Title: Take off the towel
Contents
take off the towel
(2 Corinthians 3:12-18)
“To this day, when the writings of Moses have been read, the veil has covered his heart. But whenever he returns to the Lord, the veil will be taken away” (verses 15-16).
In Exodus 34, Moses went up to Mount Sinai and fasted and prayed for 40 days. Also, when he preached the law in front of the people, there was a brilliance. So, after speaking, he covered his face with a towel. When I went to God, I took off my towel and put it on when I came out, and when I preached in front of the people, I took it off and put it back on when I came out of the sermon.
There is no answer to the question of why the towel was put on and taken off in Exodus 34, and it is explained by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the text of 2 Corinthians 3 during the time of Paul the apostle after 1,500 years.
It was that the radiance on the face of Moses, who stood before God to receive the law, was temporary, not permanent, and Moses covered his face with a towel so that the children of Israel would not notice it.
The law is not eternal; it is only a temporary splendor to men until Christ comes.
While referring to the temporary glory in Moses' face, Paul emphasizes the eternal light of the gospel of Christ.
The Jews were so obsessed with the law that their stubborn heart was covered with a veil, and they rejected Christ and ultimately crucified him. Today, people living in the gospel age of the New Testament are also wearing this towel, and we have to take it all off.
1. You must take off the towel of hypocrisy.
In Matthew 23, Jesus scolds the hypocrites and the blind Pharisees.
“Do what they say, and keep it, but do not imitate their ways” (verse 3).
“Blocked up before the gates of heaven” (verse 13).
“The ephemera is filtered out, and the camel is swallowed up” (verse 24).
“The outside of the cup and bowl are clean, but inside they are full of covetousness and debauchery” (verse 25).
“It is like whitewashed tombs” (verse 27).
“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of hell?” (verse 33).
Today, we too must take off the mask of duality like this false prophet and a wolf covered in sheep's skin as soon as possible.
Women in the Middle East wear 'chador' on their faces, Catholics wear mass, and brides who get married wear veils. When Jesus was resurrected, the towel was removed (John 20:7), and the temple curtain was already torn. .
We also pray that we will quickly get rid of the falsehood and pretense of hypocrisy and see you face to face.
2. The towel of greed must be removed
In Aesop's fable, a pig roamed around the cage, picking up something and eating it, but a ripe persimmon fell out. When I picked it up and ate it, it tasted like honey. The pig wanted to eat more, so he grunted and searched all over the place, but there was not even a single scorched bean curd, let alone ripe red shii. So, saying, "I think the persimmon I ate just came out of the ground," the pig dug into every corner with its snout, but no persimmon came out, only blood came out of the pig's snout. And died. Another persimmon fell on the dead pig.
"...Greed has conceived, and gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren, for every good and perfect gift comes down from above, the Father of lights" (James 1:15-17).
In the Bible, there are many examples of people who have ruined their lives by covering their faces with a towel called greed. Adam and Eve were their ancestors, Cain, Lot's wife, Balaam, Achan, Gehazi, Nabal, Judas Iscariot, Ananias and Sapphira. They put iron plates on their faces and became greedy, but they could not live up to their name.
3. You must take off the towel of lewdness.
When Augustine was young, he had a life of debauchery, and one day the words of Romans 13:12-14 knocked on the door of his soul.
“The night is passing and the day is near; therefore let us put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, so that we should walk modestly as in the daytime, not in licentiousness and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and sensuality, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and put on lusts. Do not plan the works of the flesh for your sake."
We, too, must take off this veil of lewdness.
1 Corinthians 6:18 says, “Flee from fornication. For every sin that a man punishes is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body. You are not yours, but you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body."
In the days of Noah, “married and married,” sexual immorality and rebellion prevailed, and the flood was judged. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of sexual immorality.
4. We must take off the towel of pride.
Once upon a time, a crane was flying leisurely over a pond of frogs. All the frogs looked at the crane with envy and envy. However, a crane landed on the shore of the pond.
The frog next to him expressed his displeasure when he asked to fly like a crane in the air once. At this time, if a frog bites one end of a crane with a stick and a frog bites the other end of the crane and the crane flaps its wings, he asked if he could naturally fly like a crane. The crane allowed it, and the frog flew into the air thanks to the crane.
There is a story that when fellow frogs saw the frogs flying all at once in the sky, and who came up with such a wonderful idea, the frog that was biting the stick said, "I did it", missed the stick in its mouth and fell to the ground and broke its back.
It is not a matter of laughter, but we all need to put aside our spiritual pride and humbly tie our belts. It is pride that makes an angel a devil, and humility that makes a man an angel. Shall we all follow along? "The humble go to heaven, and the proud go to hell."
People are dividing today's church members as follows:
① Gamtu church member- A member of the church who comes out with a camouflage coat
② Rickshaw members- Church members who have to be picked up by car every Sunday
③ Cruise ship members- Members who cruise from one church to another every week
④ Sleeping pill member- A member who sleeps well when it is time for worship
⑤ Face-to-face church members - members who come from one family as representatives
⑥ Lalari church members - members who come out to pick up gifts at certain events
⑦ Jordan River members - members who only appear before and after family funerals
We often deceive our consciences because of our face (face) that is less than a span. Let's hear the voice of conscience.
Take off the towel on your face. Let's be sincere believers. Let's be real in a world full of fakes.
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