What Are You Beholding?

Intro: We have all seen a penny, if I said describe a penny to me, you may give me its value, its color, but what if I asked whose image is on the penny? what does the penny say to the left of the persons image? What letter is to it’s right? What does it mean? Above the persons image? What is on the back of the penny have on? what does it say?

Sometimes, we stop beholding, because things become so familiar to us, we think we know all there is to know about it.

Sometimes we stop beholding because, we think we have found something better. I mean sometimes we can be strolling through a parking lot, see a penny on the floor and just walk by because it has no value to us.

Sometimes we stop beholding because we just do not care, we have no need .

But what if all our questions, needs and wants can be satisfied in what, better yet who we behold?

What if the scheme of Satan is to keep the non-believer so distracted/blinded they never see the beauty of the Gospel?

What if the scheme of Satan is the same for the believer, to distract us from beholding, to keep us from growing into our God given role in this world?

What are you beholding?

The Westminster confession says “What is the chief end of man? To glorify God an enjoy him forever.”

But what does that mean, how do we, sinful people saved by grace bring glory to God? How can we live in such a way that people glorify our Father in heaven (Matt. 5)? How do we enjoy God? How do we delight in God, his commands desire him so much it consumes our lives?

What if it is in our beholding that we become, and if we become what we are beholding, is it a wonder our society is so fractured right now?

But lets forget about society/culture, what are we as a church, as believers beholding?

Could it be the problem with the church and its influence in the world today is our beholding? Could it be that only 32% of people engaged with the church would claim they read the Bible regularly?

What are you beholding?

Based from our passage today, i want us to think about 4 questions;

Are we beholding the temporary over the permanent?

Are we beholding clearly?

Are we beholding freely?

What are we beholding?

As we read our passage today we are jumping in the middle a defense attorney presenting a case. Paul here is defending himself to the Corinthian church because Judaizers have come in and have been preaching Jesus + the law is what saves a person. These Jewish missionaries have also been criticizing and attacking Pauls missionary strategy at Corinth. Which is why Paul says,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

We get a clue by Paul’s response in Chapter 4 what they were saying about him,

He was demoralized and apathetic/we do not lose heart

Guilty of being dishonest and devious/renounce disgraceful and underhanded ways

Deception to have power over them/Paul declined financial support from Corinth

Distorting God’s word, adding to or diluting the message/nor do we distort God’s word

Obscuring/even if our Gospel is veiled

In chapter 3 Paul is in the middle of his argument , defending his ministry to the Corinthians. His argument asks the first question?

I. Are You Beholding the Temporary Over The Permanent? (7-11)

A. The Argument

1. Paul is using a rabbinical argument of lesser to greater.

2. The law given to moses was a ministry of death and condemnation,

3. but it came with a glory that was fading (7)

4. Ministry of the Spirit & righteousness have more glory? 8-9

5. Surpassing nature of the glory of the Spirit?

a. Sun and stars

6. What was brought to an end (fulfilled) in the Gospel for what is permanent.

B. The problem

1. The Corinthians as a result of the Judizers message of the law + Jesus were buying in a system of works based righteousness as gaining favor with God.

2. They were trading in the permanent for what was temporary.

3. They were trying to find salvation in the law, not realizing the law was pointing to good news of Christ.

4. Before we jump on the Corinthians, what about you?

a. Are you trying to find satisfaction in the temp. over the perm?

b. Are you trying to earn your way to heaven by being a good person, living the American dream, pursuing the temp over the perm?

c. What do you spend the most time with/on now?

d. What are you beholding?

II. Are You Beholding Clearly (12 -16)

A. Veiled vs Open faced.

B. Paul says when Moses would come off the mountain after speaking with God, he put a veil over his head because the glory of God was reflecting off of him and the people were afraid. But the glory would fade, came to and end

C. The veil which covered the glory of God from Moses’face to the people. Paul uses this to Corinth “for to this day”

D. They can not see the beauty of the Christ through the Old Testament, because the veil is still there.

E. When one turns to the Lord the veil is removed and can see clearly the beauty of Jesus and the Gospel.

F. So whats our problem?

1. Why do we find Jesus boring?

2. Why is the Gospel ineffective in changing us?

3. Why do we find TV, Social Media, Games etc, more beautiful than Christ?

4. What are we beholding?

III. Are we Beholding Freely? (17)

A. LOTR - Gollum bound/free/bound

B. Galatians-

English Standard Version Chapter 3

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

C. Too often we trade our freedom for what is familiar.

D. What are you beholding?

IV. What Are You Beholding?

A. “we all, Open face”

1. With freedom

2. with confidence

3. as opp

Beholding the Glory of the Lord

Holiness- Gods infinite worth, God’s infinite value

Glory of the Lord - the public display of the infinite value, worth and beauty of God.

Isaiah 6, Psalms 19

4:4

4:6

2 Pet 1:16

being changed

metamorphoo - Process

transfigured into the image of Christ