Summary:
The Corinthian believers were rebuked to be carnal - they did not reflect the glory of the Lord. Why was this so? Their spiritual eyes had been veiled.
Is there a veil covering our hearts that we are unable to see the glory of the Lord? How can we see the glory of the Lord?
By truly turning our hearts to face the Lord.
Let us consider if we have this desire to be transformed into the image of the Lord.

The theme for this Spiritual Meeting is “Transformed from Glory to Glory”. This verse is found in 2 Cor 3:18,

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

In the Old Testament, only Moses was allowed to see God with an unveiled face. When the glory of God shone upon the face of Moses, his face shone forth the glory of the Lord too. When the children of Israel saw the face of Moses shining forth the glory of the Lord, they did not dare to draw near. Moses hence had to put on a veil, for they were afraid of looking at the glory shining from Moses’ face. They were more fearful of facing the glory of God.

But in the New Testament, all of us are able to see God with an unveiled face. We are not afraid to see the glory of the Lord because the blood of Jesus Christ has washed away our sins, enabling us to draw near to Him.

But the faith of many believers stop progressing beyond this point. We enjoy His grace so that we can draw near to Him to receive eternal life. But we forget that the other purpose of the Lord forgiving our sins is so that we may be transformed into the same image of the Lord from glory to glory. Paul reminds us that we are able to behold the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, with unveiled face.

Yet, this is a great pity. We have all believed in the Lord, and we are also willing to serve the Lord. But we have not put in the effort to transform ourselves into the image of the Lord.

1 Cor 1:4-7

4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,
5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge,
6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,
7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

1 Cor 3:1-3

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

The Corinthian believers were not lacking in spiritual gifts. They were enriched in everything in all utterance, and so Paul thanked God for that. They ought to have been spiritual people, because they had received so much grace from the Lord and even spiritual gifts. But Paul tells us that they were carnal. They ought to have matured. Yet Paul says, they were just babes in Christ. They ought to have been transformed into the image of the Lord, but Paul tells us that they were walking according to the ways of the world. There was envy, strife and divisions among them. There was immorality among them but they felt this was acceptable. Instead of being transformed from glory to glory, they were receiving shame unto shame. Hence, Paul rebuked them sternly.

Why did they not reflect the glory of the Lord?

Their spiritual eyes had been veiled. They were unable to see the glory of the Lord, and so could not reflect the glory of the Lord. Just like the Jews in that period of time - they saw the Lord but did not see His glory. They did not believe that the Lord is God in the flesh. Their spiritual eyes had been veiled. That veil can refer to their pride as well as self-righteousness. Though the Lord had risen from the dead, and the Lord had manifested His power to them, yet their hearts were still hardened and they refused to believe. They were unwilling to remove the veil that was covering their hearts.

2 Cor 3:15-16

But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

There were a number of Jews who had removed the veil on their hearts and turned to the Lord. But a majority of the Jews refused to remove this veil. In fact, the Lord clearly explained to them. “If you believe in Moses you ought to believe in me. Because Moses spoke about me.”

The Jews read the books written by Moses, but they did not understand that these were pointing to Jesus. They could not see the glory of the Lord. No matter how they read these books written by Moses, they could not see the Lord spoken of in these books.

But there were some who could understand that these were speaking of the Lord. Just as Philip told Nathanael, “The man whom Moses spoke about - that is Jesus of Nazareth!” Many who read the same book were unable to see the glory of the Lord! That is because some were willing to remove the veil of their hearts, but others hardened their hearts.

Today, all of us believe in the Lord, and so we ought to be able to see the glory of the Lord. But is there a veil covering our hearts that we are unable to see the glory of the Lord? Where can we see the glory of the Lord? Not in visions, but in the Bible.

Jesus said, “You search the scriptures because it testifies of Me.” The Bible is like a mirror reflecting the glory of the Lord. When we read the Bible, we are able to see the Lord’s perfect human nature. We see His holiness, His righteousness, humility and gentleness. The more we read the Bible, the more we see this perfect human nature of the Lord and we ought to emulate this nature. The Bible also reflects the glorious divine nature of the Lord. We see the Lord being able to calm the winds and waves. We see His authority in raising the dead to life. We see His authority to forgive sins. And the authority He demonstrated clearly shows that He is God come in the flesh. That is why we are baptised into the name of the Lord.

Why is it that many don’t see the glory of the Lord? Our hearts are veiled. Everyone has a different veil covering their hearts, but in general, this veil is our love of the world. What they really want is the riches of the world and pleasures of the world. Though they have believed in the Lord, there is another lord in their heart. Though they once removed this veil and saw the glory of the Lord, unknowingly, their hearts have gradually been veiled because of their love of the world. And the more they read the Bible, the less interested they are. Because they don’t see what they want to see. But those who truly believe in the Lord have removed the veil in their hearts.

When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. They do not allow their hearts to be veiled anymore. They maintain their hearts to be directed to the Lord. In order to see the glory of the Lord, of course we have to remove the veil covering our hearts. If there is any veil covering our hearts, how can we see the glory of the Lord?

The first step in removing this veil is to turn to the Lord. Have we not turned our hearts toward the Lord? It is true that when we were baptised we turned our hearts to the Lord. But after we did turn to the Lord once, are our hearts always turned to the Lord? Or have our hearts turned away from the Lord? We are before the Lord, but we are not facing the Lord - we are facing away.

Just like children, though they may still be with us, their backs are facing us. When you call out to them, they turn towards you for a moment, but turn their backs away again. You say, “Didn’t you hear me?” And they reply, “Yes, I heard you but don’t you see I’m busy?” They are near you but their faces are not facing you, rather their backs are facing you.

This is also the usual description of our condition as Christians today and it is a pity. Even though we are seated before the Lord, yet our backs are facing Him. Though we kneel down to pray, yet our hearts have not knelt down to pray. Our faith is just a ritual. It is superficial and we still claim to worship. We still come to church, we still offer our money, we still serve. But the Lord sees that our heart does not face the Lord, instead, our backs are facing the Lord. If our backs are facing the Lord, how can we be transformed from glory to glory?

Let us examine our faith once again. We have already turned to the Lord, but are our faces facing the Lord? It is good if we love to read the Bible. But there are many who read the Bible but don’t see His glory. They read in order to answer others. “Oh yes, I’ve already read the Bible.” Including those who are so-called scholars of the Bible. We really put effort into reading the Bible. We try to understand its meaning in the original language. We try to understand its background. We are rich in biblical knowledge and are accurate, because we have put in much effort to read the Bible. We not only read, but we put in much effort to research and study it. But if our spiritual lives do not grow as a result, then what is the purpose of reading the Bible? We read, but we don’t see His glory and hence don’t reflect the glory of the Lord. Then would our reading and research be pleasing to the Lord? We often read and research, but we forget the true purpose of reading the Bible.

Eph 4:20-24

20 But you have not so learned Christ,
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Since we have been taught by Him, we ought to put off the old man and put on the new man. We read the Bible and learn the truth in order to be transformed into the Lord’s image. We read the Bible and learn the truth, yet we remain this same way, then what is the purpose of reading? We are still the old man.

A Hakka aunty went to the market to buy chicken. “Boss I want 5 chickens.”, she said, as she showed off the 5 diamond rings on her fingers. “I want the necks removed.”, as she pointed to the necklace around her neck. “I will come back in 10 minutes.”, while pointing to her Rolex watch.

If we are wealthy, we can buy diamonds, but we do not need to show off in this manner. We have believed in Him, we have learnt the image of the Lord and we ought to be transformed into that image. The truth of Christ concerns life. It not only delivers you, more importantly it is supposed to transform you. Since we have received this truth, we ought to be transformed to a new man. We ought to transform our lives to reflect the image of the Lord. The main purpose of reading the Bible is not to cultivate a good habit, not to receive a doctorate in theology, but rather to see the glory of the Lord. The more we see the glory of the Lord, the more we are able to reflect the glory of the Lord. Just as when Moses spoke to the Lord, the glory of the Lord was reflected on the face of Moses. Those around Him could see that Moses’ face reflected the glory of the Lord. Today, we read the Bible not to reflect the glory of the Lord on our faces, but to reflect it through our lives. So that our lives will truly be transformed.

Just like Stephen.

Acts 6:15

And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

Acts 7:59-60

59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

We see the two faces of Stephen, transformed from glory to glory. When he was captured, he did not display the fear or shame that is associated with a convict. When those people who sat in the council saw him, they saw the face of an angel. It was a glorious face. When he was persecuted and captured, he displayed the face of an angel. There was no trace of fear. It was tranquil. When he was stoned to death, he did not murmur against those who had stoned him. Rather, he prayed to God to forgive them of their sins. We see him having the image of the Lord. His countenance had transformed to that of the Lord. Hence, he was able to utter the same words as the Lord Jesus did on the cross. He really displayed the face of one transformed from glory to glory. It is difficult to have the face of an angel and when he was persecuted and martyred, he was still able to say those words. It was not a transformation just at that moment in time. But once he started following the Lord, he was transformed slowly. At his end, we are able to see him display such glory. Through the help of the Holy Spirit, he was able to transform himself to reflect the image of the Lord.

The question is, today do we have this desire to be transformed into the image of the Lord?
The theme for this Spiritual Meeting is for us to raise awareness and spur us to grow in this area. What is important is that we are prepared and are willing to grow. Only when our hearts are turned to the Lord, will we be able to see the glory of the Lord. The more we see the glory of the Lord, the more we are able to reflect His image and glory.