Lots of good, fresh water
Lots of good, arable soil
Lots of good clay for ceramics, pottery, etc., hence "Corinthian Pottery"
Shops, fountains, carved stone temples to the Greek gods, porticos, metal workshops abounded
As a part of a major shipping lane, Corinth has four ports, on the Gulf of Corinth, between two seas
A temple to Apollo was there
Another temple was one to Aphrodite, an acropolis known as Acrocorinth, that supplied prostitutes for the seafaring men, which made it a rich city
Perusing the two letters Paul wrote to them, it is obvious that they were apostate and backslidden.

2 CORINTHIANS 3: FROM GLORY TO GLORY, FROM THE LETTER TO THE SPIRIT

(2 Corinthians 3:1 [KJV])
Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

When one is a testimony of the work of the LORD, everyone can see it, and it can be tacitly acknowledged
The implied answer to this question is a loud, resounding, "NO!"

(2 Corinthians 3:2 [KJV])
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:

This outward appearance of an inward change is all that is needed for all to see
If the inside changes, the outside will reflect it in behavour, not in fancy clothing, formal attire like the Pharisees
If the inside does not mature, then the outside will also reflect that to the unbelievers and the brethren
It is the fruit of the spirit that counts, not the changeable suits of apparel (Isaiah 3:22)

OUTWARD APPEARANCE REFLECTS PRIDE

(Isaiah 3:16-23 [KJV])
Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.
In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, The rings, and nose jewels, The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

OUTWARD APPEARANCE REFLECTS INWARD CHANGE (SPIRIT)

(Matthew 5:16 [KJV])
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

(1 Peter 2:12 [KJV])
Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

(2 Corinthians 8:21 [KJV])
Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

(Philippians 2:15 [KJV])
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

(Galatians 5:22 [KJV])
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

(Ephesians 5:9 [KJV])
(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

(2 Corinthians 3:3 [KJV])
Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

"Manifestly declared" means they are visual spectacles to the world, seen of all as Christians by their behavior
This would have been because they changed inside, now that they were saved, and that inward change showed on the outside
You can store God's Word in your heart (Psalm 119:11), but not as paper, ink, stone, but the Word

(2 Corinthians 3:4 [KJV])
And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:

Paul and the discipples trusted tha the Corinthians church that walked with God was a visible living being which showed God's Glory, God's Grace, not the law
The phrase "through Christ" is there because, without Him, nothing changes and we merely have religion, which does not save the soul, which means there is nothing worthwhile to manifest

(2 Corinthians 3:5 [KJV])
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

This is Ephesians 2:8-10 repeated in a different way is all
"lest any man should boast", because we cannot boast about our good selves. Because we cannot save ourselves, we cannot keep ourselves saved, we are not sufficient in our flesh to be righteous enough to stand before a Holy God

(Ephesians 2:8-10 [KJV])
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

(2 Corinthians 3:6 [KJV])
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

This letter is the law of the Old Testament that never saved
The spirit that giveth life is the New Testament law of grace through faith, not by keeping the Old Testament Law

(2 Corinthians 3:7 [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:

Referring back to the time when Moses got that law in stone tablets, which was with intense brightness reflected in his face
The veil was because Moses was with the LORD forty days and forty nights, sustained by God alone
The light of God Himself shone in and on Moses face was too much for the Israelites and even Aaron, hence the vail
This was the Old Testament Law, not the New Testament Law of Grace, but both are to show the Glory of God, Moses's face and our words and lives

THE TRUE STORY OF THE SHINING GLORY, THE VAIL

(Exodus 34:28-35 [KJV])
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.
But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

(2 Corinthians 3:8,9 [KJV])
How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

All is to God's Glory, so both the condemnation of God and the righteousness of the saints are to the Glory of God, as He declared what is righteous, what is not, on His own self
The giving of the law to and through Moses was the "ministration of condemnation", and that showed God's Glory, since His law is holy, perfect

(2 Corinthians 3:10 [KJV])
For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

The just shall live by faith, not the law
The law was done away with for us at the Cross of Jesus Christ, but it is still to God's Glory and condemns the unsaved still, until the lost are judged by it

(2 Corinthians 3:11 [KJV])
For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

Our salvation by grace through faith is even more glorious to us, since we could never keep the law, and no one ever did on earth outside of the LORD Jesus Christ
"That which remaineth" after removing the Law is the Law of Grace

(Isaiah 53:6 [KJV])
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

(Romans 3:23 [KJV])
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

(2 Corinthians 3:12 [KJV])
Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

We do not have to use big, flowery, glowing and long, complicated words to tell people the gospel
Using big words to impress people is simply vanity
1. We are all born sinners by nature, and we sin
2. We are all deserving of a fiery hell created for the devil and his angels
3. We cannot save ourselves by "being good"
4. Jesus came to bleed and die for us in our place on the Cross
5. If we believe in Him, God the Father forgives us and we get to go to heaven, forever
This is simply the Gospel with no flowery words like "systematic theology, ecclesiology, soteriology, exegesis, pneumatology" designed to impress man, which never impress God
This is because, if God is not impressed, it does not matter that mankind is. If they do not understand it, they cannot believe it

(2 Corinthians 3:13 [KJV])
And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

Moses needed a vail over his face. Unique situation. We do not need one; it is a stumblingblock to the unsaved
Why do we not need these big words? It is as though we are putting a vail over our face, hiding it from people, obscurely trying to teach something over their heads
As they say out in the country, "Take the hay down off of the loft and put it on the barn floor so the cows can get to it!"

(Ezekiel 39:29 [KJV])
Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

(2 Corinthians 3:14 [KJV])
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

The reason that their minds were blinded was not the vail per se, but rather because they did not want to see the truth, much like many today
Parts of the Old Testament about the Suffering Messiah are rejected today by ISrael and the Jews, because they simply refuse to hear it
It is our nature to want a Messiah Who will save a nation from her enemies, not a suffering Messiah Who dies for our sin(s), but the Suffering Messiah saved their and our souls
One day soon He will save their nation from her enemies and "they shall look on me whom they have pierced"

THE STATE OF ISRAEL

(Zechariah 12:10 [KJV])
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

(John 19:37 [KJV])
And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

(Romans 9:31-33 [KJV])
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

(Romans 11:7-10 [KJV])
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

(2 Corinthians 3:15 [KJV])
But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

Unbelief was the problem with rejecting the Messiah, unbelief in their own prophets
Today, the same is true in America in the churches. Unbelief, believing what they are told, not reading with the eyes of faith

(2 Corinthians 3:16 [KJV])
Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

This is individually as Jewish believers, and nationally in the Tribulation as a nation when they look on Him Whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10)
Saul had that same vail, then Paul had that same vail removed when he believed
There is coming a day soon when this national revival in Israel will be fulfilled, at the end of the Tribulation

(Romans 11:7-15 [KJV])
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.
I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

(John 19:37 [KJV])
And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

(Revelation 1:7 [KJV])
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

(Romans 11:18-27 [KJV])
Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

(Acts 9:8, 9 [KJV])
And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

(Acts 9:17, 18 [KJV])
And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

(2 Corinthians 3:17 [KJV])
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Jesus set the captive free, giving us His Holy Spirit
The LORD is the Spirit, showing that the Holy Spirit is God

(2 Corinthians 3:18 [KJV])
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

We are to so reflect Jesus Christ in our lives that it is qas though we could look in a mirror and see a perfectly reflected image him, not ourselves
The more we are perfected by walking in the Spirit and not the flesh, the more mature, the more that happens

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2 Corinthians 4

INTRODUCTION:

CORINTH: RICH GREEK CITY/STATE

2 CORINTHIANS 3: FROM GLORY TO GLORY, FROM THE LETTER TO THE SPIRIT

OUTWARD APPEARANCE REFLECTS PRIDE

OUTWARD APPEARANCE REFLECTS INWARD CHANGE (SPIRIT)

THE TRUE STORY OF THE SHINING GLORY, THE VAIL

THE STATE OF ISRAEL