Crucial Aspects of Matthew 5 Through 7
Message Six
Being Perfect as Our Heavenly Father Is Perfect
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture reading:
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.
44-45 But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 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.
I. Therefore you shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect; we are the Father’s children, having the Father’s divine life and nature, and thus we can be perfect as the Father is—Matt. 5:48: (Monday)
A. The divine life enables us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect; the way to be perfected is to remain in the divine communion, continually receiving and enjoying the dispensing of the processed Triune God—Matt. 5:48.
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B. Ephesians 4 speaks of perfecting the new man through the growth in life; the new man, which is organically perfect, needs to be perfected through the growth in life so that it can function properly—Eph. 4:13. (Tuesday)
C. For us to be perfected, we need to be constituted with Christ; this means that when the All-Inclusive Christ is wrought into us to become our everything, the organically perfect new man will be perfected in its function—Col. 3:10-11.
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II. For the kingdom people to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect means to be perfect in His love—Matt. 5:20, 44-45: (Wednesday)
A. The divine love is the nature of God’s essence; this divine love, as an attribute of God’s essence, is mainly manifested in God’s sending His Son to redeem us and to dispense the divine life into us so that we may become His children—1 John 4:8, 10.
B. The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us; the God of love is the divine essence that has been poured out in our hearts—Rom. 5:5.
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C. For the building up of the Body of Christ, love is the most excellent way in all that we are and do; God first loved us, infused His love into us, and generated love in us so that we may love God and all the saints with this love—1 Cor. 12:31; 1 John 4:19-21. (Thursday, Friday)
D. We must be those who are flooded and constrained by the love of Christ; the divine love should be like a mighty tide rushing upon us, constraining us so that we cannot help but live to Him—2 Cor. 5:14.
E. We are the God-kind because we have been born of God, having His life and nature; since we have become God in life and nature through regeneration, we are also love—John 3:5-7; 1 John 4:16.
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F. First John 4 tells us how we can have boldness to stand before the judgment seat of Christ; the secret is to abide in love—v. 17. (Saturday)
G. To abide in love is to live a life of loving Christ; perfect love is the love that has been perfected in us because we love others with the love of God—1 John 4:17-18.
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
…I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become sons of your Father who is in the heavens…—Matt. 5:44-45.
You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect—Matt. 5:48.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins—1 John 4:10.
Word of Appetizer
How can we be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect?
As the children of the Father, we have the Father’s divine life and nature and thus can be perfect as the Father is. The divine life enables us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. The way to be perfect is to remain in the divine communion, continually receiving and enjoying the dispensing of the processed Triune God. In order to be perfect in this way, we need to have the divine life and the divine nature dispensed into us by enjoying the Father Himself.
Spiritual Burden
As the children of the Father, we have the Father’s divine life and nature and thus can be perfect as the Father is. In order to be perfect in this way, we need to have the divine life and the divine nature dispensed into us by enjoying the Father Himself.
For the kingdom people to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect is to be perfect in His love. The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Our experiencing and enjoying God as the Father in His love is to experience and enjoy the love which is the nature of God’s essence being dispensed into our hearts.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
For the kingdom people to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect is to be perfect in His love.
The Experience of Life
As the children of the Father, we have the Father’s divine life and nature and thus can be perfect as the Father is. When the All-Inclusive Christ has been wrought into us to become our everything, the new man, who is organically perfect, will be perfect in function.
The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Our experiencing and enjoying God as the Father in His love is to experience and enjoy the love which is the nature of God’s essence being dispensed into our hearts.
Practice and Application
We need to turn to our Father and realize that we have His life and nature. Then we will be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. This is the kingdom life. The way to be perfect is to remain in the divine communion, continually receiving and enjoying the dispensing of the processed Triune God.
First John 4 tells us how we can stand with boldness before the judgment seat of Christ. The secret is to abide in love. To abide in love is to live a life of habitually loving others with the love that is God Himself so that God can be expressed in us.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The People of the Kingdom Are the Father’s Children, Possessing the Father’s Divine Life and Nature (Matt. 5:44-45)
(Please illustrate how the people of the kingdom can be perfect as the Father is perfect.)
T2 We Are the People of the Kingdom, and We Can Fulfill These Requirements (Matt. 5:44-45, 48)
(Please illustrate that we can fulfill these laws not by ourselves but by the Father’s life and nature.)
Day 2
T1 Distinguishing between Being Organically Perfect and Functionally Perfect (Eph. 4:12-13)
(Please illustrate that a baby is organically perfect as soon as it is born, but it is not functionally perfect.)
T2 When the New Man Is Born, He Is Organically Perfect; However, He Cannot Yet Function (Eph. 4:12-13)
(Please illustrate that only by receiving the proper nourishment can the new man be perfected in function.)
Day 3
T1 God’s Nature Includes Spirit as the Nature of His Person, Love as the Nature of His Essence, and Light as the Nature of His Expression (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10)
(Please illustrate that the more we are under God’s dispensing, the more we have His Spirit, love, and light.)
T2 God, Being Rich in Mercy, because of His Great Love with Which He Loved Us (Eph. 2:4)
(Please illustrate that God’s mercy reaches farther than His love.)
Day 4
T1 Love Is Efficacious (1 Cor. 12:31; 13:13)
(Please illustrate that no matter how much shepherding and teaching we give to others, if there is no love, everything is in vain.)
T2 Love Is the Surpassingly Excellent Way (1 Cor. 12:31; 13:3)
(Please illustrate from experience that for what we are and what we do, love is the surpassingly excellent way.)
Day 5
T1 We Are God’s Kind, because We Have Been Born of God, Possessing His Life and Nature (John 1:12-13; Eph. 1:4-5)
(Please illustrate that since we are God’s kind, we should be love, because God is love.)
T2 In Loving Others, We Should Be like God (Eph. 1:4-5)
(Please illustrate that the entire human race became God’s enemy, yet God still loves mankind.)
Day 6
T1 He Who Abides in Love Abides in God, and God Abides in Him (1 John 4:17-18)
(Please illustrate that to abide in love is to live a life of habitually loving others with this love, so that God can be expressed in us.)
T2 If the Love of God Is Perfected in Us, We May Have Boldness in the Day of Judgment (1 John 4:17-18)
(Please illustrate that God’s love is in itself perfect and complete, but this love needs to be perfected in us.)
