Loving the Lord and Loving One Another for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ

Message Seven Being Perfect as the Heavenly Father Is Perfect by Being Perfected in His Love

Morningside | 中文 | Transcription - Menu

Scripture Reading: Matt. 5:48; 1 John 2:5; 4:12, 16-18

Matt. 5:48 You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

1 John 2:5 But whoever keeps His word, truly in this one the love of God has been perfected. In this we know that we are in Him.

1 John 4:12 No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

1 John 4:16 And we know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.

1 John 4:17 In this has love been perfected with us, that we have boldness in the day of the judgment because even as He is, so also are we in this world.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear has punishment, and he who fears has not been perfected in love.

Hymns:13

Outline [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Morningside [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Day 1

I. At the end of Matthew 5, to conclude an exceedingly high section of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens (vv. 17-48), the Lord Jesus said, “You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (v. 48):

Matt. 5:1 And when He saw the crowds, He went up to the mountain. And after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

Matt. 5:2 And opening His mouth, He taught them, saying,

Matt. 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.

Matt. 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Matt. 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Matt. 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Matt. 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.

Matt. 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Matt. 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.

Matt. 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.

Matt. 5:11 Blessed are you when they reproach and persecute you, and while speaking lies, say every evil thing against you because of Me.

Matt. 5:12 Rejoice and exult, for your reward is great in the heavens; for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matt. 5:13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has become tasteless, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything except to be cast out and trampled underfoot by men.

Matt. 5:14 You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden.

Matt. 5:15 Nor do men light a lamp and place it under the bushel, but on the lampstand; and it shines to all who are in the house.

Matt. 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in the heavens.

Matt. 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

Matt. 5:18 For truly I say to you, Until heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one serif shall by no means pass away from the law until all come to pass.

Matt. 5:19 Therefore whoever annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whoever practices and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.

Matt. 5:20 For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

Matt. 5:21 You have heard that it was said to the ancients, "You shall not murder, and whoever murders shall be liable to the judgment."

Matt. 5:22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the judgment of the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, Moreh, shall be liable to the Gehenna of fire.

Matt. 5:23 Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you,

Matt. 5:24 Leave your gift there before the altar, and first go and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Matt. 5:25 Be well disposed quickly toward your opponent at law, while you are with him on the way, lest the opponent deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

Matt. 5:26 Truly I say to you, You shall by no means come out from there until you pay the last quadrans.

Matt. 5:27 You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery."

Matt. 5:28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman in order to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matt. 5:29 So if your right eye stumbles you, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.

Matt. 5:30 And if your right hand stumbles you, cut it off and cast it from you, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to pass away into Gehenna.

Matt. 5:31 And it was said, Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.

Matt. 5:32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries her who has been divorced commits adultery.

Matt. 5:33 Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, "You shall not break an oath, but you shall render to the Lord your oaths."

Matt. 5:34 But I tell you not to swear at all; neither by heaven, because it is the throne of God;

Matt. 5:35 Nor by the earth, because it is the footstool of His feet; nor unto Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King;

Matt. 5:36 Neither shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.

Matt. 5:37 But let your word be, Yes, yes; No, no; for anything more than these is of the evil one.

Matt. 5:38 You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."

Matt. 5:39 But I tell you not to resist him who is evil; rather whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Matt. 5:40 And to him who wishes to sue you and take your tunic, yield to him your cloak also;

Matt. 5:41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

Matt. 5:42 To him who asks of you, give; and from him who wants to borrow from you, do not turn away.

Matt. 5:43 You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."

Matt. 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,

Matt. 5:45 So that you may become sons of your Father who is in the heavens, because He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

Matt. 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

Matt. 5:47 And if you greet only your brothers, what better thing are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Matt. 5:48 You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

A. The kingdom people, the audience for the Lord's decree of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens, are the regenerated believers of the New Testament, as the title sons of your Father in verse 45 indicates:

Matt. 5:45 So that you may become sons of your Father who is in the heavens, because He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

1. They are the Father's children, having the Father's divine life and divine nature.

2. Hence, they can be perfect as their heavenly Father is.

B. The demand of the new law of the kingdom is much higher than the requirement of the law of the old dispensation (v. 22, footnote 2); this higher demand can be met only by the Father's divine life, not by the natural life:

Matt. 5:22 footnote 2: The law of the old dispensation deals with the act of murder (v. 21), but the new law of the kingdom deals with anger, the motive of murder. Hence, the demand of the new law of the kingdom is deeper than the requirement of the law of the old dispensation. To meet the demand of the new law of the kingdom, the higher life of the new creation is needed.

1. The kingdom of the heavens is the highest demand, and the divine life of the Father is the highest supply to meet that demand.

2. The demand of the new law of the kingdom is actually the expression of the new life, the divine life, which is within the regenerated kingdom people; this demand opens up the inner being of the regenerated people, showing them that they are able to attain to such a high level and to have such a high living.

3. We become God's regenerated children by the coming of the Spirit of God into our spirit to regenerate us (Rom. 8:16; John 3:6) and to make our spirit the dwelling place of God (Eph. 2:22); if we walk according to our regenerated human spirit indwelt by and mingled with the divine Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), we are living by God's life to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law (Rom. 8:4).

Rom. 8:16 The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Eph. 2:22 In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.

1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

Rom. 8:4 That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

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C. For the kingdom people to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect means that they are perfect in His love (Matt. 5:44-45); love is the nature of God's essence (1 John 4:8, 16):

Matt. 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,

Matt. 5:45 So that you may become sons of your Father who is in the heavens, because He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

1 John 4:8 He who does not love has not known God, because God is love.

1 John 4:16 And we know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.

1. Through the precious and exceedingly great promises given by God, we, the believers in Christ, have become partakers of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4) in an organic union with Him (John 3:15; Gal. 3:27; Matt. 28:19).

John 3:15 That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.

Gal. 3:27 For as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Matt. 28:19 Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

2 Pet. 1:4 Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.

2. To partake of the divine nature is to enjoy what God is.

3. The virtue of this divine nature carries us into God's glory (2 Pet. 1:3), into the full expression of the Triune God; we receive the divine life by believing, and we continually enjoy the divine nature, which is the substance of the divine life; the more we enjoy the divine nature, the more we have His virtue, and the more we are brought into His glory.

2 Pet. 1:3 Seeing that His divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness, through the full knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and virtue,

4. Our enjoyment of the divine nature is both for the present and for eternity—Rev. 22:1-2.

Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.

Rev. 22:2 And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

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D. To be perfect is to have God added to us, as seen in God's word to Abraham in Genesis 17:1—“I am the All-sufficient God; / Walk before Me, and be perfect”:

Gen. 17:1 And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, Jehovah appeared to Abram and said to him, I am the All-sufficient God; / Walk before Me, and be perfect.

1. The divine title All-sufficient God (El Shaddai in Hebrew) reveals God as the source of grace to supply His called ones with the riches of His divine being for the fulfillment of His purpose; the Lord's grace being sufficient for us is the Lord's power being perfected in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9; Phil. 4:13; John 15:5b).

2 Cor. 12:9 And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me.

Phil. 4:13 I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

2. To walk before God is to walk in His presence, constantly enjoying Him and His all-sufficient supply.

3. To be perfect is to have God added to us as the element and factor of perfection; practically, it means that we do not rely on the strength of the flesh but trust in God as the all-sufficient Mighty One for our life and our work.

E. Before God gave Moses the law, He spent time to infuse Moses with Himself—Exo. 24:16-18:

Exo. 24:16 And the glory of Jehovah settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

Exo. 24:17 And the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like consuming fire on the top of the mountain to the eyes of the children of Israel.

Exo. 24:18 And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

1. God's intention is to infuse us with Himself so that He will have a way to do everything in us and for us to fulfill the commandments He gives to us.

2. The emphasis in the Bible is that we need God to come into us and do everything in us and for us—Phil. 2:12-13.

Phil. 2:12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

Phil. 2:13 For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.

3. The requirements of the law in the Old Testament were given to prove that man is not able, and the requirements of the commandments in the New Testament were given to prove that God is able; outside of us He gives us many commandments, but inside of us He is keeping all these commandments for us—Heb. 13:21.

Heb. 13:21 Perfect you in every good work for the doing of His will, doing in us that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

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II. We need to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect by being perfected in His love—1 John 2:5; 4:12, 17-18:

1 John 2:5 But whoever keeps His word, truly in this one the love of God has been perfected. In this we know that we are in Him.

1 John 4:12 No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

1 John 4:17 In this has love been perfected with us, that we have boldness in the day of the judgment because even as He is, so also are we in this world.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear has punishment, and he who fears has not been perfected in love.

A. “Whoever keeps His word, truly in this one the love of God has been perfected”—2:5:

1 John 2:5 But whoever keeps His word, truly in this one the love of God has been perfected. In this we know that we are in Him.

1. Here the love of God denotes our love toward God, which is generated by His love within us.

2. God's love is His inward essence, and the Lord's word supplies us with the divine essence, with which we love God and love the brothers; hence, when we keep the divine word, the divine love is perfected through the divine life, which is God Himself and by which we live.

B. “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us”—4:12:

1 John 4:12 No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

1. Here His love denotes God's love within us that becomes our love toward one another, and it is with this love that we love one another.

2. In God Himself the love of God itself is perfect and complete; however, in us it needs to be perfected and completed in its manifestation:

a. God's love was manifested to us in God's sending of His Son to be both a propitiatory sacrifice and life to us—vv. 9-10.

1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested among us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might have life and live through Him.

1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins.

b. This love is perfected and completed in its manifestation when we express it in our living by habitually loving one another with it.

c. Thus, in our living in God's love, others can behold God manifested in His essence, which is love.

C. “In this has love been perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of the judgment because even as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear has punishment, and he who fears has not been perfected in love”—vv. 17-18:

1 John 4:17 In this has love been perfected with us, that we have boldness in the day of the judgment because even as He is, so also are we in this world.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear has punishment, and he who fears has not been perfected in love.

1. Here perfect love is the love that has been perfected in us by our loving others with the love of God; such love casts out fear and has no fear of being punished by the Lord at His coming back—Luke 12:46-47.

Luke 12:46 The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him asunder, and will appoint his portion with the unbelievers.

Luke 12:47 And that slave who knew his master's will and did not prepare or do according to his will, will receive many lashes;

2. Christ lived in this world a life of God as love, and He is now our life that we may live the same life of love in this world and be the same as He is.

3. First John 4:12 and 17 speak of God's love needing to be perfected in us, and verse 18 speaks of our needing to be perfected in love:

1 John 4:12 No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

1 John 4:17 In this has love been perfected with us, that we have boldness in the day of the judgment because even as He is, so also are we in this world.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear has punishment, and he who fears has not been perfected in love.

a. This indicates that we and the divine love are mingled; when love is perfected in us, we are perfected in love; we become love, and love becomes us.

b. Through God's dispensing of Himself into us, we become love in the sense of being constituted with God as love.

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III. The genuine Christian perfection taught in the New Testament is according to God's New Testament economy that God wanted to become a man that many men may become the God-men for the producing of the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:23) to consummate the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2) as God's ultimate goal (Eph. 3:8-10; 1:9-10):

Eph. 1:23 Which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

Eph. 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel

Eph. 3:9 And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things,

Eph. 3:10 In order that now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church,

Eph. 1:9 Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself,

Eph. 1:10 Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him;

Rev. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

A. Such a Christian perfection is the issue of the dispensing of the processed and consummated Triune God into the believers—the God-men:

1. This dispensing is by God the Father as the source, the origin—Matt. 5:48; Rev. 21:18b and footnote 3, 21b.

Matt. 5:48 You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Rev. 21:18 And the building work of its wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

Rev. 21:18 footnote 3: Since gold signifies the divine nature of God, the city's being of pure gold signifies that New Jerusalem is altogether of God's divine nature and takes God's divine nature as its element. Pure gold, like clear glass indicates that the whole city is transparent and is not in the least opaque.

Rev. 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was, respectively, of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

2. This dispensing is with God the Son as the element—2 Cor. 13:3, 5, 9, 11; Rev. 21:21a and footnote 1, first paragraph.

2 Cor. 13:3 Since you seek a proof of the Christ who is speaking in me, who is not weak unto you but is powerful in you.

2 Cor. 13:5 Test yourselves whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves. Or do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are disapproved?

2 Cor. 13:9 For we rejoice whenever we are weak and you are powerful; this also we pray for, your perfecting.

2 Cor. 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice, be perfected, be comforted, think the same thing, be at peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Rev. 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was, respectively, of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

Rev. 21:21 footnote 1, first paragraph: Pearls are produced by oysters in the waters of death. When an oyster is wounded by a grain of sand, it secretes its life-juice around the grain of sand and makes it into a precious pearl. This depicts Christ as the living One coming into the death waters, being wounded by us, and secreting His life over us to make us into precious pearls for the building of God's eternal expression. That the twelve gates of the holy city are twelve pearls signifies that regeneration through the death-overcoming and life-secreting Christ is the entrance into the city. This meets the requirement of the law, which is represented by Israel and is under the observing of the guarding angels (v. 12).

3. This dispensing is through God the Spirit as the fellowship—2 Cor. 13:9, 11, 14; Rev. 21:18, 21 and footnote 1, second paragraph.

2 Cor. 13:9 For we rejoice whenever we are weak and you are powerful; this also we pray for, your perfecting.

2 Cor. 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice, be perfected, be comforted, think the same thing, be at peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

2 Cor. 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Rev. 21:18 And the building work of its wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

Rev. 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was, respectively, of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

Rev. 21:21 footnote 1, second paragraph: The New Jerusalem is built of three kinds of precious materials, signifying that she is built with the Triune God. First, the city proper, with its street, is of pure gold (vv. 18, 21). Gold, the symbol of the divine nature of God, signifies the Father as the source, from whom the element for the substantial existence of the city is produced. Second, the twelve gates of the city are pearls, which signify the Son's overcoming death and life-imparting resurrection, through which entrance to the city is gained. Third, the wall of the city and its foundation are built of precious stones, signifying the Spirit's work of transforming the redeemed and regenerated saints into precious stones for the building of God's eternal habitation that they may express God corporately in His all-permeating glory. In the garden of Eden these three kinds of treasures merely existed as materials (Gen. 2:11-12), whereas in the city of New Jerusalem these precious materials become a builded city for the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose, which is to have a corporate expression.

B. Second Corinthians 13 was written to encourage the believers to be perfected by the experience of Christ as life and the enjoyment of the processed and consummated Triune God in the Father's love, with Christ's grace as the expression of the Father's love, and through the Spirit's fellowship that dispenses the Father's love in Christ's grace into the believers—vv. 5, 9, 11, 14.

2 Cor. 13:1 This third time I am coming to you; at the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

2 Cor. 13:2 I have previously said and I say beforehand, when I was present the second time and being absent now, to those who have sinned before and to all the rest, that if I come again, I will not spare,

2 Cor. 13:3 Since you seek a proof of the Christ who is speaking in me, who is not weak unto you but is powerful in you.

2 Cor. 13:4 For indeed He was crucified out of weakness, but He lives by the power of God. For indeed we are weak in Him, but we will live together with Him by the power of God directed toward you.

2 Cor. 13:5 Test yourselves whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves. Or do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are disapproved?

2 Cor. 13:6 But I hope that you will know that we are not disapproved.

2 Cor. 13:7 Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong, not that we may appear approved, but that you yourselves may do what is good and we may be as if disapproved.

2 Cor. 13:8 For we are not able to do anything against the truth but rather for the truth.

2 Cor. 13:9 For we rejoice whenever we are weak and you are powerful; this also we pray for, your perfecting.

2 Cor. 13:10 Therefore I write these things while being absent in order that when present I would not have to use severity, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for building up and not for overthrowing.

2 Cor. 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice, be perfected, be comforted, think the same thing, be at peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

2 Cor. 13:12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.

2 Cor. 13:13 All the saints greet you.

2 Cor. 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

C. This kind of Christian perfection is for the building up of the Body of Christ, and the perfecting ones are the gifted persons, such as the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the shepherds and teachers—Eph. 4:11-12.

Eph. 4:11 And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers,

Eph. 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ,

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D. In 2 Peter we see that the divine love, agape, is the ultimate development of the divine nature (1:7), and holiness is the manner of life that partakes of the divine nature (3:11):

2 Pet. 1:7 And in godliness, brotherly love; and in brotherly love, love.

2 Pet. 3:11 Since all these things are to be thus dissolved, what kind of persons ought you to be in holy manner of life and godliness,

1. We believers have received the divine life with the divine nature (1:4), which is God Himself for us to enjoy; when we enjoy this divine nature to the uttermost, love will be the consummation; then we become a being of love.

2 Pet. 1:4 Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.

2. The divine love sanctifies us, separates and saturates us, to make us a people who are fully holy, utterly golden; we become pieces of “gold” put together to be a golden lampstand (Rev. 1:12), bearing the testimony of the “golden” Jesus, and consummating in the New Jerusalem, a city of pure gold (21:18), for the accomplishment of God's economy.

Rev. 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands,

Rev. 21:18 And the building work of its wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

3. Our teaching and shepherding of the saints in the church life should be according to God's economy for the working out of the New Jerusalem.

Day 6

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