A Better Way To Live, Part 2 Series

How many of you have been following what’s happening down at Asbury University in KY? If you haven’t heard, last Wednesday (February 8) there was a normal chapel service that took place just like any other week. Normal music, normal prayer, normal message. I watched the sermon that was preached and it was from Romans 12. A simple message about love. And after the chapel service was over, guess what happened? The people didn’t leave. I don’t know what all is happening down there (I’ve heard some reports), but there’s one thing I do know… the people wanted more of God at work and on display in their lives. They weren’t content with three songs and a sermon. They wanted more. And so now for well over a week, people have traveled near and far to be a part of what God is doing at Asbury University.

And one of the resounding messages I’m hearing from people who’ve gone to this revival is the simplicity of it. There’s no lightshow. No famous communicators. No order of service. Just people pursuing God because of the full access they have in Jesus. These Spirit-filled people seem to be free to pray, repent, sing, and worship. It’s actually been quite refreshing to be witnessing what appears to be the type of revival that we haven’t seen in many, many years. In fact, the revival is spilling out to other universities. Many of you know my daughter attends Cedarville University, and she is giving reports about how what’s happening at Asbury has spilled over to Cedarville. And this past Wednesday evening, hundreds and hundreds of Cedarville students travelled all over the Midwest, free to take the good news of the gospel to Wright State, UD, Central State, over 300 students (including my daughter) spending the evening at Ohio State, and there was even a group of students that travelled all the way to Michigan State University.

And it’s interesting that this is what we talked about last week in our series on 2 Corinthians. In chapter three, if you remember, Paul was showing the Corinthians that the unfiltered glory of God is accessible to us in the New Covenant and that it was far superior than the limited glory of God found in the Old Covenant. Glory is the beauty that emanates from God’s character. And here’s what we said: “Our ability to experience and radiate the glory of God is in direct proportion to how willing we are to pursue the Spirit-filled or the Spirit-controlled life.” This sounds like what’s happening down in Kentucky and at other universities such as Cedarville. People pursuing Jesus through the Scriptures, prayer, worship, and even by traveling to tell others about the hope of the gospel.

Perhaps the main theme from last week’s message was that the key to battling sin is NOT trying harder not to sin by following a list of Do’s & Don’t’s…it’s living yielded to the Spirit. It’s pursuing intimacy with Jesus knowing that obedience is the overflow of intimacy…not the other way around. “Holiness is not the path to Jesus, Jesus is the path to holiness.”

Turn with me this morning back to 2 Corinthians 3. If you weren’t here last week, I’ll admit that we experienced a little bit of a crash landing at the end of the sermon, because right when got to the exciting part of what we can expect from living a Spirit-filled life, we ran out of time and ended with a challenge to come back today. And so this week, we’re going to pick back up in chapter 3 for part 2 of our message “A Better Way to Live.”

2 Corinthians 3:12-18

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 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.

Two promises for Spirit-filled Christians…

1. THE SPIRIT WILL MAKE US BOLD – vs. 12-15

This is exactly what we saw this past Wednesday in our daughter as she drove to OSU to share the hope of the gospel with total strangers. Let me start by making two quick observations about boldness. FIRST, boldness is not a personality trait…it is the overflow of living a Spirit-filled life. SECONDLY, boldness is not a synonym for rudeness. As a matter of fact, rudeness is the evidence that you are NOT living the Spirit-filled life because a part of the fruit of the Spirit (according to Galatians 5) is kindness, gentleness, self-control, and meekness. I have met far too many Christians who are really proud of the fact that they are rude and abrasive as if that were some mark of spiritual maturity. Too many people who think “I just say what I think” is a virtue to celebrate, when Scripture says “let your words be seasoned with grace” and to “esteem others more than yourself.” You may remember that the book of James says that an unbridled tongue is evidence of spiritual immaturity.