When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the
Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians
3:16,17)
Liberty from what? Well, if we turn to the Lord, and are
occupied with Him in the way we have indicated, the Holy Spirit sets us free.
It may be you are struggling, striving, fighting, wrestling, praying, pleading,
longing, yearning, asking the Lord to set you free from condemnation, free from
fear, from those paralyzing bonds in which Israel was when the glory appeared.
Do you want to be free from fear, from dread, from terror, from condemnation?
What are you doing to get free? There is one simple, direct way, namely, to be
occupied with the Lord, to turn to the Lord. Get Christ as God's satisfaction
in your view, and cease trying to satisfy God yourself. Faith in Christ is all
God's requirement. How deeply true were His words, "Apart from Me ye can
do nothing." "Abide in Me. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself
except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me." That
is only figurative language, which means be occupied with Him, set your mind on
Him, dwell in Him, rest in Him, abide in Him; or, as Paul would say, "Gaze
on Him, behold Him," let Him be the object of your occupation, and the
Spirit will make you free.
More than that, this beholding of Christ means
that the Holy Spirit changes you into God's likeness: "Beholding... we are
changed." It is not said, "Beholding, we begin to change
ourselves," and we embark upon self-transformation with all its struggle,
and conflict, and battle. We are changed by the Lord the Spirit. Be occupied
with Christ, and the Spirit takes up the matter of transforming into His image.
Be occupied with yourself, and you will see that the law of conformity to type
operates. If you are the type, then you will conform to that type. If Christ is
the type, then the Holy Spirit will conform to His likeness. Then this being
occupied with Christ means that the Holy Spirit makes us sufficient as
ministers of a new covenant. I do not think that ministry is such an onerous
thing after all. We need to come back to the simplicity and the spontaneity of
ministry. Be occupied with Christ, and the Holy Spirit will show you more and
more in Christ with which to be occupied, and as He makes that livingly real,
you will have something to give to others.
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