Will you please turn to Matthew 5:48?
Be ye therefore perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Our Father, how we praise and thank Thee for Thy great love toward us. Thou hast gathered us together this morning.
Lord, our hearts bow before Thee. What hast Thou to say to us? Speak, Lord; Thy servants hear.
Dear Lord, we acknowledge that in ourselves there is neither understanding nor power. But we know that Thou art our wisdom and our power.
So we look to Thee that Thou wilt breathe upon Thy written Word and make it living and working in our lives, that Thou mayest be glorified.
Take away any preconceived ideas, and show us Thy truth and lead us into Thy truth. We want Thee to be glorified in the midst of Thy redeemed. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Beloved brothers and sisters, when you read the Bible, you cannot help but see that in the Word of God there are so many places where the word perfect is used.
And when you read that word, do you sometimes wonder, “What can that word mean? What does God mean by this word perfect?”
So, this time as we gather together before the Lord, we look to Him to show us what He really means when He says, “Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
As you go through the Word of God, you will find this word perfect is used not only in the New Testament; it is also used in the Old Testament.
The first mention of this word is found in Genesis 6:9. Noah was a just man, and perfect among his generations. Now, what does it mean? Was Noah sinlessly perfect?
If you read the preceding verse, you will find that Noah found favor with God. In other words, it was by the grace of God that he was considered perfect. And it was a perfection among his generation.
Then again, in Genesis 17:1, God said to Abram, “I am the Almighty God, the all-sufficient God. Walk before Me, and be perfect.”
Again, we want to ask the question: What does He mean when God says, “Walk before Me, and be perfect”?
Evidently, we know that Abram, by faith, came out of Ur of the Chaldees. He followed the Lord, not knowing whither he was going, but knowing that God was leading him.
But afterwards, you will find that in his sojourn in Canaan, he was weakened in his faith. Instead of waiting for the Lord to fulfill His promise to him, he accepted human ways and tried to help the Lord.
And it was after this that God appeared to him and said, “I am the all-sufficient God. You walk before Me and be perfect.” So, in other words, he failed. He was imperfect in his faith, and God said, “Be perfect in your faith. Trust in Me wholly and completely.”
Then again, we find in the case of Job. In Job 1:1, it says Job was upright and perfect, one that feared God and turned away from evil.
Now, was Job sinlessly perfect? If you read Job 9, he asks a question: “Can anyone be justified before God?”
And then, in the following verses, he said, “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: though I were perfect, it shall prove me perverse.” If I insist on saying that I am perfect, I am deceiving myself.
So, brothers and sisters, what is meant by this word perfect?
Also, in Deuteronomy 18, God said to the children of Israel, “Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.” All the commandments of God were supposed to be kept, and if they kept them, they would be considered perfect before God.
Now, in the case of David, if you read 2 Samuel 22:24, in his psalm he said, “I was upright.” And the word upright means perfect.
Was David perfect? We all know he was not sinlessly perfect. But thank God, he had a heart for God. He was a man after God’s own heart, and he would do all God’s will.
So there we find in 2 Chronicles that the eyes of the Lord go to and fro to find those who are perfect in heart toward Him, and He will show Himself strong toward them. So David, evidently, was a person considered perfect in heart.
But anyway, brothers and sisters, as you go through the Old Testament, you find that these people were not sinlessly perfect.
God is absolutely perfect—perfect in every way. But man, no matter how perfect he may be considered by God, cannot be compared with the absolute perfection of God.
In Old Testament times, it was by the grace of God and the working of God in their lives that they were brought to a place where they began to manifest some character like God. It was the working of God in their lives, and when God saw it, God considered it perfect.
Now you go to the New Testament. In the New Testament, you discover one thing: not only is perfection the teaching of the New Testament, but God has demonstrated His perfection on earth through His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
When our Lord came into the world, He declared to us His Father. He showed us what kind of a God we have.
Our God is a perfect God. He is perfect in love. He is perfect in holiness. He is perfect in righteousness. He is perfect in purity. He is perfect in wisdom, in power, in everything. Our God is absolutely perfect.
And this is demonstrated in the life of our Lord Jesus.
There is a difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In Old Testament times, we find that God did work. He did give grace and favor to man, and out of His working and His favor, some people were considered perfect.
But in the New Testament, we come to a very different scene. Why? First of all, we find that God came into this world to demonstrate to us what perfection is.
That perfection is absolute, without measure. And this we find in the life of our Lord Jesus. He brought heaven upon this earth. He showed us what kind of God we have.
Some people try to imitate Christ. Now, if you do not try to imitate Him, you may think that you are quite like Him. But the more you try, really, sincerely, honestly, to imitate Christ and to be like Him, I believe your conscience will tell you that you are far away from Him.
The life of our Lord Jesus—if He lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years, showing us what perfection is, and then returned to heaven—what would happen to us? His perfect life would be our condemnation.
You remember He said that when the Holy Spirit comes, “He shall convict you of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of righteousness, because I go to the Father.” In other words, no one can go to the Father except those who are as perfect as the Father is perfect.
He is sinlessly perfect. He does not know what sin is. He has never sinned. Not only that, but He never knew what sin was, because He was always obedient to the Father, pleasing the Father.
And if He should come without going to the cross and go back to heaven, He would forever be our condemnation, because aside from Him no one can go to the Father. If anyone would try, he would be smitten to death.
But thank God, our Lord Jesus not only came to demonstrate the perfection of God and to live a perfect life, showing us what a perfect life is; He also went to the cross.
And there on the cross, He bore our sins. He shed His blood for the remission of our sins, that we might be justified before God.
But not only that: He poured out His life for us and to us. So anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus not only has his sins forgiven. Though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Thank God for that.
For salvation is more than that. There is something very positive in salvation, because by His death He released His life and gave His life to everyone who believes in Him.
So, brothers and sisters, thank God, we who believe in the Lord Jesus have eternal life.
Eternal life is not something just for the future. Eternal life begins today. What is eternal life? Eternal life is nothing but the life of our Lord Jesus.
So, dear brothers and sisters, the most precious thing is that we have His life. He has given His very life to us. And what kind of a life is that?
It is a perfect life, and it has been demonstrated on earth as a person.
So, dear brothers and sisters, first of all, we need to remember that we who believe in the Lord Jesus have, in us, His perfect life. It is perfect as God is perfect. You cannot be more perfect than that.
And that life is a complete life. That life has lived on this earth before. It has demonstrated His quality. This very mature life, experiential life—a life of perfection—is now in you and in me. Can you believe it?
Sometimes you feel that it is just too good, but it is true. The life that you received is not an imperfect life, because it is the very life of our Lord Jesus.
And that is the reason why you find our Lord Jesus teaches us that we need to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect.
What does it mean? Does it mean that because of this, even here on earth, we can be sinlessly perfect?
Our Lord Jesus, while He was on earth, was sinlessly perfect. We have His life in us, and we are called to be perfect. Now why is it that we are not sinlessly perfect?
When I was saved, I was saved among the holiness people. And you know the holiness people: they believe in so-called second blessing.
The first blessing is that you repent, you believe in the Lord Jesus, and you are saved. But you need a second blessing, and the second blessing is the eradication, the uprooting, of sin.
You need another flesh experience, and through that blessing the sin nature, the root of sin in you, is uprooted. So after that, you will sin no more. You will be sinlessly perfect.
Now, I was saved among these people. I think it would be very good if it were true.
I think we are all bothered, even after we are saved. Thank God, we know that our sins, our past sins, were all forgiven. But unfortunately, we find that even though we are saved, we are still not only prone to sin, but we do sin.
It would be untrue to say that we are sinlessly perfect. So our problem is: How can we be sinlessly perfect?
You know, in our natural mind, sin is the biggest problem, even though in the heart of God that is not the biggest problem. But to us, it is the biggest problem. So when we think of perfection, immediately we think of sinless perfection. Anything less than that is not perfection.
But, dear brothers and sisters, I have to tell you: during that conference where I was saved, the founder of that mission lost her temper in public.
But there was an explanation. The explanation was, “It is not sin; it is weakness.” Now, I cannot see the difference between sin and weakness. Some people do.
The Bible never teaches sinless perfection. There is only one person on earth who is sinlessly perfect, and that is our Lord Jesus.
Why are we not sinlessly perfect, having such a perfect life demonstrated before us, and this very life in us? And God expects us to be perfect. Why is it that we are not sinlessly perfect?
One day, I read Bishop H. C. G. Moule’s commentary on Philippians. Now, I cannot quote him, because he used such big words that they are beyond me.
I can only tell you that in the third chapter of Philippians, he raised this question. He said some people believe in idealistic perfectionism. Some people believe that they can be sinlessly perfect.
He said, so far as our spiritual position is concerned, we are in Christ. And in Him, we are complete; we are perfect.
Give God the glory, and that is our boast in Christ Jesus. But when you come to your spiritual condition—not position, but condition—even with all the fullness of grace, you cannot but see your own imperfection.
You have such a vision of the glory of the Lord, of the absolute holiness of God, and that vision keeps you from falling.
But it gives you hope. It also tells you that you are still imperfect. On the one hand, we rejoice in the Lord; on the other hand, we humble ourselves before Him, pressing on towards the goal. That was the gist of what he said.
Brothers and sisters, do you remember that verse?
If we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
That is 1 John 1:7. If we walk in the light, the light there is not merely the Word of God. True, the Word of God is light; it is a lamp shining before our feet, and by the guidance of that light, we may walk uprightly.
But in 1 John, he says, “God is light.” Not only is His Word light; God Himself is light. And that points to the life of God. The life of God is light.
If we walk in the light, because we have the life of God, we have the life of Christ in us. And this life of Christ shines within us. If we walk in the light as God dwells in the light, there is a difference here.
Sometimes we try to illustrate it. It is like God is a hundred-candlepower light: full, absolute, unlimited, with all the nature that is God. His life is so bright. There is no darkness, no shadow, no turning.
And no one can see God, who dwells in that unapproachable light. But if we walk in the light, the light there is one candlepower.
We are just saved. We have just received the life of Christ in us. Even though that life is a mature life, yet so far as our experience of that life is concerned, it is just in the beginning. So we say we only have one candlepower. That is all we know about Him, about His life.
But if we walk in that one candlepower as God dwells in the hundred-candlepower light, we can have fellowship one with another.
There is such a difference in degree and measure, but there is the same quality there. And because of the same quality, God condescends Himself to our level and fellowships with us.
And the wonderful thing is, if we walk in the light we already have, invariably that light will show us how imperfect we are.
The light will show us where our sin is, where our shortcomings are, where our failures are. And when light exposes our darkness, thank God, the blood of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, cleanses us from all our sins.
So we can fellowship with God. But, brothers and sisters, we cannot remain in that one candlepower. We have to grow.
And as we grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus, as we begin to know His perfect life in us more, it becomes two-candlepower. And what happens in the two-candlepower light? You discover more shortcomings, more failures. Some hidden parts, unknown parts, begin to be revealed.
God does not reveal everything to us at the same time. If He does, we will die. But gradually, He will purify us. Gradually, He will shed His light upon us so that we may repent, return, and the blood of the Lord Jesus cleanses us from all our sins.
And by that, we have fellowship, and then we grow again. Dear brothers and sisters, this is Christian life.
So we can never come to a place, as long as we are in this flesh, in this body, saying that we are now sinlessly perfect. If we do, we deceive ourselves.
Brothers and sisters, thank God, when our Lord Jesus went to the cross, He bore our sins—all those sins that we have committed—upon His own body. And there He was crucified, died, and shed His blood for the remission of our sins.
But what about the sinful nature that we inherit from our forefather Adam? All the outward acts of sin have been forgiven, as if we had never sinned. But unfortunately, this sinful nature is still in us.
As long as we are in this body, this sinful nature is there. We will not be delivered until we are delivered from this mortal body.
But thank God, there is a way. It is not by eradication, because if it were, we would become careless. We would say, “Now I am perfect. I am sinlessly perfect.” We would be proud of ourselves. We would deceive ourselves. That would be the end of our spiritual life.
But thank God, God allows this sinful nature in us in order to prove us, that we may be humbled. We may look up to Him, knowing that without Him we can do nothing.
For thank God, this leads us into holiness, into sanctification. So, brothers and sisters, I think first of all we need to settle this question: when the Scripture speaks of perfection to man, it does not mean sinless perfection.
Now, what does it mean then? I went to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, and there he gave the meaning of the word perfect.
He said the word perfect in Greek means “having reached the end.” Therefore, it means finished, complete, perfect.
When this word is applied to man, it means either of two things. First, it means mature, grown up, or full-grown manhood.
And this you will find in a number of Scriptures. For instance, 1 Corinthians 2:6. The Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
He taught nothing among them but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But among the perfect, among the grown-up, “we speak wisdom”—not the wisdom of this world, but the wisdom of the mystery of God.
And again, you will find in 1 Corinthians 14:20, I think it is verse 20, he says, “Brethren, be not children in mind: yet in malice be ye babes, but in mind be men.” Be grown up. Be perfect.
And then, of course, you can go on and on. For instance, Ephesians 4:13: “Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” So there you have the word full-grown: perfect.
And, of course, Colossians 1:28. Paul desired to present the saints perfect in Christ, full-grown in Christ Jesus.
That is one meaning of perfect: growing up, mature, full-grown.
Then it has another meaning. It means goodness—not necessarily maturity, but goodness. In other words, it tells of some character of God, some character of Christ, being shown in the life of man.
And Matthew 5:48 is in that category: “Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Now, if you read that portion of Matthew 5, what is He talking about? He is talking about the love of God.
He said God loves everyone. If we only love those who are dear to us and hate our enemies, it is not like God, because God loves everyone. He gives rain to the evil as well as to the good.
So, “Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In other words, He is talking about love, that we may bear some measure of the same character of love that is of God.
Can you remember Matthew 19? A young man came to the Lord. He said, “Lord, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” And the Lord talked to him about the commandments: “Honor thy father and mother,” and so on.
And he said, “I have kept all these from my youth.” And the Lord said, “If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that thou hast, and give to the poor; and come, follow Me.”
The Lord knew that his wealth hindered him from following the Lord. And following the Lord all the way is the way to perfection. So here also, He refers to goodness of character.
And, of course, you can go on, say, to the book of James. If anyone can control his tongue, he is a perfect man. He speaks of character.
So anyway, brothers and sisters, we find that what the Bible teaches about perfection in man is not sinless perfection. It is growing up in the life of Christ in you, so that in your life it bears the character of the Lord Jesus. That is the teaching of the Word of God.
Now, why is it that we need to be perfect?
You know, brothers and sisters, sometimes we naturally have a kind of mentality: if only we can be saved—not go to hell, but go to heaven. Just like one person said, “If my two legs will be within the door of heaven, I am satisfied.” That is our mentality.
But, brothers and sisters, this is the mentality of a baby. God wants us to be grown up.
Why is it that we need to be perfect? After we are saved, shall we sit back and enjoy ourselves? That is all; we will go to heaven.
But, brothers and sisters, this is not the will of God. What is the will of God concerning His people?
Is God satisfied with us just getting saved, remaining babes in Christ? To be a babe, of course, is very comfortable. No responsibility. Everyone has to take care of you.
But you fail the purpose of God in your life. What is God’s will?
In Romans 8:29, we are told, “Whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
In other words, what God has predestined for us is not just to be justified, saved, and that is it. What God has predestined us for, chosen us for, elected us for, is that we may be conformed to the image of His beloved Son.
We may have His likeness. We may be like Him, and He may be the firstborn among many brethren, because many are like Him, taking up His character—not only His life, but the character of that life. That is the will of God.
So, dear brothers and sisters, if among us there are sons who still have that babyish mentality, remember how you hurt the heart of God.
We must pursue perfection. We must grow from babes to young people, from young people to fathers, because this is the will of God.
Furthermore, not only is being perfect God’s will; remember, it is God’s command.
Be ye therefore perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
It is a command. Now, if you love the Lord, the Lord said, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.”
Oftentimes, we hear brothers and sisters in their prayers, “Lord, how I love You.” Thank God for that expression. But sometimes it would be good for us to sit down and meditate: Do I really love Him, as I say?
How do I know if I love Him? If I disobey Him, if I go my own way, if I do not keep His Word, His commandment, do I love Him?
“If ye love Me, keep My commandments.”
You know, I cannot help but remember the story of C. T. Studd. You remember C. T. Studd? He was one of the seven Cambridge graduates who went out to China together as missionaries and stirred the student world at that time.
C. T. Studd once visited Edinburgh. F. B. Meyer, another brilliant young man, was his host.
It was in November, in Edinburgh, Scotland—very chilly, very cold. C. T. Studd got up at four o’clock in the morning. That was heavy!
He got up at four o’clock, lit a candle, and read the Word of God, having communion with God.
F. B. Meyer, being the host, was right next to C. T. Studd’s room. He was worried whether his guest had some problem, because he was up so early.
He waited and waited, and he could not wait any longer. He knocked on the door and came in. He saw C. T. Studd wrapped up with a rug because it was cold.
And F. B. Meyer said, “You got up early.”
“Oh,” he said, “I love the Lord. I was searching the Scriptures for His commandments, that I may keep them.”
Brothers and sisters, that touched F. B. Meyer very deeply. Does it touch you? We search the Scriptures for promises. Sometimes we are even too lazy to search and get a promise box and just pick one up.
But this man loved the Lord, and he proved his love by searching the Scriptures for God’s commandments, that he might keep them.
Remember, to be perfect is God’s command. If you love Him, keep His commandment.
And thank God, to be perfect is the very work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit in us. He is the Spirit of Christ.
What is His work in us? He is in us not as a guest. He is in us as our Teacher, as our President, as our Boss.
What is He doing in us? What is His work? Day and night, without ceasing, in small things and in great things, He is teaching us of Christ.
He is transforming us from glory to glory, that we may be like Christ. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, to be perfect is something beyond us. In other words, no one is able to improve himself to be perfect. No matter how strong your willpower is, you will fail.
But thank God, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. And He is in each one of us doing this one work: glorifying Christ.
What do you mean by glorifying Christ? Glorifying Christ simply means that Christ may be formed in you. That is glorifying Christ, and that is the work of the Holy Spirit.
We need to trust Him. And how often we will not listen to His voice. How often we grieve Him. But that is the very work He is doing in us.
And then, you find in Colossians that this is the very work of the Apostle Paul. In other words, when you think of ministry, what is spiritual ministry?
Spiritual ministry is, by all means, to bring people to be perfect in Christ Jesus. That is spiritual ministry.
So any ministry that is less than this does not fulfill spiritual ministry.
Now, with all this, brothers and sisters, are you now convinced that it is God’s will for you to be perfect? Can you say it is all right for you not to be perfect? Is there any excuse? I hope not.
So finally, we would like to ask the question: How do we know that we are on the way to perfection? Are there any signs telling us that we are on the right course? I think we need to know that.
Now, number one: let us look at 1 Corinthians 13.
Verse 8:
Love never faileth:
but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away;
whether there be tongues, they shall cease;
whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
but when that which is perfect is come,
that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child,
I felt as a child, I reasoned as a child:
now that I am become a man,
I have put away childish things.
Now, I want to borrow these verses and just try to see the principle behind them. The principle behind these verses is this: the sign of being perfect is love.
You know, we often think that the sign of being grown up is knowledge. If I know, or maybe even prophesy—if I am able to utter it and explain it—this shows I am mature.
But, brothers and sisters, that is wrong. Knowledge puffs up; love builds up. He who thinks he knows, does not yet know as he ought to know. But he who loves is known of God.
So the sign of growing up is love. How much of the love of Christ is in your life and demonstrated?
How much do you really love the Lord with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength? How much do you love your brothers?
How much love of God do you know, experience, and express? Now, that is the first sign of growing up.
The second sign is found in Philippians 3:15.
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded:
and if in anything ye are otherwise minded,
this also shall God reveal unto you.
In other words, the second sign of growing up in the Lord is a renewed mind: a mind that is like the mind of Christ.
It is a mind demonstrated in the life of Paul—how he considered everything as dung for the excellency of the knowledge of our Lord Jesus.
And number three: 1 Corinthians 2. He said, “We speak wisdom among the perfect”—wisdom not of this world, but wisdom concerning the mystery of God.
And when you read on, you find it is concerned with the eternal purpose of God. So, brothers and sisters, people who show that they have really entered into that wisdom show another sign.
So may the Lord help us. We have just laid the foundation this morning, and hopefully we will build on it. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, our prayer is that Thou wilt make it unmistakably clear to each one of us what Thou demandest of us.
O Lord, when Thou sayest, “Be thou perfect,” show us what it really means. And Lord, we desire it.
We will cooperate with Thy Holy Spirit, who alone can do this work. Bless Thy people. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.