Blessed are they that are perfect in the way, Who walk in the law of Jehovah. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, That seek him with the whole heart. Psalm 119:1, 2. Do you like that idea of being perfect—perfect in the way? It is important that we understand what is meant by perfection.
The Lord has started something in my life. It may not yet have been perfected, but that does not eliminate me from being perfect, for as far as God is concerned, each state of that growth and development in God is perfect. If we could examine a fetus in the womb, we wouldn’t call it a perfect human being; but we could say, “For this period of pregnancy the fetus is perfect.” A rosebud and a full grown rose are both perfect, but because the rosebud is perfect today doesn’t mean that it can’t develop and expand tomorrow. Perfection does not preclude the idea of growth and development and improvement.
I think being perfect is a relative thing. Without blemish I am embracing the great righteousness of Christ, yet to what extent have I entered into it now? It is mine—not just theoretically—and by divine endowment I am growing into the perfection this is mine. God has by one sacrifice forever perfected them that are sanctified. Our perfection is given to us. It doesn’t mean that everything is fully developed; but it does mean that we have embraced a perfection that is ours and we are growing into it, expanding and reaching into it. With all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength, we are reaching into that perfection of the Lord.
When you come to the Communion Table, don’t make an unbeliever of yourself and say, “I’m only a rosebud. I haven’t developed.” Get with it and develop! Grow up, mature, be all God wants you to be—but do each step of it with a perfect heart toward the Lord, and believing in the perfection that is yours. Keep saying to yourself, “I’m a believer! I am a believer!” Once in a while you might say, “I’m a doubting believer!” That’s all right, but you are a believer. “I’m a stumbling believer”—but you’re a believer. “I have failed.” Then you’re a failure believer.
There’s such a thing as seeing shades of things; and so you might say of someone, “He’s an honest liar.” I have seen liars that I thought were pretty honest, for they only lied when they had to, while I have known other people who were addicted to lying. They had a conscience about the truth, and if they ever told the truth, they would be careful to lie out of it before sundown.
Things are coexisting and you have to decide what you are going to notice and what you are going to believe. Newspapers are one-sided, dark, and fearsome in their accounts. We know that television cameras wait while human dung, bottles, garbage, rubbish, etc. are thrown at the police. They never take a shot of that. They wait till the last minute when, goaded beyond endurance, the police turn into the same kind of savages as those who are attacking them and start wielding billy clubs. They are all wrong; but I don’t like one-sided presentations. Who doesn’t someone come out and say, “They are all wrong, the ones who are attacking as well as those that are being attacked”? Policemen become conditioned and calloused the same as anyone else. They have everything working against them at the same time that forces are at work trying to break down law and order completely.
God sees you and He knows what’s in you—but he chooses to look at one side of it. As with Abraham, because of your faith, He accounts it unto you for righteousness. God looks at you and He says, “He’s righteous.” Are you really righteous? It is all in your viewpoint right now. Weigh this carefully, because truth exists in two spheres. You can come and at this point say, “I’m a sinner. I’m imperfect,” and you’ll be a sinner and imperfect because that exists. But the greatness of God, Who can declare things that are not as though they were, says, “Thou art righteous,” and you believe it. For by one sacrifice He has perfected you forever. When you say, “I believe it,” you are believing, experiencing, and appropriating—moving into perfection. So you go about saying, “I’m a believer, I’m a believer,” and whatever you believe will work because God provided the perfection for you. He declares it; you believe it, accept it, and walk in it.
Perfection is a strange thing. I may see through a glass darkly, but that does not mean my way isn’t perfect before the Lord, or that He does not have a perfect goal. He is the Author and Finisher of my faith. He started it and He knew what I was going to be. Even when I was an enemy, Christ died for me. He reached in and embraced me and I can either say, “I’m a sinner,” or I can say, “I’m a son of God with the eternal perfection provided.”
“What about the next time I lose my temper, the next time I fall into other mistakes, or even vicious sins? What about that?” If God still looks upon you and has not forsaken you, don’t look upon yourself and forsake yourself. Try to have as much faith as He has. Say, “I’m a believer,” and with honest repentance, ask God for forgiveness; but believe also that the merciful God requires you to be merciful to yourself and say, “Lord, I am going to walk right with You because I am perfect in all of Your provision. All things that pertain to life and godliness have been given me, and I will give every effort to move into it and experience it. And what is mine by the declaration of God shall also be mine by the manifestation of my life. Because God declares me righteous, the world is going to see that righteousness lives in me. I am going to be that in every respect.”
That is what Communion is all about. It is a substitution. This is the way we are made righteous and perfect.
It is a time of release and the Lord shall loose thee from limitations. That which thou hast purposed in thy heart—do it; for the Lord will be with thee. Thou shalt not defer it, nor neglect it, nor draw back from it, nor fear it; but that which the Lord setteth before thee—enter into it with all thy heart. And if it be in thy heart to serve Him, thou shalt serve Him with all thy heart. If it be in thy heart to do a work that He hath named, shall He not guide thee and direct thee? His anointing shall flow through thee and it shall be wrought, for it is the day of actions and exploits and signs and wonders. It is the day that the Lord shall speak and be glorified in His people; He shall be admired in all those that believe—and thou art believers. Yea, thou art His believers. Amen.
There shall be some that hate thee and despise what thy hand holdeth forth unto them; and there shall be others that shall bless thee because thou hast come to them in the name of the Lord, and they have received the desire of their heart. But whether they will hear or whether they shall forbear, they shall still know that a prophet has been among them. They shall know that thou art a man or a woman of God, a servant, a handmaiden of the Lord, raised up to do the will of the Lord. Yea, arise, for what thinkest thou? Thou shalt sow beside all waters, and who knows whether the Lord shall give the increase here or give the increase there? It shall not be according to the expectation of man, but it shall be the Lord that moveth upon thy heart that prepareth them, and the Lord shall bring forth the precious fruit of the earth if thou be faithful. So arise and carry forth the word that thou hast, and the Lord shall bless thee. Amen.
What does the Spirit say to us this day? Move, change—do it in the name of the Lord. God has delivered us from the dead works, but now we enter with all boldness into the living works already prepared for us.