Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / September 4 - 2 Corinthians 3

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September 4 - 2 Corinthians 3 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Wednesday, it's the
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  4th of September and I am chuffed as cheese that you have
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  tapped on play and invited me into your day.
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  Here we are in this crazy reality where podcasts exist,
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  and no matter what you're doing, whether you are running, whether
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  you are lying in bed, whether you are in the car or sitting
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  around the dining table, you have been able to invite me in.
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  And we get to read God's Word together.
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  And you don't have to use your hands or look at a book, but you
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  might be doing that or you might be doing something else at the
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  same time. But here we are still able to
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  invite God's Word into our daily rhythm so that you and I can
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  have these words bouncing around in our heads and our hearts
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  throughout the day so that God can use His Word, transform us.
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  Because boy, I don't know about you, friends, but I can
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  certainly use some transformation every single day.
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  Just ask my family. But that's why we do this.
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  That is why we do this. And so with that in mind, I am
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  just delighted that you continue to come here every day.
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  And if not every day, then whenever you do come here,
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  welcome. So good to have your company as
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  we can do this together. So let us do that.
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  Enough about me. Let us hear what the God of the
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  universe has to say to you and to me today as we read together
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  Second Corinthians chapter 3, are we beginning to praise
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  ourselves again? Are we like others who need to
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  bring you letters of recommendation or who ask you to
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  write such letters on their behalf?
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  Surely not. The only letter of
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  recommendation we need is you yourselves.
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  Your lives are a letter written in our hearts.
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  Everyone can read it and recognise our good work among
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  you. Clearly.
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  You are a letter from Christ showing the result of our
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  ministry among you. This letter is written not with
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  pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.
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  It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.
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  We are confident of all this because of our great trust in
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  God through Christ. It is not that we think we are
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  qualified to do anything on our own.
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  Our qualification comes from God.
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  He has enabled us to be ministers of His new covenant.
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  This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit.
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  The old written covenant ends in death, but under the new
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  covenant the Spirit gives life. The old way with laws etched in
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  stone lead to death. Though it began with such glory
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  that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses face,
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  for his face shone with the glory of God, even though the
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  brightness was already fading away, shouldn't we expect far
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  greater glory under the new way now that the Holy Spirit is
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  giving life? If the old way, which brings
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  condemnation, was glorious, how how much more glorious is the
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  new way which makes us right with God?
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  In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared
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  with the overwhelming glory of the new way.
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  So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how
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  much more glorious is the new which remains forever?
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  Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold.
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  We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the
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  people of Israel would not see the glory even though it was
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  destined to fade away. But the people's minds were
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  hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is
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  being read, the same veil covers their minds, so they cannot
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  understand the truth. And this veil can be removed
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  only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read
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  Moses writings, their hearts are covered with that veil and they
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  do not understand. But whenever someone turns to
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  the Lord, the veil is taken away, for the Lord is the
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  Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
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  freedom. So all of us who have had that
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  veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.
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  And the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like Him
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  as we are changed into His glorious image.
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  Well Jesus, this is all just a little bit mind blowing.
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  That you would give us your spirit.
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  That you would make a new covenant with us, a promise that
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  doesn't just last and then fade away for a small amount of time,
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  but lasts forever. And that in US you would plant
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  your spirit that would bring us to everlasting life.
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  With you, I'll let our lives be a love letter from you to
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  everyone around us. Let us permeate your glory so
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  that we positively glow with joy and with love and everything
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  that you bring this broken, desperately in need world.
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  Ah, we love you and we are just so humbled that you would choose
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  firstly to give us this incredible gift, but secondly to
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  invite us to be a part of the mission of sharing this in our
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  broken world that so desperately needs your presence.
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  So send us, we are ready. Transform us and may your will
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  be done here as it is in your home now.
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  We ask all of this in your name, Jesus, Amen.