Allan Kircher
Shell Point Baptist Church
Oct 26, 2014
“It’s OK! Take it off”
2 Cor. 3:12-18
2 Cor. 3:12…….
Hope makes you look:
• bold, look ridiculous to some people
• Audacious and tenacious
• Mom hang in there and pray for her kid while he’s on drugs.
• You very bold…
• 2 Cor. 3:13-18…..
• Let’s applaud God’s Word in this place today
• Not my most impressive message but the most helpful.
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2 Cor. 3 apostle Paul/sharing a rebuttal against a group/people known/super apostle
• Teachers who claimed superiority over Paul/Other apostles who ministered in the same circle as Paul
• They tried/assert/spiritual awesomeness
• set themselves apart/true spiritual guys/putting others down
2 Cor. 3 you see/human side of Paul
• He’s letting the Corinthian church know
• he’s called/chosen by God…..he’s the real deal.
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Trying show them spiritual leaders claiming epitome of perfection are false
• Problem in our culture with constant comparison.
• Paul is describing that problem
• Using a different analogy/using the analogy/veil.
Last week/Paul/Abraham/case study/Against all hope…
• Abraham/example/someone/held/his hopes us against all odds.
• Now/passage were he’s using Moses
• most revered figure/prophet/Israel’s history
• Moses who said about himself there has never been a man more humble than himself
• That not the most ultimate humble brag?
• most specific he’s talking/ot occurrence/Ex 34
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Moses/meet with God/done meeting
• transference/energy/glory from God to Moses
• so bright/radiant/brilliant/impressive/blinding
• Moses would come out of God presence/people
• put/veil so people not be blinded/glory/God
• they couldn’t handle it head on
• Sort of an act of mercy for Moses to wear this veil.
Paul says hold on “there’s always a story behind the glory.”
• v. 13….watch this church…..prevent the Israelites….
• Paul had some insider information here
• Common folklore is that Moses would wear the veil because Israelites couldn’t stand to steadily behold the glory of God.
• Paul says that was part of it
• another reason Moses would wear this veil
• he didn’t want the people to see when the glory had gone
Old covenant--law written/tablets/stone/couldn’t save you/only instruct you
• didn’t have the power to transform you…Moses knows this
• he knows/people lose their confidence in this covenant
• they won’t follow him anymore
• So he does something pretty slick…..
• he shows the encounters/God but he wears/veil
• don’t want anyone/see/glory fading away—
• Only lasts/short time.
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“It’s OK! Take it off• Paul/I’m the kind of preacher/take the veil off
• let you see my acne/skin broken out/struggles
• I’m very bold…I’m going to show you…
• I love it, he’s one upping Moses/most humble man who ever lived.
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Good advice…“never preach to people who pretend to be”
• “get behind that mask/peel it off/preach/who they really are
• pulpit is not supposed/pseudo religion
• Preachers who only preach from their strength and never from their struggle.
• Please don’t hear me talk down of other preachers
• Process I have to check myself weekly
• people thank me for the ministry of this church
• Typically don’t tell me I’m deep/impressive/funny….
• What they say/thank you for being real…
• That’s/number one thing I hear
• I receive that as a compliment.
• I don’t know any other way to be…….
• It’s too much work to be impressive
It’s the goal of my ministry to be real and genuine with you/take away the pseudo religion this pulpit.
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That’s what Paul is doing when he says 2 Cor. 3:13….
There’s a problem when you try:
• preach that way/live your life like that
• trying to present the image of perfection
• 2 Cor. 3:14…their minds were made dull/repeat
• They lost their power/perception because everything was veiled/they couldn’t see correctly.
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Take your veil off/ unveil yourself show me what it’s really like.
• Tell someone “take the veil off”/helping anyone?
We live/world/driven by/presentation/image that we have manufactured
We manipulate people into thinking were something were not.
• Were dying from the pressure from our own presentation of pseudo perfection.
• 2 Cor. 3:14 ….it has not been removed….
• Every other religious system is about a veil.
• Every other attempt to get to God is about a veil.
• A performance/perfection/presentation
• Paul says only in Christ is it taken away
• You ought to be glad for Jesus.
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He went in and torn the veil, watch this
• he went in and made access for you to get to God
• just like you are…
• broken/dysfunctional/messy/despicable as you are.
He torn/veil and now He invites you to a life beyond the veil
• Take it away
• only in Christ does this crisis management come to an end
• But he says they don’t get it. 2 Cor. 3:15
• There were several problems here:
• problem in Corinth/religious systems/perfection/
• There stuck in the past in the glory days of Moses.
He’s talking about how the Jewish people are missing the very presence/Messiah they waited for cause their stuck/glory days.
• These are the glory days……….
• I tend to struggle, cause I’m either looking back or forward and I miss the moment today
• Problem in Corinth is their looking back—the glory days.
• When Moses—the glory days,
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It’s a funny thing about the past, it probably isn’t all that you remember.
• You used to bench 315 HS. Bad back
• Runner up for the homecoming, almost/prom queen/93 lbs.
• Our memory is selective/defective.
Not careful you’ll miss/glory/moment you’re in because your living in a memory of something didn’t exist the way you remember it.
• You see this all time when people die.
• Ohhh. She was such a kind person
• She never spoke/yes she did/she’d cuss you out over nothing
• They become a Saint after they die….
• Ohhh. He was so generous
• he was not/he gave you a cookie/3 years old
• our memory is selective and defective
We’d rather live in a memory because/great thing about a memory is it factors out the pain.
• You can sanitize your memories and just live there.
• Yeah but it was so much better back then…
• Good ole days were not much better…
• Then if there’s not a memory we live in imagination.
• Imagination…of what it would be like
• You don’t know what it would be like.
• Listen, the glory days are right here, right now.
Don’t you wish away the glory cause your looking back or looking forward
• when we look forward we factor out inconvenience
• look back we factor out the pain
• we don’t unveil our faces present moment
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2 Cor. 3:16-17
• Not slaves to perfect images, but freedom
• God wants to set you free
• free from some things you messed up with
• where the spirit of the Lord IS/ NOT WAS NOT WILL BE/IS.
• He is here and you are free
• He’s here be free in Jesus name
• somebody receive it like it was personal for you.
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Verse 18….last verse.
• Don’t have to cover up/hide/have it all together.
Problem/wearing/veil/pretend your perfect when your not is:
• you wear/keep people/seeing you as you really are
• Don’t want them to know you are weak/self-conscience/bad temper/you have problems
• Problem with the veil is it works both ways.
• Yes, it keeps others from seeing you who you really are
• Also keeps you from seeing God as he really is.
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The problem with the veil is (put the veil on)
• I can’t see straight when I’m trying to run around
• so you think I’m the perfect mom.
I can’t see……I can’t see you…I can’t see God..I can’t see myself.
• God says I didn’t set you free to be blind…..
• When you take/veil off something powerful happens. 2 Cor. 3:18
• Here’s the pivot point of the message..
Instead/comparing yourself/glory of others why don’t you contemplate the glory of God.
• Try if for the week and see if you like it better
• think about/consider/dwell on
• God says to “I know the plans I have for you” Jer. 29:11
While your so busy comparing yourself to others (hold veil)
God says I have all kind of stuff to show you but you’re blinding yourself with that veil.
• He says get that veil off/look/speak/Meet with me
• I got some stuff I want to show you.
• And this will happen 2 Cor. 3:18b. transformed……..
God says your already glorious just like you are cause I made you.
Were so busy:
• looking at/images of other people’s lives
• constructing an image of our own life
That we can’t be transformed.
• So I challenge us/week, compare less contemplate more.
• Think about it, let him speak to you.
Contemplate/glory/season you’re instead of imagining the pleasures of a season that may never arrive.
Contemplate/glory of these days
This is the day the Lord has made
Contemplate, contemplate, take veil off/moment see yourself
