Being fully reconciled to God causes us to be enlarged in our heart for the church, and how large our heart is depends on the degree of our reconciliation to God.
We see this from the sequence in 2 Corinthians, where in ch. 5 Paul spoke of the ministry of reconciliation and his beseeching the believers in Corinth to be reconciled to God, and then in ch. 16 he spoke of being enlarged in heart.
The ministry of reconciliation is to bring us back to God fully, thoroughly, completely, and entirely. This ministry is not merely to bring sinners back to God but, even more, to bring believers absolutely into God.
For this there are two steps, first of being reconciled to God from sin, and then further, being reconciled to God from the flesh.
Paul didn’t command us to be reconciled to God but he beseeches us on behalf of God, as an ambassador of Christ, that we would be fully reconciled to God.
For us to be reconciled to God from our sins, Christ died on the cross to bear our sins, that they might be judged by God for us. Christ bore our sins on the cross, and whenever we turn our heart to Him and confess our sins under His light, He washes us, cleanses us, removes our sins, and restores the peace between us and God.
Based on the shed blood of Christ on the cross we can come forward to God in peace, for propitiation was made for us and we have been reconciled to God.
However, we need to be reconciled to God even further, from living in the flesh and in the natural man to God. For this, Christ died for us the persons so that we may be fully reconciled to God.
Because we are still separated from the Lord and because we are not yet fully one with God, we need the second step of reconciliation. To be further reconciled to God we need to allow the cross of Christ to be applied to our natural man as the Lord shines on us and exposes us.
In the Lord’s light we see what we are and can do in our natural man, and we can cooperate with Him to let the death of Christ be applied to our being. The Lord needs to gain many saints who enter in through the veil into the Holy of Holies, having their flesh and their natural man dealt with, so that their very being would become an entrance for many others into God, into God’s presence.
May we advance in our walk with the Lord and may we mature in the growth in life so that we may allow the cross to operate in our being for our full reconciliation to God not just from our sins but even more from the flesh and from our natural man.
May we open to the Lord and ask Him to give us the experiences we need for us to be fully reconciled to God and enlarged in heart for the church as the Body of Christ, the one new man, and the bride of Christ. Amen!
Today we want to see that being fully reconciled to God causes us to be enlarged in our heart, and that the degree to which our heart is enlarged depends on the degree to which we have been reconciled to God.
Being Fully Reconciled to God causes us to be Enlarged in our Heart for the Church
After speaking of the ministry of reconciliation and after beseeching the Corinthians to be reconciled to God, Paul commends himself as one who lives and works together with God by an all-fitting life, and he presents the adequate life of the reconciling ministry.
Then, he speaks of being enlarged in our heart – the Corinthians were constricted in their own heart, but the heart of the apostles was enlarged (2 Cor. 6:11-13).
If we would be fully reconciled to God, fully saved, we need to be enlarged in our heart for the church. But for us to be fully enlarged we need to have the aspects of the all-fitting life Paul spoke of.
On the one hand we need to personally cooperate with the Lord to be reconciled to God, and we need to allow the cross to operate in our being to cross us out.
On the other hand, we also need the eighteen items in 2 Cor. 6:3-10, in endurance, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love, in the word of truth, in the power of God.
Our being reconciled to God is not in a utopia or in a vacuum, but in many conditions and situations.
Being fully reconciled to God to have an enlarged heart for the church also requires the three pairs starting with “through”: through the weapons of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, through glory and dishonor, through evil report and good report.
Finally, it requires all the seven pairs beginning with “as”: as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well-known, as dying and yet behold we live, as being disciplined and yet not being put to death, as made sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet enriching many, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.
If we have all these characteristics of the all-fitting life, all the items with “in,” “through,” and “as,” we have truly been enlarged, and this is the issue of being fully reconciled to God.
We need to be fully reconciled to God for us to be enlarged in our heart for the church life. How large our heart is depends on the degree of our reconciliation to God, and having a narrow heart is an indication that we have been reconciled to God only partially, and that the percentage of our salvation is quiet low.
Paul told the Corinthian believers that they were constricted in their heart, but his heart was enlarged and his mouth was open wide (2 Cor. 6:11-13). In saying this he was not condemning them but expressing his feeling and discernment.
We all need to be further reconciled to God so that we would have an enlarged heart for the church life and toward all men.
Lord Jesus, reconcile us further to You so that we may have an enlarged heart for the church! May we not be constricted and narrow in our heart but be enlarged to receive all those whom You receive and to love all those whom You love. Lord, we want to cooperate with You as much as we can so that we may be fully reconciled with You and have our heart enlarged for the church life. Give us the experiences we need, Lord, that we would be fully reconciled to You and our heart would be enlarged.
Being Enlarged our Heart for the Church to be Strict with Ourselves and Forbearing with Others
Many times the brothers and sisters who love the Lord realise the need to be strict and straight, that is, strict with ourselves in righteousness, and straight with others in truth. The Lord Himself told us that our righteousness has to surpass that of the Pharisees, who were very strict with themselves.
But many times those who are strict with themselves may also be strict with others, thinking that they have to apply the same standard to others also. Furthermore, those who are straight with others do not do this in love and forbearance but with no mercy.
We need to be further reconciled to God so that we may be enlarged in our heart for the church.
The more we are reconciled to God, the more we will be strict with ourselves, “prudent as serpents” (Matt. 10:16), “as deceivers and yet true” (2 Cor. 6:8), and straight with others in love. We will not condemn others or criticize them, neither will we apply a strict righteous standard to others.
We need to be straight and strict with ourselves, but toward others we need to be full of forbearance.
John was ambitious (he wanted to be at the Lord’s right hand in the kingdom), impetuous (he wanted to call fire down on the cities that rejected them), and narrow (he wanted to stop those who were casting out demons but were not following him).
But the Lord gave him a particular perfecting, telling him that he who is not against them is for them, and that he needs to be salted with fire; eventually, the Lord gained John to such an extent that his heart was enlarged and he could write, God so loved the world (John 3:16).
If God could gain the ambitious, impetuous, and narrow John, He can surely gain us also.
When someone sins against us or offends us, and we wait for him to first apologise to us and then we can fellowship with them, this shows how narrow our heart is. Having a large heart depends on the degree of our reconciliation to God.
Narrowness of heart is a strong indication that we have been reconciled to God only partially; being narrow in heart shows that the percentage of our salvation in life is quite low.
In order to be strict with ourselves and not with others, we need to be enlarged; those who are constricted are usually narrow as well, and thus they need to have their heart enlarged (see 2 Cor. 6:12-13).
We need to be strict with ourselves but not with others; this is to have an enlarged heart. The one who has a narrow heart may consider himself very large and great, but his heart is very narrow; however, we may be outwardly small, but our heart can be like the ocean in its largeness.
If we are narrow in heart, we cannot help others be reconciled to God to be enlarged in their heart for the church. Wisdom and largeness of heart are two aspects of one thing; the secret of wisdom is to have a large heart (see 1 Kings 4:20, 29).
Lord Jesus, increase the degree of our being reconciled to You so that we may be enlarged in our heart for the church life. Bring us further with You in the ministry of reconciliation until we are fully reconciled to God and our heart is enlarged to receive all men. Save us from being narrow and constricted in our heart. Save us from narrowness of heart. Oh Lord, break through in us and reconcile us fully to Yourself! May we be strict with ourselves but forbearing with others, being straight with them in love and truth in the Lord!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msgs. 41-42 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking Christ as our Person and Living Him in and for the Church Life (2018 spring ITERO), week 7, Being Fully Reconciled to God and Enlarged in Heart to Represent God Rightly in His Economy.
- Hymns on this topic:
# I have passed the outer veil, / Hallelujah to the Lamb! / Which did once God’s light conceal, / O glory be to God! / But the blood has brought me in / To God’s holiness so clean, / Where there’s death to self and sin, / Hallelujah to the Lamb! (Hymns #551)
# Oh, may Thy Cross within me / Deepen its work and burn / In me enlarge Thy measure, / And me to ashes turn. / Oh, may Thy Spirit fill me / Each day more than before, / And may Thy living water / On me and thru me pour. (Hymns #280)
# With a life strict to self we must righteousness hold, / Kind to others in peace, and with God joyful, bold; / In the Kingdom’s reality e’er to remain, / For its manifestation prepared thus to reign. (Hymns #947)
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