Will you please turn to Philippians Chapter 3, Verse 15.
As many therefore as are perfect, let us be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you.
Colossians Chapter 2, Verses 9 and 10.
For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,
and in Him ye are made full.
Second Corinthians Chapter 3, Verse 18.
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.
And finally, First Thessalonians Chapter 5, Verses 23 and 24.
And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is He that calleth you, Who will also do it.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we do want to thank Thee for gathering us together again here in Thy precious, wonderful name. We know that where Thy name is, there is Thy presence. And Lord, we just desire Thy presence more than anything else.
With Thy presence, we are satisfied. We thank Thee for favouring us with Thy presence. But Lord, at the same time, we do tremble before Thee. We are fearful lest we darken Thy counsel with words without knowledge.
So do deliver us. We pray that Thou wilt speak by Thy Spirit, through Thy Word, directly into our hearts, that we may be brought into Thy truth; for Thou art the truth.
We do pray that Thou wilt open our eyes, that we may see Thee; our ears, that we may hear Thee; and our hearts, that we may be filled with Thyself. We commit this time into Thy hands. Our trust is in Thee. To Thee be the glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We do thank the Lord for gathering us together again this afternoon. If you were here yesterday afternoon, you know that the burden that the Lord has put upon us for this time is this matter of Christian perfection.
Now, do not be frightened by this term, Christian perfection. We believe that it is the will of God for us to be perfect. Our God is the God of perfection.
I remember reading something written by Fénelon, if you have ever heard of his name. Fénelon once said, “God is the God of perfection, and He is very jealous for Christian perfection. He will use every means to bring us into it.” And I do agree with him.
Our God is a God of perfection, and because this is what He is, His jealous love will be very jealous for His own, that we may be brought into Christian perfection.
Christian perfection, as we mentioned last time, is not sinless perfection. No one is sinlessly perfect except our Lord Jesus Christ. Christian perfection is not the eradication of sin.
The sinful nature that is in our flesh, due to the fall of our forefather Adam, we inherit that sinful nature. As long as we are in this mortal body, that sinful nature resides in us. But thank God, even though that sinful nature resides in us, it has been isolated. It is not eradicated; it has been isolated.
Because when Christ was crucified, our old man was crucified with Him. So this body of sin is out of a job, and now it is re-employed under new management to serve righteousness and holiness.
We also mentioned yesterday afternoon that Christian perfection is not limited to a few so-called saints, because we are all called saints. The call to Christian perfection is to all.
We thank God that Christian perfection is not the work of man; it is the work of God. God is able to perfect us, if only we allow Him.
So, brothers and sisters, here we find God is calling us to perfection: “Be ye therefore perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Again, I would like to emphasize that it does not mean that we are so perfect that we become gods. Not at all. We are not deified. By Christian perfection, it simply means that we begin to take on the character of Christ; that we are transformed and conformed to the image of Christ.
We are no longer babes in Christ, but we grow up, as we should, into sons and daughters. Because He Who is the only begotten Son is to bring many sons into glory. He is to be the firstborn among many sons. And this is Christian perfection.
So I do believe that if we know what Christian perfection is, surely this is something that we should desire.
As a matter of fact, the life that we receive is a life of perfection. In other words, the very life that is in us today—we who believe in the Lord Jesus receive a new life—and this new life is none other than the life of our Lord Jesus. It is the life of God. It is a life of perfection.
Because we have this life in us, and as we know that each life carries its nature, the very nature of that life is for perfection. That life within us yearns, longs, and desires perfection.
In other words, if you are the Lord’s and you have the life of Christ in you, that very life within you will cry out for perfection. That life in you will not be content to be saved and remain a babe in Christ. It will cry out to grow, to grow to maturity, to be like Christ, and to be characterized by the character of Christ. That is the very cry within us.
So remember, the call to Christian perfection is not only a call from above, but it is a cry from within. There is a call from above: God is calling us to perfection. And the very life within us responds and says, “This is what we want. If this is what You want, this is what we want. If this is Your will, this is also our will.”
Remember, brothers and sisters, it is not just an outward calling; it is an inward longing. And these two merge together. So it is very natural. It should be spontaneous. It is not something to be manufactured or worked up. Actually, it is something that should grow and come out from within in response to that call from above. And this is what we are talking about: Christian perfection.
Some people say that, in order to arrive at Christian perfection, you need to have some special experience. You may call it a second blessing.
Now, John Wesley was greatly used by God to recover the truth of sanctification by faith. We know that God used Martin Luther and the other Reformers to recover to the church justification by faith.
How can we, who are unjust, be justified before the just God? It is not by works, not by accumulated merit, but by faith in the finished work of Christ. And we thank God for that recovery of the truth of justification by faith.
Then, in history, it was John Wesley who was used by God to recover the truth of sanctification by faith. How can we be sanctified? How can we be holy? God is holy. He is not only just, so we need to be justified; He is holy, therefore we need to be holy. Now, how can you be holy? It is by faith—sanctification by faith.
John Wesley, I believe, taught that we can attain perfect love. He mentioned perfect love, but he himself confessed that he had not arrived. Yet he believed that there were certain people who had arrived at perfect love.
If you read the writings of the so-called mystics, you find that they all aim at union with God. They believe that we can pass through a stage of purgation, or purification, and then enter into another stage of enlightenment. After that stage of enlightenment, they believe that we come into a stage of union with God.
Or, to put it another way, they believe that our will can be so one with God’s will that we are united with God in His will. What God wills, we will, and we will only will God’s will. That is the belief of the so-called mystics, and some claim that they have arrived.
Now, brothers and sisters, we are not going to question what they claim or what they disclaim. This is not our job. But our desire is that we want to know the way to Christian perfection.
Before we go into the way of Christian perfection, I think I have to underline and re-emphasize one point. Because if we lose that point, then what we are going to share this afternoon will be out of focus.
What is the way to Christian perfection? Where is the way?
In the Old Testament, God appeared to Abraham and said:
I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be thou perfect.
The key to perfection is the presence of God. Perfection is possible because our God is the all-sufficient God. If we only walk before His face, if we only live in His presence, He will perfect us.
We also mentioned that it is grace that makes us perfect. So, put another way, the way to perfection is Christ. Our Lord Jesus said, “I am the way.” He is the way to perfection.
So do not for a moment think that the way to perfection is something that we must do—that because we do it ourselves, therefore we can arrive at perfection. Not at all. It is His doing.
It is true that there is much that needs to be done. But remember, in one sense, we do nothing, because He does it all. So, brothers and sisters, the way to Christian perfection actually is in Him, not in us. I want to lay this down as the foundation.
After we understand this, then we will ask, “What is our part?” In the way to Christian perfection, there is a divine part. Of course, the divine part, as a matter of fact, is the whole part. But somehow, you find that in the way to Christian perfection, there is a part that we must play.
If we do not play our part, even though that work is done by God Himself and not by us, He will not do it—or He may not be able to do it. So there is a human side that we have to consider.
First of all, if we really want to go the way of Christian perfection, then we must have a certain mind, or, to put it another way, we have to have a certain mental attitude.
In Philippians Chapter 3, Verse 15, it says that those who want to be perfect must be thus minded. In other words, you have to have a certain kind of mind in order to be perfect. This is our part.
Brothers and sisters, when we are saved, we receive a new life. But when we are saved, do we receive a new mind?
In one sense, at the time of our conversion, our mind does undergo a change, because repentance means a change of mind. Our mind has much to do with our walk and with our life. The way you think will decide the direction you will go.
You are what you are because of what you think. What you set your mind upon will lead you in that direction.
Before we were saved, our mind was a darkened mind, a reprobate mind. The way we think is in opposition to the mind of God. In other words, what God considers excellent, we consider foolish.
Because of this, you find that with our fallen mind, the way we go is further and further away from God, deeper and deeper into sin and into the world, conformed to this present age. This is what our mind is, and that affects our whole life and our whole walk.
Even though you may not say, “My mind is set on going to hell,” I think nobody will confess that. But as a matter of fact, that is actually what it is. Before you were saved, your mind was set on going to hell. That is what you desired, because sin will lead to that place.
Before you were saved, you were not only afraid of God, but you abhorred the things of God. That was the way that marked your life.
But, brothers and sisters, one day the Holy Spirit came and touched our conscience, and we were awakened. We were convicted of the sinfulness of our sin, and there came a change in our minds.
Instead of loving sin and going in that direction, we began to desire to turn around to God and look for His salvation. So, brothers and sisters, you see that before we are born again there will be repentance. Repentance leads us to salvation. Repent and be saved.
If you do not repent, you will never receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, because you had no need for Him. But because there is a change of mind in you, and with that change of mind you become convicted and convinced that you need Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you turn to Him and receive Him.
When you believe in Him, you receive a new life in you. So, brothers and sisters, when you are born again, you do receive a new life, and your mind does undergo a change. But remember, it is not a drastic change, a basic change. It is just a change for a while. It is superficial, in a sense—not drastic enough.
So the result is that after you are saved, you have a new life in you, but you still carry an old mind.
In the thrill of your new birth, it seems as if your mind has already changed, that you love the Lord with your whole mind, and you begin to look down upon the world. It seems as if it has changed.
But strangely, you will find that maybe after a month or maybe after a year, somehow your old mind gradually takes possession of you again. So there you find a conflict.
Within you there is a new life that desires God, but in your mind you still love the old things and the old way. Your evaluation and your outlook gradually lead you back to the world. So there is a conflict in your life.
So, brothers and sisters, what we need is the renewing of our mind. After you have received a new life, you need to have your mind renewed. Then you will find there will be an agreement within you, and you will be able to go forth in the way of perfection.
As a matter of fact, your old mind is standing in the way of perfection, because your mind does not like perfection.
But how can we have this renewing of our mind—a complete change of attitude?
Romans Chapter 12, Verse 1 says:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
In Romans 12:2, it says, “By the renewing of your mind.” Our mind needs to be renewed. Why? Because if your mind is not renewed, you will be conformed to the world. And the world there is the age.
In other words, you will be conformed to the age of the world. You will be conformed to the fashion of this world. You will follow the current of this world. You will not only love it, but you will squeeze yourself into its mould to be like it.
Without the renewing of your mind, you will be afraid of the perfect will of God. You think the will of God is a terrible thing. It is always in opposition to you. Whatever is unpleasant, that is the will of God.
Now, with that kind of mentality, how can you expect to go the way of perfection? Impossible. So we need to have that renewing of the mind.
With the renewing of your mind, there will be a transforming. You will be so transformed in your mind that you will look down upon the world, the age of the world, just as Paul said:
What things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ.
Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.
Now, that was not what Saul the Pharisee thought before. Saul the Pharisee thought very highly of his Jewish heritage. He thought very highly of his accomplishments in Judaism. These were the things that he loved, strove for, and set his mind upon. And he was pretty successful, to a certain degree.
He looked upon the sect of the Nazarenes, persecuted the church, and hated them because he considered Christ an impostor of Judaism. That was his mind. And because that was his mindset, that was what Saul was.
But on the road to Damascus, under the light of God, he was not only saved, but he received a renewing of his mind. After his mind was renewed, in Philippians Chapter 3 he said, “That which I boasted of in the past, now I count all these as dross, as refuse.”
Who loves refuse? You want to get rid of it. And now he said, “The excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ consumes me. That is the one thing that I desire.” A change of mind, a renewing of mind. Because of the renewing of his mind, he was on the way to perfection.
Now, brothers and sisters, we need that renewing of our mind. Is our mind renewed? Just think for a moment: where do you set your mind?
Is your mind still upon the things of this world, or is your mind set upon the things of God? Are you still thinking much of the things of earth, or are you thinking much of the things above?
What do you treasure most? Do you consider the things of this world—the wealth of this world, the position of this world, the fame of this world, the popularity of this world—as treasure? Or is Christ your treasure above all things?
Where is your mind? Your minding sets your direction. We need a renewing of our mind.
But how can our mind be renewed? You cannot change your mind. It is beyond us. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. But you need to do one thing: present your bodies a living sacrifice.
In other words, you need to be constrained by the love of Christ. When the love of Christ constrains you, you begin to realize that you should no longer live for yourself. You have no right to live for yourself or seek your own pleasure.
You have to offer yourself to God as a living sacrifice. That is to say, you put yourself on the altar and say, “Lord, I am Yours. From now on, this redeemed person—spirit, soul, and body—is all Yours. I relinquish my rights to You. You have every right over my life. Do whatever You like with me.”
Now this is consecration, brothers and sisters. So far as spiritual experience is concerned, consecration is the first spiritual experience. If you have never come to this point, you have never begun in Christian experience.
That is the first Christian experience: you are constrained by the love of Christ, and you offer yourself as a living sacrifice.
Why do you do that? Something happens. When you present your bodies a living sacrifice, the Holy Spirit comes in and transforms your mind. You find your mind is different now.
What you considered as treasures, you look down upon as dross. What you considered as fearful, you begin to desire and love. Now, brothers and sisters, this is not theory. This is real. Try it.
When this happens, then you are on the way to perfection. So again we say that the renewing of the mind is necessary.
Now, you think that you have to do something. But as a matter of fact, all you do is yield yourself. You do not do anything else. You do not transform your own mind; you cannot.
You only yield yourself. You only surrender your life. You only give yourself over to Christ. And when you do that, when you cooperate, the Holy Spirit renews your mind and gives you a new mind. You begin to have a new outlook. Your evaluation becomes different.
The minding of the Spirit is life and peace. The minding of the flesh is death.
With that renewed mind, a new desire comes forth. You desire; you want all that God has called you to, all that Christ has provided for you. You want it all.
So, brothers and sisters, the first thing on the way to perfection is a holy desire—a new mind, a new attitude. You want to have all that God has provided for you.
Look at Paul. He said:
That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death;
if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on.
“I want to obtain. I want to possess all that I have been possessed by God.” Now, brothers and sisters, every one of us has been possessed by God. Or, to put it another way, God has apprehended us for His purpose.
God has a purpose for every one of us. Whom He foreknew, He called; whom He called, He justified; whom He justified, He glorified, that we may all be conformed to the image of His beloved Son.
That is what we have been apprehended by God for. That is God’s calling concerning us. Paul said, “If that is what God has called me for, if that is what God has possessed me for, if that is what God has apprehended me for, then I want all that He has apprehended me for. I want to possess all that He has possessed me for, and nothing less.”
“This is my goal. This is the high calling. This is the prize for which I am stretching myself ahead.” That is before me. Brothers and sisters, this is the mind of Paul. If you want to be perfect, you have to be thus minded.
If you are otherwise minded, the Lord will tell you to be thus minded. Are you thus minded? Is there a holy desire for perfection?
Perfection means nothing but to possess what God has possessed you for. Perfection means nothing but to be all that Christ has provided for you.
All the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ, and ye are complete in Him.
Can you comprehend the fullness of the Godhead—God in His fullness? Can you measure it: the width, the length, the depth, the height? Paul says you cannot measure it.
The fullness of God dwells in Christ bodily: all the fullness of God—His love, His righteousness, His holiness, His purity, His power, His authority, His glory. You find that all that God is, is measureless.
The Word says that this fullness dwells in Christ bodily, and ye are complete in Him—made full in Him, made perfect in Him, complete in Him. Brothers and sisters, do you believe it? Do you desire it?
The whole land is given. Now go and possess it. Put your feet down, one foot at a time, and wherever the sole of your foot steps, it is yours.
Do not be content to just cross over the Jordan and stay put in Gilgal, and never possess the whole land. There must be a holy dissatisfaction, a holy discontent.
On the one hand, we should be content. In First Timothy Chapter 6, we find that with food, clothing, and covering, we should be content. What else do we want? Godliness with contentment is great gain.
There should be a contentment within us. But on the other hand, brothers and sisters, there needs to be a holy discontentment. We need always to desire more of the Lord Himself, because there is always more that He is ready to give to us.
This mind has to be our mind. But sadly, you find there are many people who are otherwise minded.
Paul, in Philippians Chapter 3, after he said, “As many therefore as are perfect, let us be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you,” goes on in Verses 18 and 19.
Thank God, Verses 18 and 19 are in parentheses. In other words, these are not normal. They are in parentheses. You do not need to go into the parentheses; you should be outside the parentheses.
In the parentheses it says:
For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
whose end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
Now, brothers and sisters, remember: these parentheses were put in by Paul to show us who are the otherwise minded. We should be thus minded, as Paul was minded.
Unfortunately, there are Christians—these are not unbelievers; these are believers—but unfortunately they are believers, God’s children, who are otherwise minded. When Paul thought of these otherwise-minded believers, he wept.
If you really understand that, you will weep too. Not only will you weep; you will weep with Christ. You will weep with God, because God is love. He wants us to be all that He has for us, and if we are otherwise minded, how it hurts His love.
So Paul said, “When I mention it, I weep”—literally weeping. These are believers, but unfortunately these believers have their minds upon earthly things.
You say, “How can it be possible?” Not only is it possible; unfortunately, it is a fact. Many believers have minds that are not renewed. They are still seeking earthly things. Their belly is their god. Their shame is their glory. And their end is destruction.
The destruction here does not refer to eternal perdition—no, not eternal perdition. The destruction here refers to the kingdom: that they will have no part in the kingdom, to reign and rule with Christ. It is a warning to us.
We need to be warned, brothers and sisters. So first of all, let us be thus minded. If you are otherwise minded, God will reveal it. May the Lord do it this afternoon, that all of us here will be thus minded and will be on the way to perfection.
Secondly, after we are thus minded, then you find in Second Corinthians Chapter 3, Verse 18:
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.
If you read the context, you will find Paul is talking about our being ministers of the new covenant. Go back to Verse 6:
Who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Then there is a parenthesis, and that parenthesis continues until the end of Verse 16. So Verse 17 actually should be connected with Verse 6.
In the parenthesis, he uses an illustration: the illustration of Moses. Moses went up to the mountain, and he was there in the presence of God for forty days and forty nights, receiving the Ten Commandments.
Because he was in the presence of God for forty days and forty nights, when he came down from the mountain, he was unconscious that his face shone. In other words, because he lived in the presence of God, the glory of God was reflected upon him.
It was so shining, so bright, that the children of Israel could not look at his face. It is the same glory that Paul saw on the road to Damascus; it blinded his eyes.
So Moses had to put on a veil and cover his face when he was with the children of Israel. But when he went into the presence of God, he lifted the veil.
Now, that happened to Moses. Then you find the Holy Spirit makes a turn and applies this metaphor to the children of Israel. Instead of the veil being upon the face of Moses, He says the veil is now upon the face of the children of Israel.
It says in Verse 14 that their thoughts were hardened, and unto this very day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remaineth unlifted. In other words, you find that the veil is changed from Moses’ face and is now upon the face of the children of Israel.
When they read the Old Testament, the old covenant, they have a veil there. They could not see. They saw the letter, but they could not see the Spirit. And the letter killed them.
They were condemned by the old covenant because they could not keep the old covenant. They did not see that the old covenant was to bring them to Christ. The law is to bring them to Christ. But because they had the veil, they only saw the law; they could not see Christ, and they were condemned.
But whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The veil is lifted.
So again, you find the metaphor changed from the face to the heart. Brothers and sisters, when our heart turns to the Lord, then the veil is lifted. In other words, we can behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face.
When you do that, then we will be transformed from glory to glory according to His image, as by the Lord the Spirit.
So after the mind comes the heart. Brothers and sisters, what is the heart?
The heart is the centre of our spiritual being, just as our physical heart is the centre of our physical being. In Scripture, the heart is the centre of our spiritual being.
You read Proverbs Chapter 4, Verse 23:
Keep thy heart with all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life.
In other words, life issues from the heart. It goes into the heart; it comes out from the heart.
What is the heart? The heart is the composite of the mind, the will, and the emotion of the soul, plus the condition of the spirit. This is our heart.
The heart is where our mind is. The heart is where our love is. The heart is where our desire is, where our will is. The heart is where our conscience directs us.
So, brothers and sisters, when we have a new mind and begin to be thus minded, then with the mind the heart turns to the Lord. Our whole being is united unto the Lord—not just the mind alone.
With the mind, you find your love begins to direct itself toward the Lord. Your emotion and affection begin to turn to the Lord, and you begin to will the will of the Lord. You begin to desire Him. That is true: you want His will.
Brothers and sisters, when your heart turns to the Lord, then the veil is lifted. You can behold the glory of the Lord.
No one could behold the glory of the Lord in Old Testament times. If anyone desired to behold the glory of the Lord, he would be smitten to death. Yet that would be the highest privilege a human being could ever have.
You remember Moses. Because he found favour in the sight of God, he prayed this prayer: “Show me Thy glory.” Well, that is the highest prayer man can ever pray: “Show me Thy glory. Let me see Thee face to face, in reality.”
And God said, “No one can see My face and live. But I will allow you to see My back.” You remember the story.
But, brothers and sisters, today, through our Lord Jesus, we may behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face. Why? Because the glory of the Lord is in the face of Jesus Christ.
Today, we may see the face of Jesus Christ, and in the face of Jesus Christ we see the glory of the Lord.
When our hearts turn to Him, oh, we see how beautiful our Lord is, how lovely He is. He is the fairest of ten thousand. He is beyond comparison.
We see His love, His holiness, His righteousness, His purity, His glory, and His humility. Brothers and sisters, when we turn our hearts to the Lord, we are in His presence; we see Him.
As we see Him, the Spirit of God will do the work of transformation. In other words, not just beholding Him, but in beholding Him, the Spirit of God will transform us to be like Him.
But from glory to glory signifies not instantly. It is by the Lord the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, Moses was in the presence of God for forty days and forty nights, and his face shone. As a matter of fact, he did not really see God Himself. He may have seen a form, but not God Himself. He only heard the back of God, the name of God.
But today we may see the face of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We see God. We know Him. The more you look at Him, the Holy Spirit transforms you to be more like Him, and light will shine.
But thank God, you are not conscious of it.
Brothers and sisters, where is your heart? King Solomon in Proverbs said, “My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways.”
If our heart is given to the Lord, our eyes will delight in God’s way, and we will go in the way of perfection.
Thirdly, in Hebrews Chapter 5, Verses 8 and 9:
Though He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered;
and having been made perfect, He became unto all them that obey Him the author of eternal salvation.
Brothers and sisters, first we need to be thus minded. Then we need to turn our heart to Him. And then, thirdly, the way to perfection is the way of the cross.
Why is it necessary to go the way of the cross? Because of the reality of fallen man.
We have fallen. We have committed sins. We have inherited a sinful nature from our forefather Adam. We are living in a world organized by the evil one, in opposition to God.
We are walking in our flesh, and the flesh does not know the will of God and does not like the will of God. We are under the dominion and influence of the evil one.
Our very life is the life of self. Self is the life of our soul. Because of this, these are hindrances to perfection. In order to get rid of this, there is only one way: the cross.
The cross. And that is the reason why our Lord Jesus had to come, and He had to go the way of the cross.
Here, brothers and sisters, it is on the cross of our Lord Jesus that He bore our sins in His own body—the Just for the unjust—that our sins might be forgiven.
It is in the body of our Lord Jesus, when He was crucified, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the sinful nature in us is isolated, and that we are delivered from the power of sin, that we may sin no more.
It is the cross of our Lord Jesus that separates us from the world. Galatians Chapter 6: the cross stands between us and the world. When the world looks at us, we are on the cross, and they say, “Get rid of him.” But when we look at the world, the world is on the cross, and we get rid of it.
We are delivered from the world by the cross. They that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof.
Because of the victorious cross, He has spoiled principalities and authorities and made a public show of them by the cross. Because of this victory, today we can claim victory over our enemies.
Even our Lord Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man, perfect though He was, learned obedience through the things that He suffered, that He might become the Author of our eternal salvation.
You find that even our Lord Jesus, with His perfect self, had a human self. But His self was uncontaminated; it was a holy self. Yet even that holy self had to be delivered to the cross.
He suffered. Through the things that He suffered, He learned obedience: “Not My will, but Thy will be done.” Because of this, He became the Author of our eternal salvation.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus has opened a new and living way for us. This new and living way is the way to perfection. It is the way through His body, through His broken body. It is the way of the cross. He has dedicated that way to us, and this is the way we have to go.
First, His cross; then, our cross.
Only after we receive the cross of our Lord Jesus are we able to take up our cross and follow the Lord. Otherwise, we are not able to take up our cross.
It is on the foundation of the finished work of Christ on the cross that we are able to claim victory over sin, over flesh, over the world, over ourselves, and over the enemy.
We bear the cross, but the cross of Christ bears us. The way of perfection is the way of the cross. It is the way of suffering.
By suffering, I do not mean just some outward suffering. That is the least of it. But it is a suffering of laying down ourselves, denying ourselves. Take up your cross and follow the Lord. This is the way to perfection.
Anyone who does not want to deny himself, who wants to preserve himself—anyone who rejects the cross, anyone who is afraid of the sufferings of Christ—is not on the way of holiness, on the way of perfection.
Maturity demands discipline. For us to grow out of babyhood and childhood into manhood and womanhood, our heavenly Father has to chastise us. He has to child-train us.
The Holy Spirit will arrange our circumstances to discipline us. Sometimes He will put us with certain people. Sometimes He will allow certain things to happen to us in order to discipline us.
If we are under His discipline, if we humble ourselves and submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God, then in due time He will exalt us. Brothers and sisters, this is the way to perfection.
Do you want to be perfect? Come and follow the Lord. Wherever the Lamb goes, you go. If He goes the way of the cross, that is the way you have to go.
Are you afraid of it? Is it too fearful? Is it too hard? You say, “It is impossible—too much for me. I cannot.” But, brothers and sisters, remember: it is not you; it is He.
All that is required of you is a willingness. All that is required of you is a desire. All that is required of you is your heart. You cannot do it. Who can deny himself or herself? You cannot.
Who wants the cross? Nobody wants it. If you say you love the cross, perhaps you love the cross that you yourself create. But when God gives you the cross, you hate it.
Nobody loves the cross. Nobody loves discipline. You cannot take it. Our flesh cannot take it. But, brothers and sisters, there is grace. There is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
So remember, the way of holiness is by the power of the Holy Spirit:
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
Dear brothers and sisters, all that God desires of you is your willingness. You want it. You desire it. You are willing. You hand yourself over. You submit yourself. You surrender yourself.
You say, “Lord, I am not able, but You are able.” If you take that kind of cooperation, the Spirit of God, Who is the Spirit of perfection, will perfect you.
The sooner you realize that it is beyond you, the better, because then you rely on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power of God.
He can do exceeding abundantly above all that you can even ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, that it may be unto the praise of the glory of God.
So, brothers and sisters, thank God. God is calling us to be perfect because He is perfect. God is calling us to be mature. God is calling us to be conformed to the image of Christ.
There will be growth pains along the way. You have to learn to suffer for the sake of Christ. But it is worth it. You will discover that it is not really you who made it; it is the Holy Spirit Who perfects you for the praise of the glory of God.
So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that Thou hast called us with a calling that is worthy of Thee. Thou hast called us to be perfect, as Thou art perfect.
Oh, we do acknowledge that it is beyond us. But we do praise and thank Thee: Thou Who hast called us wilt perfect it.
So today we just offer ourselves to Thee, surrender ourselves to Thee, and we say, “Lord, work it out to the praise of Thy glory.” In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.