Let us turn to Ephesians chapter 4, verse 20:
But ye did not so learn Christ.
Let us bow our heads for a further word of prayer.
Our loving Father, we want to thank You, because this time we have come before You. It is Your love that has drawn us before You, and we pray that, as You draw, we may quickly run after You.
We look to You, Lord, at this conference and in this meeting, that You would speak the words that You desire. Give us the grace that we might understand Your Word.
By Your grace, may we rise up and follow Your Word. Thank You for giving us this glorious thing before us. It is by Your grace that we can be conformed to Your own image.
Our prayer is that we would be more like You. We know that when You return, we shall all be like You. During this time, as we are on our way, give us the grace that we may be conformed to Your image.
This is the prayer from the depths of our hearts. We pray this in the victorious name of Jesus. Amen.
We have just read a very important phrase: “But ye did not so learn Christ.” There is a very small phrase here that says, “learn Christ.”
“Learn Christ” is actually a subtopic of the theme that we have. The theme of this conference is to be conformed to the image of His Son.
We know this is a glorious theme in the Bible. After, by grace, we are saved, we have a desire in our hearts. The desire is to be like Him.
When we steadfastly look upon our Lord, from glory to glory we can be like Him. What is it to learn Christ?
Many people think that to learn Christ is to imitate Christ. Well, I mean, thus far, we do need to imitate Christ. We need to imitate His humility. We need to imitate the patience of Christ.
When we imitate Him, then people can see in us Christ’s glory, His beauty, and His patience.
We know that in church history there is a very famous book, The Imitation of Christ, written by Thomas à Kempis. At one point in history, this book was almost hand in hand with the Bible. However many people read the Bible, almost as many people read this book.
This shows us that, in history, many people loved the Lord. They had a desire in their hearts that they could be conformed to the image of His Son. But where is the way?
They felt there was a need for asceticism, so they used their own way to attain to that purpose. To be conformed to the image of His Son is a very high goal. How do we reach that goal?
We need to borrow Jacob’s ladder to climb from earth to heaven. When we go from earth to heaven, when we go from not being like the Lord to being like the Lord, there is a ladder by which we go step by step upward.
In this way, people have spiritual training and exercise. Through spiritual exercise, they tell their bodies to obey them. So they do much work.
To imitate Christ, to be like the Lord, they believe that we have much work to do. Many times they practise fasting; many times they practise penance. Imitating Christ becomes one of their greatest accomplishments.
Once you work very hard, then finally you will be like our Lord. We know of a very famous brother called Henry Suso. He really loved the Lord.
He felt that, as long as he lived in the flesh, he was not like the Lord. So he wanted to deal with this life. He wanted his flesh to obey the Lord.
He invented many tools for penance. He actually made a leather jacket, and inside that jacket were one hundred and fifty nails.
When he put that jacket on, the nails were not pointing outward; they were pointing inward. When he slept, that jacket was tucked in very tightly. Very naturally, those nails would actually pierce him.
He was hurt to such a point. This was such a death, because he knew that if he were to die to himself, then he could live to God, and he could live so that he could be like Christ.
Not only that, he also created and built a wooden cross. On that cross there were many nails. Our Lord Jesus was crucified on one cross, but this brother had many nails.
In reality, daily he bore his cross and followed the Lord. Twenty years later, God said, “Enough. For twenty years, could you indeed have the flesh obey you?”
God brought him to a second stage. This brother wanted to imitate Christ. He wanted to go on those steps: today he was not like the Lord, but tomorrow he would be like the Lord; this year, not like the Lord, but next year, perhaps like the Lord.
So, is learning Christ simply to imitate Christ? Paul used that phrase: “Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.” But when you read the context, is that the way Paul teaches us to imitate Christ?
There was also a sister who really loved the Lord. She wanted to choose the cross. In her situation, her concept was one of asceticism. She did not feel that she could be comfortable.
Whenever she put her shoes on, she would put pebbles in them. In that way, she thought she could imitate Christ.
We also know somebody very famous called Saint Francis. He really loved the Lord. If you read his story, he wanted to follow the Lord. He was a very simple man with a simple heart. He had not read much theology; he simply read the Scriptures and wanted to imitate Christ.
He loved the Lord, and he also loved what the Lord liked. He loved the creation. He was a friend to the birds. He was a friend to the flowers. Many people called him the little brother of the birds.
He was not only the little brother of the birds; he was also the little brother of lice. Because he loved the Lord, he wore clothing of sheepskin, and inside the sheepskin there were many lice. He was willing to be their friend, and he practised penance because he wanted one day to be like Christ.
How did he deal with the lice? Wherever he was, he would take off his sheepskin and scatter it in front of a fire. You know, how many of those lice became his friends?
Not only was he the brother of birds and flowers, but also of lice. In that way, he thought he could be conformed to the image of His Son.
According to tradition—and this is only tradition—two years before his death, he received marks in his hands, his feet, and his side. People say that he had attained conformity to the image of Christ.
Beloved brothers and sisters, Paul says that we are to be conformed to the image of His Son. Is this really what it means to be conformed to the image of His Son?
When we speak of being conformed to His image, we are speaking of His character—His personality. This personality has to do with character.
When we are conformed to the image of His Son, it is by the Lord’s grace that the character of Christ is transformed in us. When people see in us the character of Christ, then they see the beauty of Christ.
When we gather together, the church manifests the personality of Christ. This is what Paul shows us.
But many people believe that to learn Christ is to imitate Christ. There have been many ways in church history, but let us return to the Bible.
Paul says, “But ye did not so learn Christ.” These words were spoken to the saints in Ephesus.
You know that Paul was with the saints in Ephesus for over two years. He was in a place called the school of Tyrannus.
If you go to Ephesus today, you can see many ruins from that time. You can probably see where the school of Tyrannus was. Tyrannus was a philosopher, and in his school he taught his students.
His disciples learned much. But because Ephesus was very hot, from noon until five o’clock all the students would take time off. Tyrannus would come back after five o’clock to teach the students.
Paul probably used those five hours for over two years, so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
In other words, during that time Paul brought these people to the school of Christ for over two years. You do not know how much they learned.
If you want to know what Paul said during that time, the clearest account is found in Romans, Galatians, and 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. The Holy Spirit has given us an account of Paul’s teaching in those books.
Tyrannus was teaching his disciples, and Paul was also teaching the people. In the school of Christ, they learned very much.
Tyrannus taught knowledge. In a school you can learn much, but in the school of Christ, how did Paul teach these people?
To learn Christ does not mean Christology. You have chemistry, you have physics, and you also have Christology. When you go to college, you study physics. When you go to seminary, you study Christology.
Paul says, “But ye did not so learn Christ.” Did Paul say that they learned much about Christ?
To be conformed to the image of the Son, the most important point is to learn Christ. Many people understand Christology. Very few understand what it is to learn Christ.
So we want to see from Paul what he tells us. What is it to learn Christ?
In Galatians 2:20, there is one verse that encompasses everything about how Paul learned Christ:
I have been crucified with Christ;
and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me:
and that life which I now live in the flesh
I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.
This verse encompasses all of Paul’s life. This verse also shows us how Paul learned Christ.
Paul is not merely learning about Christ. He is learning a living Christ. He can tell us, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.”
Christ lived on this earth. He loved me, and when He was nailed to the cross, God also put me there. God has given up all hope in my flesh. He no longer has hope in my flesh. He knew that the best place for my flesh was on the cross.
So, no longer I live; Christ lives in me. What does it mean to learn Christ? To learn Christ means to relive Christ. It is that simple.
Because the life of Christ is in him, this life is hidden together with Christ. This life is a hidden life. It is a heavenly life.
If you have this life, then you have this living. If you do not have the life of Christ, you cannot have the living. If you do not have the life of Christ, you cannot learn Christ.
Once, when I went to the zoo, I saw that monkeys can also eat Western meals. Actually, we saw that a monkey could also appear to read the Bible.
Every time the monkey turned a page, he would eat peanuts, as if he were reading the Bible. But he had no human life. How could he truly imitate man?
He could imitate man, but he could never attain to being man. To imitate man is a very high standard. For a monkey to be like man—what an accomplishment! But a monkey will never be like man.
Throughout two thousand years of tradition, by ourselves we cannot imitate Christ. Thank the Lord, one day we were saved, and the life of Christ is now in you and me.
Is it now that you live, or does Christ live? If you live, then of course it is not like Christ. If you allow Christ to live, then it will be like Him.
What is it to learn Christ? Our Lord once lived on this earth. His beauty and patience were seen by many. But when Christ lives in me, many people will see the beauty of Christ in us.
There are many older brothers who have walked a long journey. Many times we have to ask: Are we like Christ? We have walked a long way. We wanted to be like Him when we still had black hair, but now we have gray hair. Are we like Christ?
We have heard that Saint Francis was conformed to the image of Christ. We hear that his hands and feet bore marks. Now we look at ourselves: are we like Christ?
Thank the Lord. By ourselves, we will never attain to it. Augustine spoke a very interesting phrase:
First, I tremble and I burn.
I tremble because I am unlike Him.
I burn because I am like Him.
This is somebody who knows the Lord. When we tremble before Him, it is because we do not look like Him. But when our hearts burn, it is because, when we are like Him, it is as if we were not like Him.
This is our way. This is to learn Christ.
How did Paul learn Christ? Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. When he was young, he was trained to be a scholar and a rabbi. At that time, the greatest rabbi was Gamaliel, and Paul sat at his feet.
He had very strict teaching in the Old Testament. He knew what was contained in the Old Testament.
When you read the Old Testament, you read of God’s attributes. What is the most difficult thing to explain? Ezekiel saw the likeness of the glory of God. He saw the heavens opened.
But do not forget: ever since man fell into sin, according to the Bible, the heavens had become like brass. In other words, after man sinned, man became far from God—as far as the earth is from heaven.
Ever since man sinned, the heavens were closed. They never opened until the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came to earth.
When He rose from the Jordan, if you pay attention, the Bible says that the heavens were opened. It is when Jesus Christ came down that He gave us an opened heaven.
Once, by grace, we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, the heavens are opened. The Bible tells us that the heavens were opened to Stephen.
When the heavens opened to Stephen, he saw God’s glory. He did not merely see an image of glory. He saw Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God.
When you see Jesus Christ, you see God’s glory. In the Old Testament, it speaks of the glory of God. It speaks of God’s strength. You may know a little about that story, but you do not know what glory actually is.
This is a very important thing. When we read Romans, it speaks of being conformed to the image of His Son, and then it follows with glorification. It does not only say justification by faith. It does not stop with sanctification. It speaks of glorification.
What is glorification? What is the image of the Son? If we do not see God’s glory, how can we understand?
How did Paul begin to learn Christ? On the road to Damascus.
We have heard how he met the Lord on that way. After Paul was saved, he said that he did not go up to Jerusalem, but he went to Arabia.
He went to the wilderness, as Moses had gone into the wilderness. As God spoke to Moses, God also spoke to Paul.
Remember: God spoke to Paul through words that had already been spoken. At the feet of Gamaliel, he had learned many things regarding the law. That is God’s Word.
But in Arabia, those words that had already been spoken became living words to him. The Holy Spirit entered him. Before he accepted the Lord as Savior, the Old Testament had been a closed book.
Once he was saved, the Holy Spirit abode in him, and the Spirit led him into all truth. When the Holy Spirit taught him, the same words of the Old Testament had a different explanation. He saw the light.
How did he understand justification by faith? When he read Genesis 15, he had already read it many times. He was a rabbi, just like his master. They had the same Old Testament. They were both blind, leading the blind.
But one day the Holy Spirit opened his eyes, and the scales fell from his eyes. In the same Genesis 15, he made a great discovery: man is justified by faith.
Not only that. When he read Genesis 1:
And the earth was waste and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep:
and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
This speaks of the old creation. But now the Holy Spirit was speaking to Paul. He had read this passage many times, but now the scales had fallen from his eyes.
When he saw that the earth was formless and void, and full of darkness, was that not his own situation before he went to Damascus to persecute the church?
Yet the Spirit of God was moving upon the face of the waters. God was dealing with Paul, but Paul did not obey. He kicked against the goads.
What was his situation as he walked toward Damascus? When he was near Damascus, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. That was his story of salvation.
In Genesis 1:2-3, he read his own story. So he said that in Christ there is a new creation.
He used the words of the Old Testament in Genesis to explain what happened on the road to Damascus. He met the glorious Christ.
What does he say in 2 Corinthians 4:6?
Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness,
who shined in our hearts,
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
What does that mean? God said, “Let there be light.” He commanded light to shine out of darkness in our hearts.
On the road to Damascus, Paul’s heart was full of darkness, and yet the Spirit hovered over him. Then that light shone in his heart.
Paul says that God gave “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” In the original language, it speaks of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel saw the likeness of the glory of God. When Paul persecuted the church, he was there when Stephen was martyred.
Paul did not want to hear, but he still heard Stephen’s testimony. Stephen said that he saw the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.
This man, Stephen, should have died in terror. Yet why did his face look like an angel’s face? Why was his heart like a lion’s heart? Why did he see the heavens opened?
Paul had learned many lessons in the school of Gamaliel. He knew what the glory of God was supposed to be. The most Ezekiel saw was the likeness of it. How did Stephen see God’s glory?
God’s Spirit was pricking Paul’s heart, just like a goad. Paul had never thought about this. Stephen was a sinner, yet he saw God’s glory.
Brothers and sisters, God’s glory is abstract. God’s glory is invisible. But how do you see it? It is shown in the face of the Lord Jesus.
Man’s face is his representation. It is also his manifestation. God’s glory is manifested in the face of Jesus Christ.
You cannot explain that glory merely by words. Even Paul could not explain it fully. On the road to Damascus, what was his vision? He saw God’s glory.
When you see the face of the Lord Jesus, you see God’s glory. This is to learn Christ.
Do you remember when Ezekiel was by the river Chebar? He saw a vision coming from the north. It was like a storm, and there was a cloud. In that cloud there was much light shining.
As it came closer, he noticed that what he saw was a throne. But this throne was a mobile throne.
On one hand, it was carried by wings, and it moved by wheels. The wings brought the throne from heaven to earth.
The wheels brought the throne from Jerusalem to the river Chebar. Ezekiel knew that the glory of God was in the holy place. He knew that the cherubim were in the Holy of Holies.
But he was amazed. How could he see God’s glory by the river Chebar? According to his concept, the glory of God was in Jerusalem, in the Holy of Holies—not in Babylon.
What he saw, he could not understand. On one hand, the throne came from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven. Through the wheels, it could go from place to place.
Connected to that throne was the firmament, the heavens. Do not forget: what was holding up the heavens? There were four living beings holding up the heavens.
This entire mobile throne was like the chariots of olden times. When the Roman emperor went out in his chariot, his throne was on that chariot, and four horses carried it.
But when you speak of this mobile throne, you see that it goes in all directions. You see life before the throne—living beings.
The word “living beings,” in the original, does not include the word “beings.” It simply means “living.” What does that mean? As you draw close to the throne, you are living. If you go away from the throne, you die.
We see the life before the throne. You do not have to be afraid that you are dead. Many people scream very loudly and feel that they are alive. If you are distant from the Lord, no matter how much you yell, you are not living.
But if you are close to the Lord, even if you do not cry out, you are still alive. Here we see the life before the throne. This is the life that sustains the heavens.
It is this life that brings heaven to earth, from one side to another side. This is the life.
This chariot is different from the chariot of Rome. It depends on the direction from which you are looking.
If you are on the west and looking toward the east, as the chariot comes toward you, you see the face of a man. If you are in the south, you see the face of a lion. If you are in the north, you see the face of an ox. In the west, you see the face of an eagle.
The Bible tells us that there are four different faces. This life before the throne cannot be known from only one direction. You cannot understand Him from only one angle.
How does the presence of God reach the earth? How does it bring heaven to earth? This is what is described by that mobile throne.
Upon the throne is the form of a man—the form of the Son of man. There is a picture above the firmament and a picture below the firmament, but it is all within the sphere of the glorious throne.
How do you explain this vision? You cannot simply explain this chapter, because the Old Testament is a closed book until Jesus Christ arrives.
When Jesus Christ comes, the heavens truly open. The Holy Spirit abides in Him. If you believe in Jesus, brothers and sisters, the glory that Ezekiel could not explain is now understood through Christ.
What Ezekiel describes is a prophecy. It says that one day this throne will come down to earth.
For somebody who is suffering, for somebody captive by the riverbank in Babylon, what is the greatest comfort? If God’s presence is in Jerusalem, how can God come to them when they are many miles away?
What did Ezekiel see? The vision came from the north. It seemed that it should come from the west, from Jerusalem. But no: God’s presence came to the captives.
They had been taken away from their home. They never thought that the throne and the presence of God would always be with them. How is that possible?
The Holy Spirit allowed Ezekiel to see something beforehand: one day, through the incarnation, the One above the firmament would take the form of a man.
It was as if He were below the firmament. Yet wherever He went, He brought heaven. Wherever He went, there was the presence of God.
The glorious image that Ezekiel saw found its first reality in Christ. Above the firmament we see the throne; below the firmament we see the Son of man. Because He is the Son of man, He could be nailed to the cross.
The vision Ezekiel saw is the same vision Paul saw on the road to Damascus. Therefore Paul could say, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.”
When Christ was on earth, He was the living throne. There are four different manifestations from four different angles.
Matthew shows us that He is the King—the face of the lion. Mark shows us that He is indeed a servant—the face of the ox. Luke shows Him as the Son of man. John shows Him as the eagle.
Do you want to learn Christ? When you read the four Gospels, you see the life before the throne from different angles.
Our Lord is closest to the throne of God. The life is in Him. No matter where He goes, how He lived is described in the four Gospels.
But not only that: Paul says, “I live Christ.” Christ lived on earth before, and today He also lives.
In the school of Christ, the Lord did not leave us merely with doctrines. Let us look at Matthew. We see there that the Lord is King.
We have to ask the question: How is the Lord King? We need to use the Word of God to explain the Word of God.
When you read Matthew chapter 1, you read the genealogy: Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob. Many people skip those verses and begin at verse 18.
But do not forget: if you skip those verses, you do not know how our Lord is King. There are fourteen generations, fourteen generations, and another fourteen generations.
In the middle fourteen generations, when it speaks of David, it uses the word “king.” There were fourteen kings, but only one throne. They all sat on the throne of King David.
What does that mean? The genealogy of our Lord is the genealogy of the King. He is truly the One who sat upon the throne of David.
How was David king? He was chased by Saul—first humbled, then glorified. He wandered in the wilderness, but he was a king with no throne.
All earthly kings have a throne, but David wandered from place to place. He had the life of a king, though you could not see the throne. But one day he would sit upon the throne.
Our Lord is a King like this. When He was born, the wise men came to see Him, asking, “Where is He that is born King of the Jews?”
They represented the Gentiles and gave gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Yet Joseph was told in a dream to take his wife and the child and flee into Egypt.
If He were indeed King, why should He flee? In history there was a French king, Louis XIV. What did he say? “I am the state.”
When he said, “I am the state,” many French Christians were exiled. The king made others go into exile.
Many famous presidents in the United States—George Washington, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower—were descendants of Huguenots, those French Protestants who fled persecution.
An earthly king may exile others. But remember, our Lord was such a King that He Himself fled to Egypt.
What is a lion? A lion is the king of all the wild beasts. Why was the King exiled and forced to flee? Because He was like David.
When you read Matthew chapter 12, do you remember when the disciples were hungry and plucked ears of grain? What did Jesus say?
Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him?
David was rejected and wandered. Our Lord was also rejected. His life was the life of the lion, the life of the King. He wandered from place to place.
You see a face—the face of a lion. It is the representation of the condition of being a king.
Our Lord is the Lion, and we also need to be like lions. But do not forget: if our Lord is such a King, it is impossible for us to be like Louis XIV.
Many people are not Louis XIV in the world, but they are Louis XIV at home. God’s glory is manifested in the face of our Lord.
One day our Lord rode upon a donkey into Jerusalem. The Bible says:
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee,
meek, and riding upon an ass.
How is a King meek? Can you ever imagine Louis XIV being meek? But our Lord is meek. He did not come on a stallion; He came on a donkey.
This is the lion. This is the face of a lion. It is this image to which we need to be conformed.
As the Lord stood before the high priest, the priest said, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God.”
Before the cross, the Bible says many times that Jesus was silent. There was the silence of Jesus. He did not speak.
This is our King. He is King, yet He did not say a single word.
But when the priest said, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God,” Jesus said:
Thou hast said:
nevertheless I say unto you,
Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man
sitting at the right hand of power,
and coming on the clouds of heaven.
What does that mean? Of course He is the coming King.
Then the high priest said, “What further need have we of witnesses?” They said, “He is worthy of death.” This King is worthy of death. Can you ever find such a King?
Then they spat in His face—on the face of the King. They struck Him with their fists. All kings’ faces are associated with glory.
It is good to read the same passage in Mark. Not only does it say that His face was covered with spittle, but it says they also blindfolded Him.
Do you remember when Moses saw God’s glory and covered his face? We all have a face. A king has a face. But they covered this King’s face. They struck His face.
When they spat in His face and struck His face, what was the reaction of our King? How would Louis XIV react? How would an earthly king react?
His life is the life of a lion, and God’s glory is manifested. But this was a face with spittle, a face that was covered, a face that was struck.
Yet He did not react. Before the cross, not a single word. But on the cross, seven words—just like the seven colors in the rainbow.
If you want to see the reaction of the King, look at how He reacted on the cross.
Do not forget: before He was crucified, He went through Gethsemane. The Bible tells us that He went a little farther and fell on His face.
In the original Greek, it uses the word “face.” He walked a little farther, and His face fell to the earth.
O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from Me:
nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.
He understood it. His face fell to the earth. He submitted to God. Because He submitted, there was a reaction on the cross.
That reaction proved that He was a lion. That life was the life of a lion.
When our Lord suffered much torture at the hands of men and was raised upon the cross, those who were crucified often cursed. Cursing was their reaction to pain.
But our Lord, beneath the cross, did not speak a single word. When He was raised up, He said:
Father, forgive them;
for they know not what they do.
Brothers and sisters, when men struck His cheek and His face was filled with spittle, the reaction on the cross was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
What man did to Him was the utmost hatred of God. Pilate and Judas represented that hatred. They nailed Him to the cross because the cross was hatred of God to the uttermost.
But because of the prayer of the Lord Jesus—“Father, forgive them”—I ask you: Is God going to answer this prayer? God’s Son prayed on the cross. Would the Father not answer?
Of course He would answer. But if God forgave somebody’s sin, where would His justice be?
On one hand, He had to fulfill forgiveness; on the other hand, He had to fulfill God’s righteousness. Our Lord walked the second mile.
The first mile was the suffering inflicted by man. The second mile was the suffering in which He bore our sins according to Isaiah 53.
So that He could stand in your place and mine, all our sins were placed upon Him, and salvation became possible.
The first mile was not salvation. The second mile was salvation.
When He said, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” then He said, “I thirst,” “It is finished,” and “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.”
Remember: on the cross, our Lord walked the second mile, and He completely finished the work.
The story of the cross is the story of the second mile. It is the story of turning the other cheek. It is also the story of the coat and the cloak.
When the Lord was crucified, there were two criminals crucified with Him. Both reviled Him. They said, “Come down from the cross.”
But when our Lord said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” one of the criminals heard it.
He said, “Jesus, remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom.”
What did he see? On the cross, he saw that this Person was a King. His throne was on the cross. He was a lion.
He was able to turn the other cheek. He was able to walk the second mile. He was a King. He was a lion who could say, “Father, forgive them.”
Here is one who could testify. Here is a witness who says, “Jesus is King.”
He is a King on the throne. Before He went to the cross, He had a crown of thorns. His scepter was made out of a reed.
Have you ever found a king on earth with a crown of thorns? Have you ever seen a king with a scepter made out of a reed? This is our King.
God’s glory is manifested in the face of the Lord Jesus. His kingdom is the kingdom spoken of in the Scriptures.
Have you learned Christ? Have you seen what kind of Lord our Lord is? Have you seen the glory of God manifested? You see the face of a lion.
For this reason, He is not only King; He is the King of the kingdom. He wants us to be the sons of the King.
If the King is a lion, we have His life—the life of a lion. Now you understand why the Word says that when somebody strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
How do people strike you on the right cheek? They use the back of their hand. To be struck with the back of the hand was a great humiliation. The other person would rather die than be humiliated in that way.
When someone spits on you or strikes you, how do you react? The Lord wants us to be like Him.
Are you willing to walk the second mile? If you do not answer, if you do not strike back, does that mean you are weak? You may feel that such patience is weakness. But why are you not happy?
Because the Lord wants to conform you to His image. Somebody strikes you on the cheek, and you are patient. You need to know what your life is. It is no longer I who live.
If you live, you know how to react. But if Christ lives in you, there is another reaction.
A pastor one day was preaching on turning the other cheek. Somebody from the audience ran out and struck him.
The pastor was actually smiling. He said, “Wait, wait.” Then he took his Bible and struck the man on the head, saying, “May the wrath of God always be upon me.”
If we are not crucified with Christ, that is how we look. It is impossible. But if it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, then we live Christ.
When somebody slaps you on the right cheek, he has no intention of striking the left. He is already happy that he has gotten his way.
The enemy did not tell you to turn the other cheek. It is the Lord who tells you: Are you willing to turn your left cheek?
Before you turn your cheek, are you willing to put your face down before the Lord? Because you are worthless. You do not even have the right to react.
Are you a man? Are you a man? Are you a man? You see that?
Only when you put your face down, when you truly submit, do you naturally turn the other cheek. Naturally, you walk the second mile. Naturally, you give your clothes.
Is this difficult? We know that there was a story that happened in Fujian.
A sister was sick. She had actually been a very harsh woman. If you wronged her, she would curse you out.
Many people thought, “Wow, the sun has risen in the west.” One young person said, “Let me go try her out.”
He picked up a sweet potato from her hand, threw it away, and ran off. That woman did not go after him.
She picked up the sweet potato and buried it in the garden. In the second year, many sweet potatoes came out.
She took two basketfuls of sweet potatoes to the house of that young man. With a smiling face, she said, “Do you remember last year? You threw this one sweet potato. I planted it, and now you have many sweet potatoes. They are yours.”
Brothers and sisters, this reaction! The one who strikes you is the weaker one. The one who is struck but does not react is very, very strong.
Turn the other cheek. In Roman law, if the government compelled you to walk, you had to walk one mile.
But the law said that you only had to walk one mile. If they asked you to go more than one mile, you did not have to go.
Do not forget: our life is the life of a lion. That life can never rest merely at the first mile. It continues until the day you walk the second mile.
When you walk the second mile, men will see the glory of God in us.
In Matthew 5, 6, and 7, lastly the Lord said:
Ye therefore shall be perfect,
as your heavenly Father is perfect.
What does that mean? Are we to be perfect as the heavenly Father? Are we going to be holy as the heavenly Father? You would never think of that.
When it speaks of perfection, if you read the context, it speaks specifically about this matter of love.
The Lord says:
Love your enemies,
and pray for them that persecute you.
You can love your friends. You can love those who love you. It is love, but it is not complete love. It is only half love.
But when you love your enemy, you become perfect in love, because the heavenly Father gives rain to both the good and the evil. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good.
If we love only those who love us, our love is not perfect. He says that we are to be perfect, as the heavenly Father is perfect.
The love of the heavenly Father is perfect. The heavenly Father not only gives the sun and rain to the righteous, but also to the unrighteous.
If we are to be conformed to the image of His Son, then in this matter of love we need to be perfect. Love is a perfect life.
Where is the way? Learn Christ.
When our Lord was on earth, in Matthew you can see that He is a King. His life is the life of a lion.
But tell me: when you read Matthew, do you only see Him as a King? That is not enough. You need to see Him as a King and see how we can be conformed to the image of the King.
The entire Gospel of Matthew shows us that. That is how we are to learn Christ in the school of Christ. The Lord impresses His words into our life.
This is the way we learn. This is the way many who love the Lord have walked.
Brothers and sisters, have you seen the glory of God in the face of our Lord? To be conformed to the image of this One is to be glorified.
Only when the glory of Christ is manifested can men see the Lord’s humility and His gentleness. Then you will understand what the Sermon on the Mount says: to be conformed to the image of God’s Son.
He not only called us; He not only chose us; He not only justified us. We thank Him that, in the school of Christ, we can be like Paul and learn Christ.
In other words, to learn Christ is to relive Christ. Through the teaching of the four Gospels, we see how our Lord walked on this earth. That same life is in us.
“I have been crucified with Christ.” No longer I. May Christ live in us. May that life naturally flow.
You have no contribution—no contribution. It is all the Lord. “By the grace of God I am what I am.”
Let us have a simple word of prayer.
Lord, we want to commit these words into Your hands. Thank You for our elderly brothers who have walked the way for many years, even though they may feel that they are not yet like You.
We pray also for the young brothers and sisters, that in the school of Christ we may learn Christ. Jesus is victorious. Amen.