BASIC WORD THE TRIUNE GOD BEING LIFE TO US BY SHINING IN OUR HEART

Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 4:4 , 6-7 ; 3:18 ; Matt. 17:2 ; Eph. 5:8-9 ; Rev. 22:4a , 5b ; 21:23

“THE GOD WHO SAID, OUT OF DARKNESS LIGHT SHALL SHINE,IS THE ONE WHO SHINED IN OUR HEARTS TO ILLUMINATE THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST”

Second Corinthians 4:6 says, “The God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” We need to consider our experience. Is God shining in our heart to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ? Are we beholding the face of the glorified Christ? We should be those who are able to truly testify, “By the Lord’s mercy and grace, I have been gazing on His face.” What Paul says here is not merely a teaching; his teaching is based upon the reality. Even right now, inwardly we can behold the glory of His face, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

God’s Shining in Our Hearts Resulting in the Illumination of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ, That Is, in the Enlightenment That Causes Us to Know the Glory of God in the Gospel of Christ

God’s shining in our hearts results in the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is, in the enlightenment that causes us to know the glory of God in the gospel of Christ (vv. 4 , 6). The knowledge of the glory of God is not a doctrine; it is something that we are experiencing—the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We all are still learners in this matter. As learners, we can say only to a certain extent, “Lord, inwardly I have seen the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.”

Do we spiritually know that another person, Christ, is living in us? He is not merely life or glory as a thing but a person. As the life-giving Spirit, He is mingled with our regenerated human spirit, but He does not want to be imprisoned in our spirit. He is in our spirit, but we may be keeping Him there. For this reason Paul knelt down and prayed, “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love” (Eph. 3:16-17). In a message on this prayer, Brother Lee says, “We should focus on this matter to the extent that we do not know what to pray other than this” (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1952,vol. 2, “How to Administrate the Church,” p. 161). When we really understand and experience Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 , we will likely pray this consistently and repeatedly. For decades I would pray according to this prayer early every morning while I walked. For example, I would pray, “Lord, strengthen me into the inner man. Lord, make Your home in my heart.” For the Lord to make His home in our heart involves all the parts of our heart.

      Christ is not merely visiting us; He is living in us. Sometimes we may be given hospitality in someone’s home. The hosts may say, “We are glad that you could stay with us. Please consider this room as your own.” I realize that I cannot actually do that. Since that is not my home, I cannot change the color of the wall or the furniture and décor of the room. We need to realize that Christ is not merely visiting us; He is living in us. He wants access to every part of our being in order to make His home in our heart. The older ones, to some extent, live by their memories. The younger ones live by their view of the future, their expectations. Right now, we need to let the Lord make His home in us. Whether He can practically do so depends on to what extent we use our human will. Before doing anything, we first need to make a decision. We can say, “Lord, I make this choice. My heart is Your home. I am opening every part of my heart. Lord, do whatever You want or need to do to feel comfortable in my mind, emotion, and will.” It is in my heart, in the core of my being, that any message I may present will not stop with doctrine but will be experiential. We need the objective truth, but we must also have the reality through our experience.

The Illumination of the Knowledge of the Glory of God Being in the Face of Jesus Christ; This Indicating That the Gospel of the Glory of Christ Is a Lovely Person on Whose Face We Can See the Glory of God

The illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ; this indicates that the gospel of the glory of Christ is a lovely person on whose face we can see the glory of God (2 Cor. 4:4 , 6 ; Matt. 17:2). As we are beholding His face, we are receiving this illumination. We need and want to have the realization that when we see the face of this lovely person, we see the glory of God. We can see God expressed in splendor from His face. When we all are part of the corporate New Jerusalem, our faces will be radiating Christ to one another. We are all proceeding in this direction. We are in various stages, and this is normal. There is no competition. We should not measure ourselves or our progress according to someone else. We are where we are. Those who are younger may be able to reach a certain stage much sooner, perhaps decades sooner, than some older ones have. This is what is in our heart for the current younger generation, because they may be the final generation. Many of them will be trained for the final warfare. Some elderly brothers and sisters will still be here to lead and guide them into the battle.

Do we have the sense that we are nearing the end of this age? Is there the desire and longing in us for the Lord to come back? However, within us, He may say, “I want to come back once My bride has made herself ready.” Then we may want to ask Him, “Lord, what does it involve in order to be part of the bride who has made herself ready?” We may also seek out fellowship from the saints concerning this, and they may say, “You need to grow to maturity. You need to know what righteousnesses are because you are going to make your wedding dress out of righteousnesses.” They may go on to shepherd us concerning what else we need. We all are in this together.

The More God Shines in Our Hearts the More Our Shining on Others So That They May Have the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ, That Is,the Knowledge of Christ, Who Expresses and Declares God;the Gospel of the Glory of Christ First Shining into Us and Then Its Shining out from within Us

The more God shines in our hearts, the more we will shine on others so that they may have the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is, the knowledge of Christ, who expresses and declares God; the gospel of the glory of Christ first shines into us, and then it shines out from within us (John 1:18 ; Matt. 5:16 ; Phil. 2:15). Is there any person in our heart whom we long to be regenerated, to be saved? If so, we should pray, “Lord, do what You need to arrange the situation for this one to be saved. Lord, save this one before the end of this year.” Then we need to realize that we are not only those experiencing Christ’s shining in our heart but also those out of whose heart Christ is shining to others. We will not be aware of it; nevertheless, we want to be those who live such a life, not merely for our own maturing but for the benefit of many other human beings. If we have this realization, we will not be self-centered. If we are merely content with our own maturity and being rapture ready, this indicates that we still have a hidden part of the self. If we are really developing, our heart will be enlarged; we will have much more loving concern in our heart not just for a few people but for hundreds, even thousands, of people. The Lord is enlarging our heart so that there can be more expression of the glory of God. The gospel of the glory of Christ first shines into us and then shines out from within us. We can pray this simple prayer: “Lord, please shine in me, and please shine through me for the benefit of others.”