General Subject: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

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Outline

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,

Morning Nourishment

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.

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

We need to see the revelation of the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the genuine, real Christian perfection. The New Jerusalem will be the ultimate consummation of the Body of Christ, so the genuine Christian perfection is also the Body of Christ, which is the aggregate of all the God-men living the life of the God-man. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle of James,” p. 415)

Today’s Reading

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 to consummate the New Jerusalem as God’s ultimate goal.

Such a Christian perfection is the issue of the dispensing of the processed and consummated Triune God into the believers, the God-men, by God the Father as the source, the origin (Matt. 5:48). The Father in His nature is the golden base of the New Jerusalem as its source, its origin. The genuine Christian perfection is also with God the Son as the element (2 Cor. 13:3, 5, 9, 11). This is typified by the pearl gates of the New Jerusalem. The dispensing fellowship of God the Spirit (vv. 9, 11, 14) is to secrete the divine life-juice around us by six steps: regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation, and glorification. By these six steps the Spirit, as the third of the Divine Trinity, will finish His transforming work to make us completed pearls.

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... In 2 Corinthians 13 Paul teaches his kind of Christian perfection by Christ in us. The grace of Christ, God the Son, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit as the third of the Trinity are with us all the time secreting the Triune God in His life element around us to perfect us.

The genuine Christian perfection is for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). The perfecting ones of this kind of Christian perfection are the gifted persons, such as the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the shepherds and teachers (vv. 11-12).

The apostles define the truths for the establishing of the church...The prophets prophesy for the building up of the church (1 Cor. 14:3-5). Proper prophets prophesy the divine word, not mainly to predict but mainly to speak forth the Lord. This is what Isaiah did when he spoke concerning a virgin bringing forth a child whose name is Mighty God and Eternal Father (Isa. 9:6)...The evangelists preach the gospel to make sinners the members of Christ for His Body. They preach the gospel not for soul winning but for Christ’s member winning. They win sinners to make them the members of Christ for His Body, not to gain souls for them to go to heaven...The shepherds feed the young believers that they may grow up for the building of the Body of Christ (John 21:15-17; Eph. 4:15-16)...The teachers teach the believers for their edification to establish the churches (cf. 1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17). (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle of James,” pp. 415-418)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle of James,” ch. 7; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” ch. 8

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