As those who love the Lord and want to be a proper vessel for Him to fill and use, we need to pursue Christ as love, for love is the very nature of God’s essence and we can receive His dispensing to become the same as He is as love, and we need to pursue Christ as peace, allowing the God of peace to rule and reign in us as peace. Amen!
Paul’s word to Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:22 is a charge to us today; we need to flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with those who pursue Christ out of a pure heart and call on His name.
On the negative side, we need to flee youthful lusts, that is, the lusts in the world that appeal to our flesh and are currently around us.
Youthful lusts are not just the lusts of the young people; even older ones need to flee youthful lusts.
Whatever is in the world and causes us to desire it, whatever is happening today and causes us to lust after it, we need to flee it.
We should not try to fight the youthful lusts; if we do this, if we think we are strong enough to fight the lusts, we will be defeated.
We simply need to flee them and then pursue Christ.
Amen, on the negative side, we flee youthful lusts; on the positive side, we pursue Christ.
We flee to pursue and we pursue so that we may be able to flee.
We first pursue Christ as righteousness; righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne, and we can enjoy Christ as our righteousness, even have Him lived out of us as our righteousnesses.
We need to realize that God made Christ our righteousness.
In Christ, we are righteous, even when we don’t do anything outwardly, for Christ is our righteousness.
When we pursue Christ as righteousness, we are right with God and with man.
We also need to pursue faith; Christ is our faith.
Faith doesn’t originate from us; faith is of Christ, for it is the word of faith that infuses us with Christ as our faith, our believing ability.
When we hear the gospel, when we are under the hearing of faith, we are infused with something of Christ.
We simply receive something of what He is, and He is infused into us.
We may have not thought about Christ nor did we appreciate Him before, but when the gospel reached us, we react by believing into Him and opening to Him.
Faith is a reaction to the Lord’s attraction. Faith is a believing ability that is infused into us by our coming to the Lord in His word and opening to Him.
It is us who believe, but it is actually Christ in us who believes for us.
Praise the Lord, we can pursue Christ as righteousness and as faith!
Pursue Christ as Love by Remaining under His Dispensing to be Constituted with Him as Love
We need to pursue Christ as love. What is love? Love is the nature of God’s essence; God is love (1 John 4:19).
In His very essence, God is love. The divine love as God’s essential attribute is mainly expressed in sending His Son to redeem us and impart God’s life into us so that we may become His children (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10).
Love is not of us; love is in God and of God, for love is an attribute of God.
He loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might have life and live through Him (1 Tim. 4:9).
He loves man, the fallen mankind, and He came to us in love.
Now whoever responds to Him and receives Him becomes a child of God.
Verse 10 continues to say that love is not that we have loved God but that God loved us, and He sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins.
God is love; we love because He loved us first.
We abide in love and we pursue Christ as love by living a life in which we love others habitually.
How can we love others habitually? It is only by having God as love being infused into us and wrought into our being to become our constitution.
When we see the Lord’s love toward us, when we see what He did for us and how He gave Himself up for us, we respond to Him in love, and we simply love Him back.
His love is the higher and nobler love of God.
The divine love of God is His attribute expressed in sending His Son to redeem us and impart God’s life into us so that we may become His children.
However, we were in a pitiful condition, so God was rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us (Eph. 2:4).
Because we as the object of God’s love were not in a lovable condition but in a pitiful situation, God’s mercy reached us.
God’s mercy reaches further than His love; His mercy reached us and saved us.
Because of God’s great love, He is rich in mercy to save us from our wretched position to a condition that is suitable for His love.
What a noble and high love God has for us!
His love was manifested toward us not only at the time of His dying for us; daily He shows His love toward us, and He infuses us with Himself as love.
As believers in Christ, we need to remain under His divine dispensing day by day, and He will dispense His life and nature into us.
God as love is dispensing Himself into us to make us the same as He is, love itself.
In ourselves we do not love God nor do we love others; we love only ourselves and those who love us back and whom we like.
But through remaining under God’s dispensing, we become love, for God as love dispenses Himself into us to make us the same as He is. Hallelujah!
God dispenses Himself into us as love, and we pursue Christ as love; the result is that we become the same as He is in His love, and we react to others in love.
We will love God and we will also love the brothers.
Sometimes we say that we love God, but we may not love the brothers.
Rather, we may have a sense of judgment or criticism toward them.
In the church life sometimes we may have certain situations in which some saints have some kind of bitterness, discord, and animosity toward others, and they avoid particular saints. Oh, Lord.
They are not even able to look the other saints in the eye, for they do not love them. Oh, Lord.
May we come to the Lord especially when we have certain feelings rise up in us, and may we allow the Lord as love dispense Himself into us.
May we pursue Christ as love by remaining under God’s dispensing of Himself as love into us day by day.
When we love God and love the brothers, we will be able to forgive others.
We need the Lord’s forgiveness and we also need to forgive others.
If we have some negative feelings or bitterness in our being, we need to learn to open our vessel to the Lord for Him to deal with the hurt parts of our being and infuse us with Himself.
May we come to the Lord’s word as the breathed-out word of God to allow Him to enlighten us, adjust us, correct us, and instruct us in righteousness.
We may be offended, and we will get offended, for we are not made of marble but are men in the flesh.
At the time we get offended, we need to let the cross of Christ operate in us and cut down any root of bitterness.
We need to deal with any offense and pursue Christ as love by remaining under God’s dispensing so that we may be filled with Him as love.
To abide in love is to live a life that loves others habitually with the love that is God Himself.
Lord Jesus, we love You and we open to You. Infuse us with Yourself. We just open our inner being to You. Thank You for loving us first. Thank You for pouring Your love into our hearts. Oh Lord, we love You! Thank You for being rich in mercy to reach us in Your love and make us children of God. Thank You for selecting us in Your love and reaching us in Your mercy, though we were dead in sins and offenses. Oh Lord, we love You. We love You because You first loved us. We want to remain under Your divine dispensing so that we may receive You as love. Infuse us with Yourself as love. May Your love become our love, and may we become the same as You are to love You and love others even as You do. Amen, Lord, we open our inner being to You. We open to You concerning our offenses and hurt feelings. Apply Your cross to our being. Infuse us with Yourself. Grow in us as love. May Your love be perfected in us. We want to love others with You as our love. Amen, Lord, we want to be those who pursue Christ as love!
Pursue Christ as Peace by enjoying the God of Peace and Being in Peace
The New Testament speaks both about the peace of God and the God of peace (John 20:19; Eph. 2:14; 2 Pet. 1:2).
As we are learning to flee youthful lusts and pursue Christ as peace, we realize that peace is only in God and with God, for our God is a God of peace.
On one hand, there is the peace of God; on the other hand, our God is a God of peace.
Concerning the God of peace, we see in Rom. 16:20 that the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet shortly; the grace of the Lord Jesus be with us.
Wow, the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet!
Our God is a God of peace. As we pursue Christ as peace, we realize that, for us to have peace, we need to have first righteousness, faith, and love.
When we have righteousness and are right with God, when we have faith and are abiding in the organic union with the Lord, and when we are infused with God as love, the result is that we are in peace.
We are simply in a condition of peace.
When we allow the cross of Christ to deal with any problems and offenses, and when we pursue Christ as righteousness, faith, and love, we are in a condition of peace.
When we enjoy the God of peace, Satan is crushed under our feet.
This kind of atmosphere, peace among the saints with faith and love, others will be attracted, for this is most wonderful to behold.
Especially the new ones and the young ones can sense when there is peace with faith and love among us, and they are drawn to the Lord and to the church life.
Phil. 4:7 says that the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus.
We need the peace of God to guard us.
Our hearts and thoughts need to be guarded in the Lord as peace.
On the one hand, we need to pursue Christ as love, and on the other hand, we need to pursue Him as peace.
When Christ is our peace, when we enjoy Christ as our peace, our hearts and thoughts are kept in peace.
The God of peace guards over our hearts, and He patrols over our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus (Rom. 15:33; Phil. 4:9).
May we allow the Lord as peace to come in.
May we enjoy Him as our peace. In all situations, may we choose to remain in the Lord as our peace.
He gave us His peace so that our hearts would not be troubled, and in Him we have peace.
![And the peace of God, which surpasses every [man's] understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:7 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Rom. 15:33 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 1:3](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/And-the-peace-of-God-which-surpasses-every-mans-understanding-will-guard-your-hearts-and-your-thoughts-in-Christ-Jesus-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "And the peace of God, which surpasses every [man's] understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:7 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Rom. 15:33 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 1:3")
The peace of God and the God of peace are one; He is not only the One who sanctifies us but also our peace, for He’s both the God of peace and the peace of God (1 Thes. 5:23).
In our experience peace is a condition that results from grace; grace is a substance, and peace is a condition (1 Cor. 1:3).
Peace is the condition that results from enjoying God as our grace.
When we enjoy Christ as grace, we are kept in peace, and peace is our portion.
We need peace to go on in our human life; we are so thankful that our God is a God of peace and that this peace can guard our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Our experience of peace results from our enjoyment of grace; when we enjoy Christ as grace, we will have peace.
The substance of grace is God Himself, and the condition of peace is that which issues out of our enjoyment of God as grace.
We see this in Eph. 1:2 as an example; here Paul says, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace results from the enjoyment of the Lord as grace.
May we enjoy the Lord as grace and be filled with the enjoyment of Christ so that peace would be our portion today.
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us Your peace so that our heart would not be troubled. You are our peace. We take You as our peace. Oh Lord, in the world we have many problems, but in You we have peace! Thank You for being the God of peace who will soon crush Satan under our feet. Hallelujah, the God of peace guards over our hearts and patrols before our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus. We open to You, dear Lord. Guard our hearts in Your peace. Patrol before our hearts with Your peace and be our peace today! We just want to enjoy You as grace and pursue Christ as peace. Oh Lord, You are so dear and sweet to us as grace! You are everything to us for us to live the Christian life. We just want to enjoy You as grace. May the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts. Amen, Lord, may grace and peace be to us from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 9-10, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by being Empowered in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy (2024 April ITERO), week 6, Being a Vessel unto Honor, and Pursuing Righteousness, Faith, Love, Peace with Those Who Call on the Lord out of a Pure Heart.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– The dispensing of the Divine Trinity, a portion from, The Dispensing, Transformation and Building of the Processed Divine Trinity in the Believers, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee.
– Love Christ, Let Him Make His Home in Us, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– I Choose to Remain, a new song via, Hymnal.net.
– The Key to True Inner Peace During Times of Distress, via, Bibles for America blog.
– All Things Working Together for Good to Those Who Love God and Who Are Called according to His Purpose, outline via, Amana Trust.
– The Sweetness of Taking Christ as our Person for the One New Man, via, Living to Him.
– The divine dispensing for the divine economy, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique. - Hymns on this topic:
– To God be the glory, great things He hath done, / So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, / Who yielded His life our redemption to win, / And opened the life-gate that all may go in. (Hymns #39 stanza 1)
– I have found, I have found the way / Which leads to heav’nly rest; / I have found, I have found the peace / Which filled my Savior’s breast. / O friends in the desert past, / Come, join in prayer and praise; / E’en now He waits our cry, / The Savior who saves always. (Hymns #524 stanza 1)
– Loved with everlasting love, / Led by grace that love to know; / Spirit, breathing from above, / Thou hast taught me it is so. / Oh, this full and perfect peace! / Oh, this transport all divine! / In a love which cannot cease, / I am His, and He is mine. (Hymns #284 stanza 1)
About aGodMan
The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 75, by Witness Lee
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08/29/24 Being a Vessel unto Honor and Pursuing Righteousness, Faith, Love, Peace with Those Who Call on the Lord out of a Pure Heart (Week 6, Day 4)
“In Order for Us to Become Vessels unto Honor, We Need Also to Pursue: (Part 2) (c.) Love, and (d.) Peace”
The third matter that we need to pursue in order for us to become vessels unto honor is love. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” This very familiar verse tells us that God loves the world. How does He love? To what extent has He loved? He loved to the extent that He gave His only begotten Son.
God has given His only begotten Son to the world, and Jesus has died for sinners and accomplished the work of redemption. What happens after this? It goes on to say that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. This verse has three main points. It mentions:
a.) a great fact ~ God has sent Jesus to the world to redeem men and to be their Savior.
b.) a great condition ~ the one thing that everyone should do—believe, and
c.) a great result ~ whoever believes will not perish, but have eternal life.
The great fact is that God so loved the world. To what extent did He love? He loved to the
extent that He gave His only begotten Son to the world to die on the cross for men’s sins and save all the sinners. This is the great fact. Nothing is greater and truer than this.
Now there is a great condition, a great demand placed before every man. Man has to fulfill this condition. What is this condition? Everyone should believe that God has accomplished such a fact and should believe in God’s accomplishment. This is the unique condition and something that everyone should fulfill.
The great fact is accomplished by God, and the great condition is to be fulfilled by man. What then is the great result? It is that we would not perish but have eternal life. This is to be saved. Since the Lord has said that those who believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life, we, who believe in the Lord, surely will not perish but have eternal life.
God’s love issues into His mercy. God is rich in mercy “because of His great love with which He loved us” (Eph 2:4). The object of love should be in a condition deserving love, but the object of mercy is always in a pitiful situation. Hence, God’s mercy reaches further than His love.
God loves us because we are the object of His selection. But we became pitiful by our fall, even dead in our offenses and sins; therefore, we need God’s mercy. Because of His great love, God is rich in mercy to save us from our wretched position to a condition that is suitable for His love.
The fourth matter that we need to pursue is peace. The New Testament speaks about both the peace of God and the God of peace. Concerning the God of peace, Romans 16:20 says, “Now the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” Concerning the peace of God, Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”
The peace of God is actually God as peace, infused into us through our fellowship with Him by prayer, as the counterpoise of troubles and the antidote to anxiety (John 16:33). The God of peace mounts guards over our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus. He patrols before our hearts and thoughts in Christ.
The peace of God and the God of peace are one. When God is with us, peace is with us also. The genuine peace we enjoy is God Himself. The way to enjoy the God of peace is by praying to have fellowship with Him.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Paul says, “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly.” Here we see that the God of peace is the Sanctifier. His sanctification brings in peace. When we are wholly sanctified by Him from within, we enjoy His peace in every way.
According to our experience, peace is a condition that results from grace, that issues from the enjoyment of God our Father. Grace is a substance, whereas peace is a condition. The substance of grace is God Himself, and the condition of peace is that which issues out of our enjoyment of God as grace. When we enjoy God as grace, we are in a condition that is full of rest and satisfaction. This is peace.
Righteousness is toward self (Rom 3:22; Phil 1:11), faith is toward God (1Thes 1:8), and love is toward others (1Thes 3:12; 4:9-10). Peace is the issue, the result, of these three virtues (Rom 16:20; Phil 4:7; 1Thes 5:23). By our constant pursuing of Christ in His righteousness, faith, love, and peace, we shall be saturated with these attributes, which shall cause us to become vessels unto honor that would express Him in His divine attributes.