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Seeing and Savouring the Glory of Jesus ~ 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 4:3-6! March 23, 2014 ~ New City Church of Calgary ~ Pastor John Ferguson!

Intro: John Newton, Amazing Grace - Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound / That saved a wretch like me / I once was lost, but now Im found / Was blind but now I see.! Newton speaks of a spiritual seeing in contrast to his former spiritual blindness. Have you ever wondered what he was talking about? And what was it that caused him to say this? !

! We live in an age when spirituality is a popular topic. But what is spirituality? ! !

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Exploring: You will learn what Christianity means when it speaks about spirituality. Specically, true !! ! spirituality is a work of the Spirit of God in which ones eyes are opened to see the greatness and majesty ! of the Lord Jesus Christ. IOW, what it means to be a Christian is to be irresistibly drawn to the person and ! work of the Lord Jesus Christ in such a way that you move from nding him mildly interesting to seeing his ! glory in such a way that one actually nds delight in savoring him. ! It is possible to speak highly of Jesus, but not highly enough.! Napoleon Bonaparte: I know men; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man." Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison." Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires." But on what did we rest the creations of our genius?" Upon force!" Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.! Albert Einstein: I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous gure of the Nazarene. Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrase-mongers, however artful. No man can read the Gospels without feel the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word.! Its possible to speak highly of Jesus, but not highly enough. Its possible to be a fan of Jesus, and still completely miss WHO he is and not get him nor the implications of his life for yours. ! Christian: You will grow in your awareness of the Spirits work in your life, and youll be more encouraged to push aside anything that gets in your way of seeing and savoring your Lord Jesus.!

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The season of Lent this year nds us focusing on the Gift that Jesus died to give his disciplesthe Gift of the Holy Spirit. And before he died, Jesus said that this Gift will glorify him. ! Question: How does the Holy Spirit glorify Jesus? And how does understanding this enable us to keep in step with the Spirit to live the kind of lLife Jesus died to give us?! Seeing and Savouring the Glory of Jesus ~ 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 & 4:3-6! Look for (1) the work of the Spirit; and (2) the glory of Christ!

Context: Paul was a zealous, religious terrorist hunting down new Christians and overseeing their incarcerations and executions. Then Paul had an amazing conversion experience in which he met the resurrected Jesus. ! Now, looking back on his experience, he admitted that he was blind to the truth of Jesus. His heart was not ready to receive the Gospel. It was like he had a veil over his his heart. But that all changes when the Spirit of the Lord works deeply within a personwhat the Bible calls conversionand enables them to see the glory of Christ. Paul says, When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.!
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3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.!

4: 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. 6 For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.!

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The Spirit reveals Christ.! 2 Cor. 4:4, speaks of the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ! Not a vague, impersonal glory such is found in a glorious sunset or a glorious mountain view. ! ! This is the glory of a person, that is, it is the glory of the person of Jesus Christ.! J. Edwards, A Divine & Supernatural Light : There is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness When the heart is sensible of the beauty and amiableness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the apprehension. ! To have a sense of the glory of the person of Jesus Christ, and to delight in him is the work of the Spirit bringing glory to Jesus.!

! 2. The Spirit reveals the Glory of Christ.! ! ! 2 Cor. 4:4, speaks of the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ! ! OT Predictions:! ! ! ! ! ! !

Isaiah 40:3-5, A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain shall become level, and the rough places a plane. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all esh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.! Isaiah 66:18, The time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory. !

We are enabled to see the glory of the Lord in Jesus Christ! John 1:1, 14, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God And the word became esh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.! What was the glory that the early followers of Jesus saw? ! Was it not the beauty of his character expressed through words and through actions? ! Was it not the way he faced death, and ultimately triumphed over the grave?!

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Was it not the glory of the resurrected Christ turned a group of fearful disciples into bold, courages apostles proclaiming the resurrected Lord Jesus, calling people to radically give their lives to him?! Listen to how the early writers of the New Testament spoke of Jesus.! Titus 2:13, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.! Heb. 1:2-3, in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. ! To have a sense of the glory of the person of Jesus Christ, and to delight in him is the work of the Spirit bringing glory to Jesus.!

! 3. The Spirit reveals the Gospel of the Glory of Christ. ! ! ! 2 Cor. 4:4, speaks of the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

The glory of the Christ shines brightly in the Gospel, which is the Good News about Jesus. The early disciples of Jesus actually saw him, but we only see him now through their proclamation. ! 2 Peter 1:16, For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ! 1 John 1:1, 3, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our handsthat which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you! Galatians 3:1, It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucied.! It is when the message of the Gospel is proclaimed that God says, Let there be light! and he shines the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ! ! And he does this so that you cannot simply see Jesus, but that you might see Jesus in all his glory and savor him!! To have a sense of the glory of the person of Jesus Christ, and to delight in him is the work of the Spirit bringing glory to Jesus.!

! Application:! ! 1. Beware of being mildly curious about Jesus (or, Be careful how you see).! ! !

Main Idea: The work of the Spirit of God is to reveal the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.!

The Gospels themselves and indeed history itself teaches us that you can speak highly of Jesuseven be a fanbut not speak highly enough. Even many people who attend church and self-identify as followers of Jesus can be around him and completely miss the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ! At NCC, we make a lot of the about the benets that come to us from embracing the gospel of Jesus Christ, i.e., the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, etc. But if we dont see these as the means of actually
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getting Jesus Christ, of seeing him and savoring him, then we miss the highest good of the gospel, which is actually Jesus himself. He is our reward!! What makes heaven, well, heaven? Is it not the presence of Jesus Christ?! Open yourself to the Spirits work in your life.! We have barely scarcely scratched the surface of seeing all there is to see about Jesus revealed to us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and what we have yet to see is exceedingly amazing. ! 1 John 3:2, Beloved, we are Gods children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. ! The Beatic Vision. What it means to be a Christian is that you actually desire Jesus. You crave him. He becomes your all in all. His presence is heaven. At his right hand are pleasure evermore. !

! Conclusion:! !

Keeping in step with the Spirit to live the kind of life Jesus died to give us means that we live a life of adoration and worship of Jesus Christ, delighting in him, savouring him as our highest & ultimate good. !

! Phil. 3:8, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.! !
That is the work of the Spirit of God, to make Christ so innitely prized and valued, that he becomes our greatest desire. !

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