2 Corinthians 3:7-11 But if the ministration of death, written and engraved in stones, was glorious… I. A MINISTRATION OF THE SPIRIT. It was foretold that it should be so. "The days come when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel," etc. Then, respecting Him who is the head of the new dispensation, His holy body was the immediate product of the Holy Ghost, at His baptism "the Holy Spirit like a dove descended upon Him," His ministry was conducted by the power of the Spirit, He spake to the apostles of the Holy Ghost, and the last thing He said to them on earth was, that "they should wait for the promise of the Spirit." On the day of Pentecost it was fulfilled. And whatever light and grace and purity there has been in the Church from that day to this has been by the same influence and power. What, then, was the ministry of Moses, compared with that economy at the head of which appeared Jesus Christ with this great title — "He that baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire"? II. A MINISTRATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. III. A MINISTRATION OF LIFE. The first Adam was made a living soul, the second a quickening spirit. We were dead in trespasses and sins, but we are said to be "quickened." "Christ hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." IV. A MINISTRY OF PLAINNESS (vers. 12, 13),that is, clearness of manifestation — not the obscurity of a type — not the difficulty of a prediction. All the gospel is as plain as language can make it. And having the light and plainness of the instruction of the N.T., the writers speak with confidence; they say, "We know whom we have believed," etc. V. A DISPENSATION TREAT IS TO ABIDE. "Of the increase of His government there shall be no end." (J. Stratten.) Parallel Verses KJV: But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: |
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