In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul expounded Exodus 34 not for the sake of the children of Israel, but for our sake. In verse 18 he eventually speaks of an open face, an unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord. An open face is actually a heart that has been turned to the Lord. Verse 16 indicates that when the heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Whenever the veil is removed, the face will be open. From the context of 2 Corinthians 3, we see that the heart turned to the Lord causes us to have an unveiled face. To have an unveiled face means that there is no indifference in our heart toward the Lord or His word. As long as there is indifference in our heart, there will be a veil on our face. But if our heart is turned to the Lord, the veil will be taken away. Then with an unveiled face we shall behold and reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord.
When you look at yourself in a mirror, the mirror reflects you. But if the mirror is covered by something, there will be a separation between you and the mirror. This would make it impossible for the mirror to reflect your image. But as soon as the covering is removed from the mirror, the mirror will reflect you once again. We need to be unveiled mirrors beholding the Lord and reflecting Him. If this is our experience, we shall truly be transformed into the same image from glory to glory.
To be transformed is to have the image of the Lord impressed into us and then reflected out from within us. Just as a mirror may be filled with a person’s image and become the reflection of that image, so we need to be transformed from one degree of glory to another until we become the reflection of the Lord. According to Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians 3:18, this comes from the Lord Spirit.
We have pointed out that both the ministry of Moses and the ministry in the New Testament can become in our experience ministries of death and condemnation. The crucial matter here is the veil. If we are covered by a veil, the result of both the Old Testament ministry and the New Testament ministry will be condemnation and death. For those whose hearts are hard and turned away from the Lord, even the gospel of grace will become such a ministry of condemnation and death. Whenever our heart is turned away from the Lord, our heart becomes a veil separating us from Him.
Regarding this, I am concerned not mainly for Christians in general, but particularly for us in the Lord’s recovery. I am concerned for those who come to the meetings of the church, but who have a veil separating them from the Lord. Although they sit in the church meetings, they, like the children of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, are covered by a veil. What matters here is not the distance, but the covering. The children of Israel were not in Egypt; they were at the foot of the mountain of God. Nevertheless, because they were veiled, they were separated from the Lord. We also may be close to the Lord and may attend at least some of the meetings. But the crucial question is, Where is our heart? If our heart is indifferent and turned away from the Lord, our indifferent heart will be a veil separating us from Him. Although we may be close to the Lord, our heart is indifferent and not turned to Him. Oh, may we all take this matter seriously before the Lord!
Seeing this light concerning the veil over the glory of the ministry of condemnation and death, I am deeply concerned first for myself, then for those in the Lord’s recovery, and then for Christians everywhere. The Lord is still speaking, but what is the condition of our heart, and where is our heart? Is our heart turned toward the Lord or away from Him? Do we have a heart for the Lord, or is our heart cold and indifferent? Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the crucial factor is our heart.
We should not pay so much attention to objective, doctrinal teachings which say that the ministry of the law in the Old Testament was a ministry of condemnation, but the ministry in the New Testament is a ministry of grace. To be sure, we are living in the dispensation of grace. But it is still possible to be like the Pharisees and not receive grace. To many believers the Lord will say at His coming, “I never knew you; depart from Me, workers of lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23). We need to emphasize again and again the fact that the principle is the same in both the Old Testament and in the New. Whether God’s speaking is life or death to us depends on our heart. It is an extremely serious matter to hear the word of God. God is gracious, and in His graciousness He comes to speak to us. But if we are impolite to Him and insult Him with our indifference, His speaking will immediately become condemnation and death to us. The same holds true in our reading of the Scripture. Whenever God speaks to us, we need to turn our heart to Him and respond to Him in a proper way. Otherwise, even the New Testament ministry, the ministry of righteousness and of the Spirit, will become a ministry of condemnation and death. Then instead of enjoying the blessing, we shall suffer loss.
Such a warning is sounded throughout the New Testament, in the Gospels, in the Epistles, and in the book of Revelation. Toward the end of Revelation the Lord Jesus says, “Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me to render to each one according to his work” (Rev. 22:12). The reward we receive on that day has much to do with our attitude today. Whether the Lord’s ministry brings justification or condemnation, life or death, depends on our heart. We all need to learn this very important lesson.