In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul says, “But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” This verse indicates that when our heart turns to the Lord, the veil will be taken away, and we will behold the glory of the Lord with an unveiled face. For instance, sisters love to beautify and adorn themselves. This desire to beautify themselves issues from the function of their emotion. When they think about the different things and ways to beautify themselves, their mind is functioning. As they decide what cosmetics to buy, their will is functioning. Because of this matter of beautification, their entire soul is functioning. This kind of soul, which consists of the mind, emotion, and will, does not have the Lord. Many sisters confine the Lord in their spirit. Even as they pray, they tell the Lord, “Lord, let me beautify myself this time. There is a special need this time, so please let me do it this one time.” What is the outcome? The outcome is that they can no longer fellowship with the Lord because there is a veil. As their heart turns away from the Lord, He has no way to get through them. It is as if He were hitting a brick wall or being shut outside the door.
For example, suppose a sister is moved by the Spirit of the Lord and responds to His love, saying, “Lord, although I love to dress up and live to adorn myself, I love You even more. I turn my heart and face toward You.” Once she turns to the Lord in this way, the veil will be taken away. Immediately, she will be face to face with the Lord and will behold the Lord and the glory of the Lord. As her emotion turns, she will begin to love the Lord. She will then realize in her mind that such beautification is not after the Lord’s desire, does not glorify the Lord, and is not pleasing to the Lord. Then she will pray to the Lord, “Lord, if this is the case, then I am willing to lay down and surrender my views and opinions. Lord, what You like is what I like, and what You consider good, I also consider good.” The Spirit of the Lord will thus come out from her spirit through her heart to her emotion and to her mind. Then she will be able to declare boldly, “Lord, by Your grace I would not beautify myself in this way and would not purchase these kinds of clothing anymore.” Thus, the Spirit will also move into her will through her heart.
If in every matter in our daily living our heart would be open and turned to the Lord, allowing Him to pass through and allowing the Spirit to enter into every part of our soul, then our mind, emotion, and will would be filled with the Spirit. But for this we have to pay the price, yield ourselves, and surrender ourselves again and again. This repeated surrendering and yielding is the paying of the price to buy the oil, that is, the paying of the price to be filled with the Spirit. The more our soul is filled up with the Holy Spirit, the more mature in life we will become.
Whether or not we become mature in life depends on whether or not our heart loves the Lord. If our heart turns away from the Lord, He will be bound in our spirit and will have no way to come out or spread out. One day, however, the Lord may touch us, and our heart may turn back to Him. Through the turning and opening of our heart to the Lord, we are able to behold the glory of the Lord face to face. As we behold the Lord day after day in all our situations, we will eventually reflect the Lord’s glory and be transformed into His image from glory to glory. In other words, if we open to Him a little today, then we will see something of Him today. If tomorrow we open to Him further, then tomorrow we will see something more of Him. We are like a mirror and an unveiled face aimed at Him. The more we focus on Him and draw near to Him, the clearer and more glorious our reflection of His glory will be.
What is the meaning of an unveiled face? An unveiled face is a heart that is turned to the Lord. If I turn my back to a person, I would not have an unveiled face to him. However, when I turn and face him, my face is an unveiled face to him. Likewise, whenever our heart loves the Lord and turns to Him, our heart and our face toward Him are unveiled. We can then behold Him face to face and fellowship with Him every day. The Lord through His Spirit will fill our being—our mind, emotion, and will—with His glory and with Himself as the Spirit. Consequently, whatever we think about, love, or choose will have the Lord’s image because they will all have the Lord’s element. Then we will be mature.
There are two characteristics of someone who is mature in the Christian life. One characteristic is that he has glory, and the other is that he has freedom. When the Lord through His Spirit works His glory, which is Himself as the Spirit, into us and saturates us from our spirit into the three parts of our soul, then we are becoming mature in life from glory to glory. Eventually, our entire inward being will be glory. Our mind, our emotion, and our will will be glory. Our entire being will be glory. Not only so, our entire being will be free. There will be no more bondage in our mind, emotion, and will. There will be no bondage from our spirit to our soul. Every part of us will be set free.
Based on our experience, we can all testify that anyone who loves something other than the Lord not only binds up the Lord but also becomes bound himself. For instance, many sisters love to beautify themselves, with the result that the Lord has no ground in them to move. As a result, they themselves are also under bondage and have no freedom. Those brothers who love their future will be in the same situation—the Lord will be bound, as will they. Only when we are willing to pay the price and to lay down whatever the Lord wants us to lay down will our heart turn to the Lord. Then He will gain the ground in us and will be able to freely operate in us. We will also be released and will have freedom. Then when people touch us, they will sense a taste of the Lord. This is to have the image of the Lord. May our heart turn to Him.