To live the Christian life is to do all things in the person of Christ, in the face of Christ, enjoying Him as our indwelling treasure by beholding His glorious face to be infused with Him and be one with Him. Amen!
The Christian life is a life of loving God and loving one another with God Himself as our love (1 John 4:16-19; Luke 10:25-37; 19:10; Eph. 4:20-21; cf. Gal. 5:13-15).
We love God and we love one another with God as our love, for He has come into us as love.
We love because He first loved us. Christ lived in this world a life of God as love, and now He’s our life so that we may live the same kind of life of love in this world!
Amen, we can live by the divine life in love and light to be the same as Christ is in His lost-one-seeking and sinner-saving ministry journey.
God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
In this, love has been perfected with us, and we may have boldness on the day of judgment.
When we stand before the Lord’s judgment seat, we have the boldness because we allow God as love to indwell our whole being. Praise the Lord!
Even as Christ was in this world, so are we; He lived a life of God as love, and we allow God to fill us with Himself as love and live in us a life of love. This is wonderful!
When we come to the Lord day by day and enjoy Him, open to Him, and allow Him to infuse us with Himself as love, we will be one with Him to live a life of love, and we will love the Lord and one another with the Lord as our love.
Christ is our love. He loved everyone.
He spoke the parable of the good Samaritan; He was the good Samaritan, who loved those who were fallen, beaten, and wounded, and took care of them in His humanity.
May we learn from the Lord and may we be one with the Lord in this matter today.
When we see others who are persecuted, cast down, and wounded, we need to be one with Christ as the Good Samaritan to minister oil and wine to them, and then bring them to an inn.
We need to minister the Spirit as the oil and the divine life as the wine, and we need to bring them to the church life as the place where they can rest and be cared for.
May we not turn our freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, may we serve one another.
For the law is fulfilled in one word, that you love your neighbour as yourself (Gal. 5:13-15).
The Lord put us together with some saints, neighbours, classmates, workmates, etc, and it is there that we can live a life of love by living out Christ as our love to care for one another in the humanity of Jesus and nourish them in the divinity of Christ.
To Live the Christian life is to do all things in the Person of Christ, in the Face of Christ
According to 2 Cor. 2:10, Paul lived and did all things not just in God’s presence but in the face of Christ, in the person of Christ.
Here he said that he forgives the brother for the saints’ sake in the person of Christ.
The Greek word for person is literally “face” as in 2 Cor. 4:6.
It refers to the part around the eyes, the look as the index of the inward thoughts and feelings; this manifests and shows the whole person.
The married saints know what it means to have a particular look on their spouse’s face; the look speaks volumes, for even though the spouse may not say anything, their face expresses so much.
Paul forgave this person in the person of Christ; he forgave him in the face of Christ, in the Lord’s look, in the part around His eyes which conveys His inner feelings.
Paul was a pattern to us, the believers in Christ (1 Tim. 1:16), and he lived and acted in the presence of Christ, even in the person of Christ, according to the index of HIs whole person expressed in His eyes.
When we have someone’s eyes, when we look intently at them and have their eyes, we have their whole being.
Sometimes we may talk to someone but we avoid looking at them, for we are not happy with them.
But when we look into their eyes, we have the index of their whole being, and we know what is their feeling.
Because we love the Lord, when we exercise our spirit and turn our heart to Him, we get His person; we need to live in the index of the Lord’s eyes, in the person of Christ, even in the face of Christ, and here we need to do everything.
When we look at the Lord’s face, He infuses us with His feelings, His sentiments, and His inner thoughts.
Whenever our heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away from our heart, and we can behold the Lord of glory with an unveiled face (2 Cor. 3:16, 18; 4:6-7; 1 Sam. 16:7; Eph. 1:18).
This is the secret: we need to turn our heart to the Lord to be in the face of Christ, the presence of Christ, the person of Christ.
Actually, our turned-away heart is the veil.
An unveiled face is an unveiled heart to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Whenever our heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
We need to turn our heart to the Lord throughout the day, for our turned-away heart is the veil on our eyes.
May we stay in the process of being transformed from one degree of glory to another degree of glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.
An unveiled face is an unveiled heart. When we turn our heart to the Lord, our face is unveiled, and we are beholding the Lord face to face.
1 Pet. 3:4 says that our spirit is the hidden man of our heart.
Our heart surrounds our spirit, so when we turn our heart to the Lord in our spirit, which is the index of His eyes, the veil is taken away from our heart, and we are beholding the Lord face to face.
We need to turn our heart to the Lord again and again and do all things in the face of Christ, in the person of Christ.
We need to behold the Lord’s face, intently looking into His eyes so that we may be infused with what He desires and He thinks, and then do all things in the person of Christ.
We need to not only live in the Lord’s presence and do all things in His presence but even more, look at His face, behold Him, and then reflect Him.
When we discover the meaning of the phrase, the person of Christ, we will be revolutionised in our relationship with the Lord.
We will seek to simply behold Him and look at His eyes, which are in our spirit, so that we may reflect Him.
We want to look at the index of the Lord’s eyes, and we will know what to do.
When we behold the Lord, we will speak things and do things not according to our feelings and thoughts but according to the feelings and thoughts of the One we behold.
We will behave ourselves and speak everything in the person of Christ; in this way, we live by Christ.
We will be reduced to such an extent that we will no longer live to ourselves or for ourselves but we will live to the Lord, constantly beholding His face and living in the person of Christ to do all things in the face of Christ.
To live in the person of Christ and do all things in the face of Christ is so tender and so deep.
It is to take Christ as our person and do all things in Him and with Him, even let Him do everything in us and for us.
Lord Jesus, we want to behold Your face and be infused with You today. Unveil us to see You face to face. We turn our heart to You. We exercise our spirit to be one spirit with You. Oh Lord, we want to live in Your presence and do all things in the person of Christ. May Your person become our person. Transfuse Yourself into us as we are beholding You face to face. We want to look into Your eyes and see the index of Your inward feelings and thoughts. Oh Lord, may all we do and all we say be as a result of our beholding You to do all things in the person of Christ. May we behave ourselves and have our whole being in the person of Christ so that, when He speaks, we would speak, and what He speaks, we would also speak. May Your thoughts, feelings, opinions, and desires be infused into us so that we may live, do things, behave, and have our whole being in the face of Christ, in the index of His eyes. We turn our heart to You again and again!
Behold the Face of Christ to gain Him as the Indwelling Treasure in our Spirit
In the Lord’s eyes, our face is our psychological heart. Eph. 1:18 speaks of the eyes of our heart being enlightened.
Our real eyes, the eyes of our inner being, are in our heart.
This is why the Lord told Samuel when he went to David’s house that he would not regard man’s countenance but trust the Lord who looks at the heart and knows man inwardly.
We need to have an unveiled face so that we may behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!
The eyes of our heart are beholding the index of the Lord’s eyes in our spirit, and we behold Him face to face. Amen!
The glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ, and His face, His very person, is the indwelling treasure in our spirit (1 Cor. 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 3:4).
When we behold the face of Christ, we gain Him as the indwelling treasure in our spirit.
When we look at the Lord’s face in our spirit with an unveiled face, we will do all things in the person of Christ, in the face of Christ.
The Christ we behold is not a historical Christ but a living Person!
We ourselves are earthen vessels, worthless and fragile, but within our spirit we contain a priceless treasure!
Praise the Lord, the priceless treasure indwelling us is the face of Christ Himself, the person of Christ (2 Cor. 2:10; 4:6-7).
In the whole universe, there’s nothing so precious as to behold the face of Jesus (Gen. 32:30; Exo. 25:30; 33:11, 14; Psa. 27:4, 8; Rev. 22:4).
What a privilege we have today to turn our heart to the Lord and exercise our spirit to behold the Lord face to face!
When we behold Him face to face, we enjoy Him, we are infused with Him, and we are transformed into His image (2 Cor. 3:18).
Nothing is more precious than this.
What can be more precious than beholding the Lord’s face in our spirit and being transformed into His image, being conformed to the glorious treasure within us?
We all can testify that, day by day, we are learning to turn our heart to the Lord, behold Him, and allow Him to work Himself into us.
When our heart is turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away, and we behold the Lord face to face.
Even though we may struggle with the Lord as Jacob did, we can still behold His face, and we will be subdued, supplied, and infused with Christ.
Even more, as in Exo. 25:30 the facebread, the bread of the presence, was the supply for the serving priests. today the Lord’s face is our bread for our serving supply.
The Lord’s presence, His very face and person, is our serving supply.
When we behold the Lord, we’re richly supplied so that we can minister to Him.
When we behold the Lord face to face, we are richly supplied both personally and corporately to serve God, minister to Him, and bring God to man and man to God.
It is only when we are living in the Lord’s presence, looking at the index of His being, that we will sense that He is such a treasure to us (Phil. 4:6).
If we have some problem or perplexing situation, we just need to tell Him, and He is right within us, even with us face to face. We can tell Him our problems.
We can talk to Him about our problems, and as we open up to Him, though the problems remain, the inner issues are removed and we are at peace.
When we see God, we gain God; we receive God in His element into us to transform us (Job 42:5-6; Matt. 5:8).
The very God whom we look at today is the consummated Spirit, and we can look at Him in our spirit to absorb the riches of God into our being and be under the divine transformation day by day (2 Cor. 3:18b; Matt. 14:22-23; Col. 4:2). Amen!
May we continue to behold His face every day.
As we turn our heart to the Lord in our spirit to behold Him face to face, we will beam Him into others (Isa. 60:1, 5), and we will be transformed into His image.
Praise the Lord, by beholding the Lord face to face we’re in the process of being transformed into His glorious image unto the day that we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is (2 Cor. 3:18—4:1; 1 John 3:2; Rev. 22:4).
When we behold the Lord, we will do all things in the person of Christ and we will beam Him, for we reflect what we behold.
May we learn to daily turn our heart to Him so that we may be transformed into His image and reflect Him like a mirror.
Lord Jesus, we want to live in the person of Christ, looking at the index of His being so that we may enjoy Him as our indwelling treasure. Praise the Lord, we earthen vessels have in our spirit a priceless treasure – the face of Christ Himself. Hallelujah, the person of Christ is in our spirit to be our indwelling treasure. Oh, how precious it is for us to behold the face of Jesus! Lord Jesus, we love You! We love to look into Your face and behold You face to face. We love to live in Your presence and do all things in the person of Christ. Oh, how wonderful it is to have Christ right within us, even with us face to face! We want to behold You today. We want to gain You, receiving God in His element into us for our transformation. Amen, Lord, we turn our heart to You in our spirit to behold You face to face and beam You into others! We want to remain in the process of being transformed into Your glorious image until we will be just like You because we will see You face to face!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message for this week, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1967, vol. 2, “An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit,” ch. 4, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life (2024 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 1, The Intrinsic Significance of the Christian Life.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– The treasure in earthen vessels, a portion from, The Centrality and Universality of Christ, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
– The Highest Profession on Earth, via, Living to Him.
– Paul’s Ministry Abounding with the Glory of God, via, Shepherding Words.
– What Is the Heart according to the Bible? More via, Bibles for America blog.
– The Amazing Process of Transformation as Revealed in the Bible, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– Concerning the Person of Christ, via, Contending for the faith.
– Beholding the Glory of the Lord to Reflect Him, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Christ having the first place in all things, a portion from, General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, A – Part 2: Romans through Philemon, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee
– 2 Corinthians 3:18—Beholding and Reflecting the Lord with an Unveiled Face, via, Bibles for Australia blog.
– Beholding and reflecting to be transformed into the image of Christ, a portion from, General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, A – Part 2: Romans through Philemon, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
– Knowing the Triune God as revealed in the Word of God, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique. - Hymns on this topic:
– Whenever the heart shall turn to the Lord, / The veil shall be taken away. / So turn your heart to the Lord all the day / And the veil shall be taken away. / Now the Lord is that Spirit, / And where the Spirit of the Lord is, / There is liberty—such liberty! / Whenever the heart shall turn to the Lord, / The veil shall be taken away. (Hymns #1345)
– Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Fully opened from within, / With thy face unveiled, beholding, / Single, pure, and genuine. / Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / In the spirit seek His face; / Ask and listen in His presence, / Waiting in the secret place. (Hymns #784 stanza 2 and chorus)
– As a glass, beholding / With uncovered face, / I can see His glory / And reflect His grace. / O that no more covering / May the Lord obscure, / That I may reflect Him / With a heart made pure. / Gazing on His glory, / Face to face to see; / Constantly beholding, / Ever would I be. (Hymns #399 stanzas 3-5)
Life-study of 1 John, 2nd ed., p. 310, by Witness Lee
Amen, brother, nothing is more precious than beholding the Lord’s wonderful face in our spirit.
He is the indwelling treasure in our earthen vessel.
What a privilege we have to turn our heart to Him and behold Him, be infused with Him, and do all things in the person of Christ, in His face!
Amen! Paul reduced himself to nothing but Christ as his person/face which is the index of all the thoughts and feelings within.
He lived in the feeling and thoughts of Christ, not acting on his own but living in Christ person.
There is nothing more precious than to behold the face of Jesus, we are so lucky to contain such a priceless treasure.
Amen, may we do all now and forever in the face of Christ, in the person of Christ and one with Christ.
We must not be satisfied to be merely in the presence of Christ.
We need to pursue the Lord’s very person, absorbing His inward feelings & thoughts.
Then, we shall not only be with Christ; we shall also see Him and be Him.
It should become our habit to seek the thoughts & feelings of He who indwells us.
Ameen!!!
Whenever our heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away from our heart, and we can behold the Lord of glory. With an unveiled face we can behold the glory of God which is in the face of Christ, and His face, His person, is the indwelling treasure in our spirit.
Yes, we are earthen vessels who are worthless and fragile, but within our spirit we contain a priceless treasure, the face, the person, of Christ Himself.
May we contemplate His face and be illuminated by His precious love…and His holy nature be infused into our living today.
What a mercy to see that the Christian life is a life of loving God and loving others.
If we love God – with His love dispensed into us – we will love the brothers.
As we turn our hearts to Him, to absorb Him, we will receive His divine light and divine light then we will live Him out as love, doing all things, even forgiving others in the person, the face of Christ.
When we see Him with our turned hearts we will gain Him and we will beam such a one into others!
How marvellous,how wonderful we can gain God just by seeing Him.
We might not be able to see Him visually, but seeing Him is when we turn our heart to the Lord, we can look at Him in our spirit with the working of the beautiful mysterious consummated Spirit, we absorb the riches of the Father into our being and be under the divine transformation day by day.
Lives in me my all to be.
Praise the Lord! 🙌😃🙋🏼
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