Drop our Concepts to be Unveiled and See the Illumination of the Gospel of Christ’s Glory

Because the god of this age actively tries to blind our thoughts so that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ would not shine on us, we need to drop our concepts and be unveiled, worshipping only the Lord and not anything else, so that we may have the glory of God shine on the face of Jesus Christ in our spirit. Amen!

This week we come to the last week in the morning revival on the topic of, The Christian life, and the subject for this week is, The Triune God in Christ Being Life to Us by Shining in Our Hearts. God’s shining in our hearts opens the way for the Triune God in Christ to be life to us.

The matter of God’s shining in our hearts is very practical and experiential.

When the Lord is about to shine in our hearts, His intention is to eventually reach the depths of our inner being so that no part of our soul will be unable for Him to reach.

He wants to shine on us. In both the Old and the New Testament we see God’s intention to shine on us and in our being.

In Num. 6:25 the Lord’s blessing toward us is that His face would shine upon us and be gracious to us.

We want to let the Lord’s face shine on us.

If we are an open vessel toward the Lord, He has a way to reach our inner being.

In Psa. 31:15 the psalmists prayed that the Lord would cause His face to shine upon His servant and save him in His lovingkindness.

As believers in Christ who are learning to serve the Lord, we need the Lord’s face to shine on us and we need to be saved in His lovingkindness.

In Psa. 80 we have a few verses that utter the loving seeker’s prayer to God to restore him, cause His face to shine on him, and we will be saved.

When the Lord restores us and causes His face to shine on us, we will be saved (v. 7).

May the Lord restore us and cause His face to shine on us so that we may be saved (v. 19).

When the Lord shines on us, not only are we restored but also we are saved.

God’s shining is intrinsically related to the organic aspect of our salvation.

In the New Testament, we see that Paul, before he was converted to Christ, fully gave himself to destroy the followers of Jesus and wipe out the churches.

He even attended the stoning to death of Stephen, seeing him beholding the Lord Jesus as he died and praying for those around them that God would not hold this against them.

And then, the Lord met him on his journey to Antioch; the Lord shone on him and Paul beheld the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Our wise God didn’t send another apostle to argue with Paul and defeat him; probably no one would have been able to win an argument with such a brilliant young man.

So the Lord took a way that no one can resist: He met Paul and shone on him from the heavens (Acts 26:13).

The Lord gained Paul by His shining. No human being can withstand the shining of the Triune God.

When His shining is within us and upon us, we can only respond in a positive way.

And when the Lord returns at the end of this age, He will come with the bridal army as His companion, and all of them will be shining to bring in the glory of God on the earth! Hallelujah!

Being Unveiled to see the Illumination of the Gospel of Christ’s Glory Shining on our Hearts

2 Cor. 4:4 is a wonderful verse that shows us how, on the negative side, the god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ might not shine on them.

The definition of glory is that it is God expressed in splendour; glory is God being expressed.

We need to be unveiled and delivered from the blinding work of God’s enemy so that we may see the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, shining on us.

Satan is the god of this age; he has blinded the thoughts and minds of the unbelievers so that the illumination of the gospel of Christ’s glory might not shine in their hearts. Oh, Lord!

The enemy is actively attacking especially the young generation today, and his attacks are more intense and more fierce than ever.

There are all kinds of veils and blinding works of the enemy that hinder them from seeing the illumination of the gospel of Christ’s glory shining on them.

There are so many distractions outwardly, from the smartphones and devices that have so many apps and distracting things, to the activities and politics and current events. Oh, Lord!

The minds and thoughts of many people today are open to things that have their source in Satan, and the god of this age is putting these things into them more and more.

We need to realize that even with us today as saints in the church life, the enemy is actively working to veil us with all kinds of concepts and things that seem good but are actually coverings for us not to see the Lord’s shining. Oh, Lord!

Those who are blinded or veiled think that they do not worship anything; actually, their god is Satan. Oh, Lord!

The atheists, for example, think they don’t worship God and that they have no god; however, they worship Satan without knowing what they are doing.

Nearly all people today have been blinded by the god of this age. The god of this age is Satan, who rules over this present period of time from the air.

The Lord Jesus is on the throne var above that, in the heavens, but here on this earth, the enemy has been ruling over all things and people.

There’s an active spiritual warfare going on, for the enemy works in so many ways and by so many avenues to blind the thoughts and minds of the unbelievers and even of the saints with one goal: that the illumination of the gospel of Christ’s glory may not shine on them. Oh, Lord Jesus!

On the one hand, the Lord is shining more intensely than before, and He is preparing His bride for Him to return and defeat the enemy and bring in His kingdom.

On the other hand, the ruler of this world is more actively working to blind the thoughts and minds of the unbelievers so that the illumination of the gospel of Christ’s glory might not shine in their hearts. Oh, Lord Jesus!

May we be those who are part of the bride of Christ, those remaining under the continual illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, so that we may be infused with Christ and be made the same as He is.

Christ is the image of God, and He is the effulgence of His glory; as God’s image, Christ radiates and emanates the glory of God (Heb. 1:3; 2 Cor. 4:6).

The gospel of Christ, therefore, is the gospel of His glory that illuminates, radiates, and shines in our hearts. Amen!

The effulgence is the shining brightness of the glory of Christ.

Glory is God expressed in splendour; the gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory that illuminates, radiates, and shines in our hearts.

Whenever we turn our heart to the Lord and all veils are removed from our eyes, the Lord has a way to shine on us and infuse us with all that He is. Amen!

This is not just something we do in the morning to contact the Lord but even more, throughout the day, we learn to open to the Lord, come to Him, and be an open vessel to have the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ shining on us.

The gospel of the glory of Christ is the gospel of the glory of the blessed God (1 Tim. 1:11).

Our blessed God is shining, and we need to be open vessels, unveiled persons who are fully open from within, to receive the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ.

By dispensing God’s life and nature in Christ into God’s chosen people, the gospel of the glory of Christ shines forth God’s glory, in which God is blessed among His people (Heb. 1:3; Eph. 1:3, 6, 12, 14).

The more we let the Lord shine on us, the more He will shine through us. Amen!

When we’re with others, we simply shine the Lord out, for we have received and enjoyed the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

May we learn to open to the Lord and cooperate with Him to remove all the veils so that He may shine on us and we may be infused with Him to shine Him forth.

Lord Jesus, unveil us to see You and receive Your shining. Save us from being blinded by the god of this age in our minds and thoughts. May the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, shine on us and shine in us. We open to Your shining. We turn our heart to You. We want to remove any veils from our eyes and deal with anything that hinders Your shining. Oh Lord, we fully open to Your shining! We open to have the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ shining on us to infuse us with all that God is in Christ! Hallelujah, the gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory that illuminates, radiates, and shines in our heart! Amen, Lord, shine in us. Radiate God in us. Illuminate us and infuse all that God is into our being. We are fully open to You from within. Dispense God’s life and nature in Christ into us today by means of the gospel of the glory of Christ shining forth! Hallelujah, may the gospel of the glory of Christ shine forth so that our God may be blessed and praised among us!

Dropping our Concepts and Turning our Heart to the Lord to have the Lord’s Shining

The apostle Paul did not preach himself but rather, he preached Christ Jesus as Lord, while he and the other apostles were the slaves of the saints for the sake of Jesus (2 Cor. 4:5).

The gospel they preached is not veiled but rather, it is the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ shining on the listeners. Hallelujah!

Our Lord Jesus Christ is Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever (Rom. 9:5) the eternal Word incarnated to be a man (John 1:14), Jesus crucified as a man to be our Savior (Acts 4:10-12) and resurrected to be the Son of God (13:33), and Christ exalted to be the Lord (2:36), even the Lord of all men (10:36; Rom. 10:12; John 20:28; 1 Cor. 12:3), who is the image of God, the effulgence of God’s glory (Heb. 1:3).

He is the content of the gospel, and when we see Him, He shines on us.

The gospel is of the glory of Christ, which illuminates, radiates, and shines in the heart of man.

But if man’s heart is blinded or veiled by Satan, man cannot see the illumination of the gospel.

We believers in Christ may think that, now that we believe in the Lord, we are not blinded by the enemy in our heart.

However, we still have veils on our eyes, for our concepts are a thick veil hindering us from seeing the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ shining on us.

We have spiritual concepts and we have human concepts; these may be good, even scriptural, but they veil us and hinder us from seeing the Lord’s shining.

God today is shining everywhere; we live in an age of light, and especially in the church life, the Lord’s shining is very bright.

The Lord’s word in the Bible is shining, and the all-inclusive Spirit moving on the earth is full of grace.

But even though the Bible is shining, the Lord is illuminating, and the Spirit is moving, many times it seems that we do not receive revelation.

One reason for not seeing the fresh shining of the Lord is that we hold to certain concepts and are veiled by these concepts.

There’s no problem on God’s side; He is shining and infusing all the time, but there is a problem on our side, for we are veiled.

We need to learn to drop our concepts and allow the Lord to shine on us.

We may not even know we are veiled and we may not realize what are our concepts and how they hinder us from seeing the Lord’s fresh shining.

So we need to ask the Lord to shine on us and expose our concepts, and then we simply need to agree with the Lord’s light, dropping our concepts and having the Lord’s shining.

If we are not unveiled when we come to the Lord’s word, we will be like the Jewish people today, having a veil on our eyes and being unable to see the illumination of the gospel of the glory of God.

But if we drop our concepts, by the Lord’s mercy, the light will shine into us subjectively.

May we trust in the Lord to defeat the god of this age and may we worship only the Lord.

May we turn our heart to the Lord in all things again and again, and may we remain open to Him to receive His fresh shining.

If we drop our concepts and turn our heart to the Lord, the Lord’s light will shine on us, and we will receive revelation.

All veils will be taken away, and the god of this age will have no ground in our being. Rather, we will have the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ shining in our heart.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we turn our heart to You. We trust in You to defeat the god of this age. We simply turn our heart to You and we’re willing to drop our concepts. Unveil us today. Cause us to see Your shining. We do not worship anything apart from You; we just worship You and we focus our whole being on You. Oh Lord, we turn our heart to You. We drop all our concepts. Cause Your face to shine on us. We want to have the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ shining on us today. We open to receive revelation from You so that we may be infused with all that You are and become the same as You. Help us, Lord, to drop everything that is a veil. Have mercy on us and shine on us. Expose our concepts. Expose anything that veils us from seeing Your shining. Oh Lord Jesus, we love You and we love Your shining. We don’t want to hold on to our concepts; rather, we want to be unveiled to see the glory of God shining on the face of Jesus Christ in our spirit!

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 Ron Kangas in the message for this week, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 324, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life (2024 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 6, The Triune God in Christ Being Life to Us by Shining in Our Hearts.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Pure in heart, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 43, by Witness Lee.
  – Have You Seen the Heavenly Vision of Christ and the Church? More via, Holding to truth in love.
  – Christ being the image of the invisible God in the essence of His attributes, a portion from, The Central Line of the Divine Revelation, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
  – We Turn Our Heart to the Lord for Transformation unto New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – 8 – The Ministry Abounding with Glory (1), From chapter eight of The Ministers in the Lord’s Recovery – Genuine Ministers of the New Covenant, Paul’s Ministry Abounding with the Glory of God, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Dropping our old concepts and picking up the new view of the Lord’s present testimony, a portion from, Elders’ Training, Book 09: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (1), Chapter 9, by Witness Lee.
  – 3 Steps to Receive Spiritual Vision from God’s Word, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Experiencing God as light, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – 2 Corinthians 3:18—Beholding and Reflecting the Lord with an Unveiled Face, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – This age of grace is an age of light. God is shining, and the Bible is shining also, via, Lord’s move in Asia.
  – The Glory of God (2): Released through Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection, via, Living to Him.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I long to be unveiled, / In everything made clear, / No more to be deceived / Or to my pride adhere. / Oh, may Thy living light, Lord, / Scatter all my night, Lord, / And everything make bright, Lord, / For this I pray to Thee. (Hymns #426 stanza 8 and chorus)
  – God the Lord has spoken, God has been unveiled; / All His character and persons are expressed; / Unto Adam’s sons His mystery is revealed, / Fully illustrated and made manifest. / God the Lord has spoken, and His heart disclosed, / That His Son should have pre-eminence in all, / That in His dear Son He might be glorified / Midst all His creation, either great or small. (Hymns #800, stanzas 1-2)
  – Here I behold Thy radiant face, / Its light upon my heart doth shine / With healing rays consuming all / The weaknesses and faults of mine. / ’Tis here Thy light illuminates / My true condition unto me; / ’Tis here Thy blood’s effectiveness / To cleanse from sin I gladly see. (Hymns #813 stanzas 2-3)