Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. II Corinthians 3:17–18.
This Scripture reveals the principle of change. You can change only to the extent that you have a revelation of the Lord. When He reveals an area of His fullness to you, such as His righteousness, your need is magnified so that you can appropriate his fullness.
As you see Him with an open unveiled heart, and you are fully exposed to Him, you change. This is the ultimate way. Whenever God wants to change you, He reveals Himself in that instance to you.
Paul wrote, For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son… Romans 8:29.
We are to be like Christ in every way. He came down to be made like unto us, so that we could be made like unto Him. Eventually we will be just like Jesus Christ.
He is bringing many sons to glory, and so His ultimate purpose is to make us just like Himself, without any difference in nature. He is leading us from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. Each time we receive a new revelation of the Lord, we move upward. As we are exposed to the Lord, we change.
Suppose that you make plans to begin to change tomorrow. That approach is self-discipline, which is of some value; but it does not change your basic nature. It only refines and disciplines it.
You are not brought into a change until you have an exposure to the Lord, until you experience him in personal encounter. If you really want to change, you must wait on your face before the Lord. That does not mean that you only wait on the Lord but you also respond to him. You work at it and you discipline yourself, but the basic change in your nature, in your whole being, comes by exposure to the Lord.
The truth concerning change may be clearly seen in this story of Moses. When Moses received the law on the top of Mount Sinai, the glory that came to him was such that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was. II Corinthians 3:7.
From day to day the glory faded away; it was not permanent. Moses had been on the mountain, exposed to God. After forty days of fasting and prayer and waiting on the Lord, he did not know that the skin of his face shone, until he came down.
The people saw it and were frightened. They could not bear to look upon his face, because it was like the sun shining. Moses then put a veil over his face when he talked to the people.
When he went before the Lord to wait on him and speak with him he took the veil off and exposed himself again to the glory of God, and when he came out he put the veil back on (Exodus 34:29–35).
Just as Moses unveiled his face, we also remove our veil and expose ourselves to the glory of God. Then God changes us from glory to glory, though it does not happen all at once.
We may receive many little revelations as we walk with the Lord, and each fresh revelation of the Lord opens up our spirits a little more. In this way we are changed into the same image of Him whom we see.
He can be many things to us. Each time He reveals one of His glorious attributes to us, we change—taking on the same attribute. In fact, as we hear His anointed Word we can begin to change at that moment.
Paul said, You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. And such confidence we have through Christ toward God. II Corinthians 3:2–4.
The same impartation can happen to you as you hear the word of the Lord. As you listen, it is written on the tablet of your heart, not by pen and ink, but by the Spirit of the living God.
The ultimate purpose is that you become a letter of Christ to the world, read and known of all men, enabling men to see what God has to say when they look at you.
Paul was not speaking about people being exposed to the Lord by going to the desert to wait on God. The presence of the Lord is not found through a certain personal discipline or in a particular location. Although it is needful to seek the Lord in a solitary place, the best place to see the glory of the Lord is in the house of God.
God gives us the ministry of writing the word of God on the tablets of people’s hearts and turning the people into living epistles so that Christ can be read and seen in every one of them.
2 Corinthians 4: 5 For we do not preach ourselves (in our ministry) but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
The God who shines out of darkness has been shining into the hearts of His people to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. That is the ministry of those who walk with God in this end time.
People change as they listen to the teaching coming through a chosen vessel of God in this hour. They change because the teaching is Christ-centered and Christ-focused. They do not look at the vessel. They are not followers of the vessel; they are followers of a living word of Christ.
When they hear it, they see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and they are changed into the same image. They hear the Word and it is imparted to them, because they see a glimpse of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ as it comes in the Word; and they change. If Christ is preached to you and is manifested to you as He should be, you will see Him and be transformed into the same image.
There is to be power in preaching, but it is not to be a power of persuasion. The power of preaching the Word is to be a source of revelation, a source of regeneration, and a source of transformation.
God’s end-time disciples are exhorted to preach to the people, to send the Word to heal them, and to minister to them. Paul wrote, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. II Corinthians 4:7.
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror (reflecting as a mirror) the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. II Corinthians 3:18.
How does this glory come? It comes from God, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.
What really counts and produces changes is the gathering together of the Body. This is the best place for change to occur.
Looking at one another, we see earthen vessels—all sizes and shapes. If we keep looking at the earthen vessels, we will not change much. However, if we look a little further, we will see the glory that is shining in each earthen vessel to give the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
The more that we see what Christ is becoming in each life, the more we are changed from glory to glory. In this way the Body becomes the greatest source of its own encouragement. Body ministry is found in the love of God that flows to one another, and all are built up by that which every joint supplies (Ephesians 4:16). What should be supplied? If anything at all, it should be the revelation of Christ.
When you look at a brother or sister in the Lord, you should praise God for that earthen vessel. You should be able to see the face of Christ, and seeing the glory, be changed. You can emulate the good qualities that Christ has wrought in his life and glorify God for what you see of God in him.
In the days of the early Church, people looked at those first disciples, and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus- Acts 4:13.
It was not that they looked at the disciples, thinking, “Oh, that is an ex-fisherman, the man I used to buy fish from,” or, “I don’t know whether I want to listen to this fellow or not; he was a tax collector, and I used to pay taxes to him.” They simply looked at them, marveling that these men had been with Jesus.
This is what you ought to look for in one another. When you come together, do not look around to see who all is there and what is wrong with them. That is not the right attitude to have.
Rather, look at others to see the Spirit of the Lord coming through them, to see the glory of the Lord on them, and to see the Spirit of Christ in them.
If you are not looking at another’s earthen vessel, you are looking at the face of Christ and the glory of God coming forth. There is much to be found in whatever you look for.
Do not look around for the problems in the house of God and for that which is wrong with certain people; much that you will find is probably true.
But look at the fact that the people are changing and going from glory to glory. Keep your eyes on the Christ who is coming forth in them, because that is the key of change. This principle of change cannot be evaded.
As the people worship the Lord together, His presence fills the place with the blessing of the Lord. Suddenly people’s personalities, and all that they are, fade from significance as they see one another changing from glory to glory into the same image.
What a blessing it is to see only the Christ in a brother! In II Corinthians 5:16, Paul went on to say, “Henceforth know we no man after the flesh (KJV). Another translation reads, We recognize no man according to the flesh (NASB). Why look upon the earthen vessel as being of poor quality, of little significance, and having too many faults, when you could look into it and see the face of Christ?
The goals that people are looking for spiritually can be attained as they determine what they will see and what they will manifest in the house of God.
Determine not to come with bitterness, but come to radiate the very presence of Christ in your worship and in your praise.
As everyone praises the Lord together, it may seem as if He walks right into their midst. Actually, they bring Him!
Also, the people do not go to church—the church comes together! There is the concentration of the presence of the Lord because each person brings Him.
When the believers come together, they are the house of God. As the house of God comes together, they must take the veils off—the veil of withdrawal, the veil of criticism, the veil of not laying hold upon the Lord. They must take the veils off so they can stand in His presence. Then nothing will hold back the glory of the Lord from being soaked into their hearts.
Where are you going to look and find the presence of the Lord? Do not look too high, and do not look too low. Take a peek into that earthen vessel. There you will see the face of Christ and the glory of God coming through that will change you and your brother. You and your brothers are co-creators with God in bringing forth His presence, His nature, and the highest level of glory in one another.