Bible, Scripture, and notice what it says here. \u00a0\u201cThe Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are the verbally inspired and inerrant Word of God.<\/strong>\u00a0 Divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts and words of the Bible, so that the whole Bible, in the original manuscripts, is without error.\u00a0 The Bible is God\u2019s revelation to man and is therefore the final authority for all Christian faith and practice.\u201d\u00a0 And this is based off of 2 Peter 3:16-17. \u00a0So that\u2019s what we have on our website.\n\nI thought I would play with this a little bit and maybe try to reword it, maybe give it a little bit fuller meaning, so I came up with this, basically I\u2019m saying the very same thing, just restating it:\u00a0 We believe that all the authors of the entire Old and New Testament wrote by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 In other words, they were verbally inspired.\u00a0 And the books are completely inerrant and infallible in the original writings.\u00a0 They are the final authority for faith and practice.\u00a0 And notice what I have highlighted here, this is the really important part of this statement, \u201cand the means\u201d what?\u00a0 The Word of God, is \u201cthe means through which believers behold Christ.\u201d\n\nYou know, sometimes people say you know, if I had just lived back there when Jesus was walking on the planet, you know, I could have been one of those disciples and I could have, you know, I could have touched Him and talked to Him and all of these things.\u00a0 And yet the Apostle Paul, as we mentioned a minute ago, revealed to us that through the Scriptures we in fact are beholding the Lord, and what an amazing thing that is because we have a complete canon, we have information that wasn\u2019t fully developed until the book of Revelation was completed.\n\nAll right, now that\u2019s not all I want to bring to your attention.\u00a0 I want to say this, that our Bible is not just we believe this and our Bible is not just some dry dusty piece of doctrine, you know, we in Bible churches are often attacked for that, you know, that we\u2019re just dusty, dry and all that, but that\u2019s not what we\u2019re talking about here.\u00a0 The Word of God is not merely an ancient doctrine but it is that, right?\u00a0 But it\u2019s also the means by which, as we said here, we behold Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to me how people find it so difficult to get in the Word of God, to study the Bible.\u00a0 Many people struggle with that for various reasons and many times when we encounter people who are immature believers maybe they\u2019ve been saved for a long but they\u2019re immature believers as we investigate the reason for that what we discover is they don\u2019t have an actual time set aside on a regular basis where they\u2019re beholding the Lord and His Word.\u00a0 We simply cannot grow the way that God wants us to if we\u2019re not personally encountering the Lord Jesus Christ through the Word of God.\n\nAll right, the next slide that I\u2019m putting up here is not a part of our statement of belief\u00a0 but it brings up a similar theme and a concept that I\u2019m expressing here are taken directly from the Word of God and it deals with the life and the walk of believers.\u00a0 So let\u2019s see what we have here.\n\n\u201cWe believe that every believer possesses the life of Christ and grows in the grace and knowledge of Christ through the Holy Spirit, who fills the believer with the things of Christ. This occurs as the believer beholds Christ in the Word of God<\/u>, as he walks by faith, moment by moment abiding in Christ. The believer is to walk and rest in the eternally established identity that he possesses by virtue of his faith in the crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended and seated person of Christ (which by the way is your position) and his identification with Him in these things. Christ\u2019s life is then lived in the believer,\u201d notice that, \u201cChrist\u2019s life is then lived in the believer which is evident to those who do not know Christ and to those who share Christ\u2019s life.\u201d\n\nWhat a wonderful statement that is.\u00a0 As we said, we don\u2019t want the Bible to be just something we know more and more about.\u00a0 You know, Andy has said before and I\u2019ve encountered people in the cults, many times, who know the Word of God much better than I do.\u00a0 They\u2019re able to quote portions of Scripture that I could never quote.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not just about data, it\u2019s not just about knowing more and more, in fact, it\u2019s the living and the life and the walk of the believer that\u2019s to be impacted by the Word of God.\u00a0 If all we\u2019re doing is taking in information and it\u2019s not impacting us at a practical level something\u2019s wrong; there\u2019s a disconnect.\n\nAll right, so all of that is introduction to get us to the verse and the verse is here.\u00a0 2 Corinthians 3:18.\u00a0 So we\u2019re going to tear this verse apart this morning so let\u2019s start with this very first phrase.\u00a0 The first phrase that comes across here is \u201cBut we all.\u201d\u00a0 This is a very important phase; Paul is including all those who believe.\u00a0 Of course he\u2019s writing to those who are with him; he\u2019s also writing to the believers there in Corinth because this letter is to the Corinthians.\u00a0 But he\u2019s also writing to us, so we\u2019re all included here.\u00a0 And this is good news for us because the rest of what he\u2019s going to say is very important.\n\nSo Paul is applying this comment, this statement, this verse to all of us; every believer here this morning is included in what Paul was about to say.\u00a0 So guess what, it isn\u2019t a matter of, you know, everyone except for one or two, or just a select group; every single believer this morning that\u2019s present and those listening by the way, there are no exceptions, there is no privileged class, some don\u2019t get it and some not, every single believer here is intended in this expression \u201cwe all.\u201d\u00a0 So what is it that we want to talk about here with this \u201cwe all\u201d?\u00a0 He says, \u201cwe all with unveiled face,\u201d unveiled face!\u00a0 What?\u00a0 What is an \u201cunveiled face?\u201d\n\nWell, in order for us to understand what he\u2019s saying here in this verse we need to go to the extended context which just happens to be a few verses above this, and look what he says here.\u00a0 The Apostle Paul is writing and he says, \u201cand [we] are<\/em> not like Moses, who<\/em> used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. [14] \u00a0But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. [25] But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; [16] but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.\u201d\n\nSo, if we back up to our previous verse here, he says, \u201cwe all with unveiled face,\u201d he\u2019s telling us something very important here, that we are not under the Law.\u00a0 This being veiled, that this verse here talks about, having the veil over your face, it is anything that has to do with Moses, it\u2019s anything\u2026 listening to Moses, it\u2019s reading the Law of Moses, whatever that you\u2019re doing that you\u2019re substituting in the place of grace is putting a veil over your eyes and over your face.\u00a0 Having a veil over your head or over your heart of over your eyes is removed, notice, only when a person turns to the Lord in faith.\u00a0 In other words, calling upon the Lord\u2019s grace and not the Law, not upon the works of the Law.\n\nNotice, the Law does not have anything to contribute to beholding the Lord through His Word.\u00a0 It\u2019s an unveiled face, it\u2019s without the Law.\u00a0 The Law has no involvement in this beholding process for the believer.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026with unveiled face,\u201d \u201cbeholding the Lord\u201d does not get improved one bit by bringing in any number of laws or commandments from the old law.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t help.\u00a0 How many laws were there under the Mosaic system?\u00a0 613 laws, none of them will help us as believers in beholding the Lord.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t help.\u00a0 We all as believers we have an unveiled face.\u00a0 This is critically important.\u00a0 The believer\u2019s beholding of the Lord is not enhanced by the Law because the Law is what?\u00a0 What does the Scripture say?\u00a0 The Law is a veil, isn\u2019t it?\n\nI can sort of give you an illustration of what Paul is trying to say here, bear with me here, no illustration is perfect but maybe this will help a little bit.\u00a0 If I said that I have a hundred dollar bill up here, I don\u2019t, but if I said I had one and if I said to you the first person that can identify that hundred dollar bill gets it, all right, so I\u2019ve got that hundred dollar bill up here and you\u2019re looking for it, right.\u00a0 But then I say to you, put your hands over your eyes.\u00a0 So you put your hands over your eyes and I say not find that hundred dollar bill.\u00a0 Well you say Jim, that\u2019s ludicrous.\u00a0 Well, guess what, as a believer when we try to go back into the Law what are we doing?\u00a0 We are putting a veil back over our face and we cannot behold the Lord in His Word the way we should.\u00a0 It\u2019s not going to do any good if I have my hands over my eyes, is it.\u00a0 So reinstating the rule of Law does not help believers to behold the Lord.\u00a0 It\u2019s an important point that Paul is making here.\n\nThe next expression here is \u201cbeholding as in a mirror\u201d this is a very interesting word; these are five words in English that are actually translated from just one word in the Greek.\u00a0 All right, you ready for it; I know we have some Greek students out there.\u00a0 The verb is kataptrizomai<\/em>, [kataptrizomai] everybody say that three times, kataptrizomai<\/em>, and it means to look into a polished first surfaced mirror.\u00a0 All right, what is a first surfaced mirror?\u00a0 In Paul\u2019s day they didn\u2019t have clear glass, in fact, the glass was generally bubbly or it was warped or it even had some form of coloration in it.\u00a0 So Paul\u2019s not alluding here to looking through a clear piece of glass with a silver back like we have today in our modern mirrors.\u00a0 That\u2019s not what he\u2019s saying.\u00a0 Instead, a mirror in Paul\u2019s day was a piece of metal that had been polished, and in fact over time it would tarnish.\n\nSo because of that it was not uncommon for them to actually tie a polishing cloth to the mirror because every time you came to the mirror guess what you had to do?\u00a0 You had to polish it before you could use it.\u00a0 I actually have a couple of pictures here, these are Corinthian mirrors in this slide here and they\u2019re from the British Museum and you can get an idea\u2026 ladies, how would you like that mirror on the left there?\u00a0 If we just put one of those up in your room and you could use those to put your makeup on.\u00a0 Do you think you\u2019d do a very good job with that?\u00a0 Guys, how about shaving?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know about\u00a0 you, I have a hard enough time keeping from nicking my face with a good mirror, if you put one of these kinds of things up there I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d do.\n\nDid you know that the city of Corinth was famed for its mirrors?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that interesting?\u00a0 Paul, why are you talking about mirrors here when you\u2019re talking to the Corinthians?\u00a0 I mean, come on, really, what difference does that make.\u00a0 Well, there was a reason, wasn\u2019t there.\u00a0 The Corinthians were known for their mirrors.\u00a0 So Paul was using something that was a part of their culture to bring spiritual truth to them.\u00a0 I find that fascinating.\n\nIn 1 Corinthians 13:12 Paul again uses this word \u201cmirror,\u201d this time it\u2019s not the verb but it\u2019s the noun, and he says, \u201cFor now we see in a mirror dimly,\u201d does that make a little more sense to you now, when he says \u201cwe see in a mirror dimly,\u201d do you understand what he meant?\u00a0 You know, it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re getting old like me, if I take my glasses off I can\u2019t see anything.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s not what he\u2019s talking about; he\u2019s saying\u2026 they\u2019re looking at this mirror that has to be polished so they look in that mirror dimly, but then, he\u2019s talking about when there\u2019s going to come a time when we\u2019ll be face to face; \u00a0we know in part now, but we will know fully just as also we have been fully known\u201d he says here.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 13:12, \u201cFor now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.\u201d]\n\nBy the way, the word here for mirror, again for you Greek lovers, is \u2018ejso\"ptrou, and we find it in this verse and notice we also find it over here in James 1:22-24, very same word.\u00a0 Now let\u2019s see what we have here.\u00a0 \u201cBut prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. [23] For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;\u201d now look at the last part of this verse, it\u2019s going to make more sense to you now,\u00a0 [24] \u201cfor once<\/em> he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.\u201d\u00a0 Well what kind of mirror is he looking in.\u00a0 He\u2019s looking in that first surface mirror that doesn\u2019t have a good image anyway.\n\nSo isn\u2019t it interesting here as we consider this that in all three of these verses, if we back up we have 3:18, \u201cbeholding as in a mirror.\u201d\u00a0 We have 1 Corinthians 13:12, talking about seeing in a mirror, [13:12, \u201cwe see in a mirror dimly,\u201d] and we have James talking about a mirror. [James 1:23, \u201clooks at his natural face in a mirror;\u201d]\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that in fact in each one of these passages the mirror is actually representing the Word of God.\u00a0 It\u2019s representing the Word of God!\u00a0\u00a0 So, \u201cbut we all with unveiled face\u201d what are doing?\u00a0 We\u2019re \u201cbeholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.\u201d\n\nThe next phrase is \u201cthe glory of the Lord,\u201d we need to stop for just a second and ask this question: what in the world is \u201cglory\u201d?\u00a0 Oh, oh, I know, it\u2019s the Shekinah glory of God that appears on Mount Sinai\u2026 yeah, that\u2019s true, but what is glory?\u00a0 What is it really.\u00a0 Let me give you a definition of glory.\n\nGlory is the radiant essence of who God is.\u00a0 Let me say that again: Gory is the radiant essence of who God is.\u00a0 And then we can tack onto that the fact that all glory is derived from God because He is, in fact, the ultimate source of glory, isn\u2019t He?\n\nRevelation 21:23 and Revelation 22:5 have some interesting things about this issue of the glory of God.\u00a0 And look what it says here.\u00a0 It says, [Revelation 21:23]\u201cAnd the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 22:5]\u00a0 \u201cAnd there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s rather fascinating, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Have you stopped to think about the fact that here he\u2019s talking about the fact that the new heavens and the new earth won\u2019t have any sun.\u00a0 That\u2019s what he says.\u00a0 Well, the question is everything going to be dark then? \u00a0We just answered that, haven\u2019t we?\u00a0 NO, of course not, because\u2026 let\u2019s put this definition of glory in here: the radiant essence of who God is will be a replacement for the sun and the artificial lights that we currently have.\u00a0 Everything in the new heavens and new earth will be lit up by the radiant essence of who God is.\u00a0 So that\u2019s a pretty good definition, isn\u2019t it: glory is the radiant essence of who God is.\u00a0 We\u2019re not overstating that when we say that either.\n\nLet me point something else out about this word \u201cglory.\u201d\u00a0 Look at John 17:24 here, John 17, of course is a part of the Upper Room Discourse, isn\u2019t it, and so what is about to happen right after the Upper Room Discourse?\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be the crucifixion, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 So have you ever noticed that if somebody is about to die and they know that, that we become more interested in what they have to say and share and they become more concerned about what they say and share?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that interesting.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because you know that this is it, I don\u2019t have much time left, I really need to emphasize the things that are important to me.\u00a0 And look at what we have here.\u00a0 This is a prayer, Jesus says, \u201cFather, I desire that they also whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am,\u201d why?\u00a0 Why does He want that, \u201cso that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.\u201d\n\nThis is an amazing prayer right here because Christ is praying for you and me in this prayer.\u00a0 He had you and me in mind when He prayed this.\u00a0 That should give special emphasis as\u00a0 you read this passage.\u00a0 It should be more impactful to you as\u00a0 you read it.\u00a0 Christ prayed for you and me.\u00a0 What did He pray?\u00a0 Well, that our seeing of His glory, what He\u2019s telling us is that that is important to Him.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to Him, He prays that we would see His glory and interestingly enough isn\u2019t that what we have again in our verse, 2 Corinthians 2:18, that we\u2019re actually \u201cbeholding\u201d the Lord through His Word.\u00a0 We\u2019re \u201cbeholding \u2026 the glory of the Lord\u201d aren\u2019t we?\u00a0 That\u2019s actually what He prayed would happen, and it is happening.\u00a0 That\u2019s an answer to prayer.\n\nThe next part of the verse we\u2019re going to look at here is \u201care being transformed\u201d and I have \u201cbeholding as in a mirror\u201d also underlined there because we\u2019re \u201cbeholding\u201d and as we\u2019re \u201cbeholding\u201d something is happening; the Greek verb here again, we\u2019ve already mentioned, the thing I want you to know about this verb here is that it is a present tense verb.\u00a0 Why is that important Jim?\u00a0 Well, because it is conveying an ongoing action, notice now, on our part, \u201cbeholding as in a mirror,\u201d who\u2019s doing the beholding here?\u00a0 It\u2019s the \u201cwe all, with unveiled face,\u201d that\u2019s you and I,\u00a0 you and me.\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 It\u2019s an ongoing action on our part. It\u2019s an ongoing process where we take personal, private and corporate time to behold the Lord through His Word.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something done once and you\u2019re finished.\u00a0 It always amazes me when I encounter people again who will say to me, and I\u2019ve had this said to me on more than one occasion, well, you know, I don\u2019t really need to study that topic, I studied that two years ago, or I studied it five\u00a0 years ago.\u00a0 Well, I attended a class on that, you know, five\u00a0 years ago.\u00a0 That always amazes me because God\u2019s Word is living, is it not?\u00a0 I don\u2019t care how much time you spend in the Word of God you are never ever, ever, ever going to exalt the living nature of the Word of God.\u00a0 You are always going to find life coming from it. God\u2019s intention is for us, for this process to be an ongoing process, this beholding, an ongoing process in the life of the believer.\n\nThe next expression, \u201care being transformed,\u201d this again is the Greek word that we\u2019ve mentioned but I want to point out to you that in this instance this verb is also a present tense but it\u2019s a present passive verb.\u00a0 Well what does that mean?\u00a0 Well, since it\u2019s a present tense again it\u2019s conveying a real on the point action but let\u2019s notice now who is doing the action here.\u00a0 What does the end of the verse say, it says, \u201cthe Lord, the Spirit.\u201d \u00a0So the beholding, who\u2019s doing the \u201cbeholding\u201d?\u00a0 We\u2019re doing the \u201cbeholding.\u201d\u00a0 Who\u2019s doing the transforming?\u00a0 The Lord, the Spirit, right?\u00a0 So it\u2019s a present tense, it\u2019s an ongoing process that the Holy Spirit is doing as we behold the Lord through His Word.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also passive, it indicates that we receive that action, we behold, that\u2019s our doing, but the being transformed is the work of the Holy Spirit.\n\nHey folks, I have news for you!\u00a0 We don\u2019t transform ourselves.\u00a0 Did you get that? It\u2019s an ongoing work of the Spirit upon each believer as he or she beholds the Lord through His Word.\u00a0 So we ae being transformed as we\u2019re beholding in a mirror the glory of the Lord through His written Word.\u00a0 Let me ask you a question: Is the written word read different from hearing it?\u00a0 Have you thought about that?\u00a0 When you look at this verse it says \u201cbeholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,\u201d that\u2019s the Word of God, and we \u201care being transformed,\u201d my question again is the word read different from hearing it?\u00a0 Well, actually it\u2019s not different; you can learn both ways.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 In the beginning of the book of Revelation does it say? \u00a0Blessed is he who reads and\u201d what? \u201chear the words of this\u201d book.\u00a0 Reading and hearing, both of them are means by which we can behold the Lord through His Word.\n\nNow that\u2019s important to us because there are people all over the country, right now in different parts of the world even, who are listening to this message and if they\u2019re not listening right now at some point they\u2019re going to go out to our archives and they\u2019re going to listen to it.\u00a0 So they\u2019re going to be hearing the Word of God.\u00a0 There are lots of people that aren\u2019t as fortunate as you and I are to have a wonderful building here, Sugar Land Bible Church, and to have a gifted teacher like Pastor Woods but guess what?\u00a0 They can listen and watch our live streaming and our video archives and they too can \u201cbehold the glory of the Lord and be transformed.\u201d\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that amazing.\u00a0 They\u2019re also learning about the beholding the Lord.\u00a0 So we said that being transformed is not something that we do; it\u2019s something that is done to us as a ministry of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 It\u2019s the Holy Spirit\u2019s work in our hearts and minds and lives.\n\n\u201c\u2026into the same image,\u201d this is an interesting expression, this refers to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ and notice that this is very similar to what we had in Romans 8:28-29, \u201cAnd we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His<\/em> purpose. [29] For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become<\/em> conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;\u201d\u00a0 Romans 8:29 reveals one of two ways that a believer is made into the image of Christ.\u00a0 It refers to God\u2019s conforming processes.\n\nBut notice again that 2 Corinthians 3:18 talks about God\u2019s transforming process.\u00a0 Romans 8:28 tells us that God works all things together for good but for what good?\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 What is the good?\u00a0 And then the question that we have to ask is does this mean that everything is good.\u00a0 And of course the answer is no; as a matter of fact, some things are downright horrible.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the wonderful part of this for the life of a believer\u2014no matter how bad things are guess what? \u00a0They are still for the good ultimately in the life of the believer because God will use those circumstances to conform us to the image of Christ.\n\nGod\u2019s pretty amazing isn\u2019t He?\u00a0 So God\u2019s conforming processes, notice, drive us to His Word.\u00a0 These conforming processes generally are external things in our lives; they should drive us to His Word and when they drive us to the Word then guess what happens?\u00a0 That activates God\u2019s transforming processes in our lives.\u00a0 They have the same end, which is being conformed to the image of Christ but they\u2019re different in terms of processes.\n\nLet\u2019s talk for a second on this word \u201cimage.\u201d\u00a0 What do we mean by this?\u00a0 The Greek word is eik\u014dn<\/em><\/em> [\u03b5\u1f30\u03ba\u03cc\u03bd] and it\u2019s the word from which we get icon, if you have a Windows operating system or a Mac they use icons, don\u2019t they.\u00a0 But the thing you need to understand is that this image here being referred to doesn\u2019t mean an exact representation of something or someone.\u00a0 We can see that clearly here in Luke 20:23-24 where the very same word is used.\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about Jesus, it says, \u201cBut He detected their trickery and said to them, [24] \u2018Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?\u2019 They said, \u2018Caesar\u2019s.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 Well obviously \u201cimage\u201d here doesn\u2019t mean an exact representation because if it were then there would have to be a little live Caesar roaming around inside that coin somewhere.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 So it\u2019s a representation but it\u2019s not an exact representation.\n\nSo we see in 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 8:29, in both cases there\u2019s this word \u201cimage.\u201d\u00a0 So what does it mean, if it\u2019s not an exact representation what does it mean?\u00a0 It means that God is changing your and my image and He\u2019s doing so as a spiritual process.\u00a0 It\u2019s a conforming process and it\u2019s a transforming process.\u00a0 We\u2019re being changed into\u2026 now this is interesting, we\u2019re being changed into Christ\u2019s spiritual character, in every respect except for His deity.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, \u201cFor now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face;\u201d and what\u2019s this \u201cface to face\u201d?\u00a0 What\u2019s the significant part about that?\u00a0 Well, once we see Christ face to face then what\u2019s going to happen?\u00a0 We\u2019re going to be known fully, right?\n\n1 John 3:2 says that when that happens that \u201cwe will be like Him, because we will see Him just as he is.\u201d\u00a0 But the important thing that we have to understand in these passages is that He\u2019s talking here about the character, the image of Christ\u2019s character being formed in us.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re going to become little Jesus\u2019s; it doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re going to become little Christs, right?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s not an exact representation but it\u2019s our character.\u00a0 We will never be deity; Christ will always uniquely be deity.\n\nBut what\u2019s cool about this?\u00a0 Well, what we know is that we\u2019re going to be like Him physically, aren\u2019t we?\u00a0 How many can\u2019t wait for that, I\u2019ll be so glad to get my new body, right.\u00a0 I saw one or two hands out there, for the rest of you, we\u2019ll have a prayer time for repenting for lying later\u2026 Yeah, I mean, we all want that new body, don\u2019t we.\u00a0 A new body!\u00a0 We\u2019re going to have a new mind, right?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that wonderful.\u00a0 So presently we\u2019re being made like Christ in character through His conforming and transforming processes and ultimately the only way in which we will not be like Him is in His deity.\u00a0 He will always uniquely have that but we will have a body like His, and we will have His character.\u00a0 But guess what?\u00a0 That\u2019s not pie in the sky because we are right now being changed into the image of Christ.\n\nThe next expression, \u201cfrom glory to glory.\u201d\u00a0 I want to point out to you here that God is already working within us how He will have us to be for all eternity.\u00a0 We are moving in the direction of full conformity and transformation.\u00a0 God is not telling us to wait to get ready to heaven and then He\u2019ll fix everything.\u00a0 He\u2019s telling us that He is at work right now in you and me and as time passes in this life we are being made more and more fit for heaven.\u00a0 And there will come a day when we will be completely and ultimately transformed and conformed into the image of Christ as we said, with a body like His and that will happen when we face Him face to face.\n\nSo this expression \u201cfrom glory to glory,\u201d this is an interesting expression.\u00a0 Paul has a tendency to use this type of expression in others of his writing and that kinds of helps us understand what he\u2019s really saying here.\u00a0 If we look at, for example, 2 Corinthians 15:16 notice what he says here.\u00a0 \u201cFor we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; [16] to the one an aroma\u201d and look what he says, \u201cfrom death to death,\u201d and then \u201cto the other an aroma from life to life.\u201d\u00a0 So we see we have glory to glory, death to death and life to life.\u00a0 \u00a0What in the world is he talking about here?\n\nWell, this is actually a way he is expressing growth so what he\u2019s saying is that for the believer there is more life, we go from life to life, for the unbeliever they\u2019re going from death to death.\u00a0 For the believer we\u2019re going from glory to more glory, right now that\u2019s happening.\u00a0 Our spiritual growth is life to life and glory to glory.\u00a0 It\u2019s growing and increasing and again how is this happening?\u00a0 Are we doing this?\u00a0 No, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.\u00a0 This going from glory to glory\u00a0 that he\u2019s talking about here is not a result of our trying really hard to be glorious.\u00a0 There\u2019s no value, there\u2019s no benefit in us trying to be glorious.\u00a0 You can do whatever you want to with your makeup, you can get plastic surgery, but nothing you can do is going to increase the glory apart from what the Lord does.\u00a0 And by the way, I\u2019m not just picking on you, there are a lot of guys that wear makeup and get plastic surgery too.\n\nWe\u2019re not trying to be worthy of Christ\u2019s glory; that\u2019s not the process that we\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 It\u2019s a process that is resulting, as we see here, from a ministry of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 And this is very important because it\u2019s transforming the believer; we\u2019re growing from glory to glory to the next level of glory.\u00a0 That\u2019s what God is doing in our lives right now as we behold Him in His Word.\u00a0 This is so fascinating when you stop and think about the ministry of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit is the one who brings the Word of God to us.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 How was the Bible written?\u00a0 Well, the Bible was written by the inspiration of the Spirit and we understand it.\u00a0 How do we\u00a0 understand the Word of God?\u00a0 We understand it by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 And then we\u2019re transformed as a result of it; by what? By the ministry of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 But we want to be careful here, we want to recognize the fact that the Holy Spirit is involved in the entire process of bringing the Word to us and us to the Word.\n\nBut the question I want to ask\u00a0 you here is who\u2019s getting the attention?\u00a0 It\u2019s not the Holy Spirit that\u2019s the focal point, is it?\u00a0 Even though the Holy Spirit is involved throughout the entire process the focal point is the Word.\u00a0 So what does the Holy Spirit do?\u00a0 He directs our attention to Christ as we\u2019re beholding Christ in the Word of God, and He\u2019s transforming us through that.\n\nIn Romans 8 we find out that we are in the Spirit but we\u2019re also in Christ.\u00a0 Both Christ and the Spirit are said to be in us.\u00a0 And guess what?\u00a0 These are similar relationships but they\u2019re not the same because the Holy Spirit has different ministries.\u00a0 So now we come to what I call the expanded and explained part and I\u2019ll quickly say this is not about me because I don\u2019t want to be expanded any further and I certainly can\u2019t be explained, just ask my wife.\n\nBut if we take 2 Corinthians 3:18 [2 Corinthians 3:18, \u201cBut 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 from the Lord, the Spirit\u201d]\u00a0 and if we apply everything that we\u2019ve said thus far, here\u2019s what we come up with.\u00a0 This is a little wordy but I think it\u2019ll help us.\u00a0 \u201cBut all of us who are in Christ, with a face that is not veiled by the law, having died in relationship to the Law and living by God\u2019s amazing grace are right now continuing to behold as we read and hear the written Word of God, seeing as one who looks in a mirror, the glory which is what? The radiant essence of who Christ (or God) is, the glory that comes from Christ Himself, and we are in fact in the very process of being changed and transformed into the same spiritual character, growing from one level of Christ\u2019s glory to the next and every part of this beholding and transformation is from the God-given ministry of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Wow, all of that is in that verse?\u00a0 It actually is.\u00a0 Wow!\n\nThis is an amazing passage because growing as a ministry of the Holy Spirit in the radiant essence of who God is is what it\u2019s telling us about.\u00a0 God wants\u00a0 you and me as we behold the Lord through His Word to be growing in the radiant essence of who God is and He wants us to be changed.\u00a0 And we are being changed in the direction, we\u2019re headed in a direction which is going to be who we are for all eternity.\u00a0 We\u2019re actually catching up with who we are in our position. We\u2019re getting ready for heaven, right now, and this is all God\u2019s workings.\u00a0 As we behold the Lord through His Word this morning we\u2019re not just getting spiritual data, we\u2019re being made ready for that day when we will see Him face to face.\u00a0 In other words, every time we\u2019re beholding the Lord through the Word it\u2019s getting ready time.\u00a0 God is getting us ready.\n\nNow this is very interesting and brings up a contrast.\u00a0 When we stop and we think about what\u2019s happening in the life of the believer with respect to what\u2019s happening in the life of the unbeliever look at this: if we think of this in terms of a funnel, right, the unbeliever\u2019s life starts out full of all kinds of things and as they progress through their life it narrows and it narrows and it narrows and it narrows and it narrows.\u00a0 And if they never come to Christ then what\u2019s waiting for them is the Lake of Fire.\n\nBut notice for the believer it\u2019s just the other way around.\u00a0 For the believer we start out\u2026 we started out as unbelievers, right, and then we get saved, and as we behold the Lord and His Word, what happens to us?\u00a0 We\u2019re growing in glory, we\u2019re growing in life and our funnel is getting wider.\u00a0 And the longer we live and the more we\u2019re growing and the more we\u2019re beholding that funnel gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger until ultimately we\u2019re either raptured or we die and we\u2019re joined with God in heaven.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that exciting, to think about that?\u00a0 For the believer the funnel is growing and it\u2019s getting wider and wider until we go home to see the Lord face to face.\u00a0 So getting ready, folks, is what we\u2019re doing right now.\n\nThat brings us to this chart and this is an important chart.\u00a0 Beholding the Lord is an essential aspect of our fellowship with Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s not just some little separate spiritual process that goes on and it\u2019s certainly not an intellectual one.\u00a0 It\u2019s a part of our fellowship with Christ Himself.\u00a0 In John 15 we read of Christ\u2019s call to \u201cabide in Me,\u201d to depend\u00a0 upon Him and have intimacy with Him,\u00a0 In other words, have continual fellowship with Him.\u00a0 [John 15:4, \u201cAbide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.\u201d\u00a0 John 15:7, \u201cIf you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.\u201d]\n\nAbiding in Christ is also an aspect of the fellowship with Him that conveys our continual dependence and intimacy with Christ.\u00a0 So when we talk about beholding the Lord through His Word sometimes people want to say well what is this beholding anyway, and it is part of our intimacy and fellowship with Christ.\u00a0 So in John 15 when Christ says \u201cAbide in Me,\u201d He\u2019s not talking about something that\u2019s wildly different; He\u2019s talking about the fact that this is connected with beholding the Lord.\n\nIn Romans 6:11 and Galatians 2:19-20 we see these expressions being alive to God or living to God and being alive to God to God refers to our ongoing fellowship with God based on who we are \u201cin Christ.\u201d\u00a0 It has to do with fellowship and it has to do with relationship.\u00a0 A relationship is what we actually have as believers all the time.\u00a0 Fellowship, however, is the living out of that relationship.\u00a0 If you\u2019re a believer you have a relationship with the Lord and the fellowship is the living out of that relationship.\u00a0 [Romans 6:11, \u201cEven so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 Galatians 2:19-20, \u201cFor through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. [20] I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life<\/em> which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.\u201d]\n\nSo when we use terms like relationship and fellowship we want to be very careful that we don\u2019t use them interchangeably; they\u2019re not the same thing.\u00a0 Fellowship again is the ongoing living out of the relationship that already exists.\u00a0 So Colossians 3:1-4 says this, \u201cTherefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. [3] For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.\u201d\u00a0 Now that\u2019s the New American Standard Version.\n\nI\u2019m going to give\u00a0 you an expanded and explained version of this.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to read a little differently because it\u2019s based on the Greek, and so we would read it this way:\u00a0 \u201cTherefore if you have been raised up with Christ, you must keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] You must keep on setting your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. [3] \u00a0For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] \u00a0When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.\u201d\u00a0 What a wonderful thing to know.\u00a0 This keep on seeking things above, where are we going to learn about things that are above?\u00a0 We learn about that in the Word of God.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 So if we\u2019re beholding the Lord through His Word we\u2019re seeking the things that are above.\n\nSo that brings us to our conclusion.\u00a0 This is all about fellowship, this beholding the Lord.\u00a0 The purpose is, and it\u2019s going to go on into eternity.\u00a0 What God is doing in us through these processes is in fact what\u2019s going to happen through all eternity.\u00a0 Setting our minds on things above, as we said, is not just about location, it\u2019s about fellowship with Christ; it\u2019s dealing with spiritual reality and it\u2019s about focusing on Him.\u00a0 It has to do with fellowship with Him, beholding the Lord through His Word is personal fellowship with Him based on a relationship that\u2019s already been established.\u00a0 Our beholding the living Word of God through the written Word of God, notice, is an essential aspect of our fellowship with Him.\u00a0 It\u2019s essential and I\u2019m going to close with this:\u00a0 We don\u2019t get closer by bypassing our beholding of the living Word of God through the written Word of God.\u00a0 It\u2019s not incidental, it\u2019s essential.\u00a0 So let\u2019s close in prayer.\n\nHeavenly Father, my earnest prayer is that something that was brought out today will peak the curiosity, the interest of my brothers and sisters in Christ here and that it would cause them to want to go further in the understanding of these issues.\u00a0 My prayer, Father, is that each of us might be more diligent in our focus on the Word of God, that we might understand that as we behold Christ the living Word and the written Word that we grow from life to life, we grow from glory to glory, that we\u2019re becoming more day by day who we already are in our position, and that You\u2019re getting us ready for eternity.\u00a0 And my great hope, Father, is that we would meditate on these things and that would then take these things out to a lost and dying world, a world that is without hope, a world that so desperately needs to hear\u00a0 these wonderful truths.\u00a0 And I thank You for moving in our hearts, I thank\u00a0 You for what You\u2019ve done this morning in the service and what you\u2019re going to do in the next service.\u00a0 Thank You so much for those present, Father, just bless them, bless those that are listening and watching and we give You the glory now.\u00a0 In Christ\u2019s name, Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t