Pure, or Impure?

Scripture Reading: Matt. 5:8; Psa. 24:4; 73:1; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22; James 4:8; 1 Pet. 1:22

I.　“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”—Matt. 5:8:

A.　To be pure in heart is to be single in purpose, to have the single goal of accomplishing God’s will for God’s glory; this is for the kingdom of the heavens—Matt. 5:8; 1 Cor. 10:31:1

1.　Our spirit is the organ by which we receive Christ (John 1:12; 3:6), whereas our heart is the ground where Christ as the seed of life grows (Matt. 13:19).

2.　For the kingdom of the heavens we need to be poor in spirit, empty in our spirit (5:3), that we may receive Christ; also, we need to be pure, single, in our heart (v. 8a) that Christ may grow in us without frustration.

3.　If, instead of being poor in spirit or pure in heart, we have pursuits other than God, it will be easy for us to depart from the right way when we make a mistake; however, if we are poor in spirit and pure in heart, we will not depart from the right way, even though we may make many mistakes:2

a.　If we examine those who have gone astray, we will see that the problem was not a matter of right or wrong but of whether one was poor in spirit and pure in heart.

b.　It is easy for those who are not pure in heart and have pursuits other than God to stray from the right way when they make a mistake.

B.　If we are pure in heart in seeking God, we will see God—v. 8b:3

1.　Seeing God is a reward to the pure in heart; this blessing is both for today and for the coming age.

2.　To see God is an experience and enjoyment; when we see Him, He dispenses Himself into us, infusing Himself into our being—2 Cor. 3:18.4

II.　Psalm 73:1 says, “Surely God is good to Israel, / To those who are pure in heart”; then in verse 25 the psalmist declares, “Whom do I have in heaven but You? / And besides You there is nothing I desire on earth”; this is to be pure in heart:5

A.　One who is pure in heart pursues only the Lord in heaven and desires only the Lord on earth; to be pure in heart is to live on this earth desiring only God and to have no desire other than God—v. 25; cf. Hymns, #350.

B.　Once our heart turns to the Lord and desires the Lord in a single and pure way, we become a person who is pure in heart—2 Cor. 3:16; Psa. 73:1, 25:6

a.　One who is pure in heart does not know anything; he just knows the Lord; he does not desire anything; he just desires the Lord.

b.　One who is pure in heart does not covet anything in the world; neither does he covet anything in the spiritual realm; he is able to say, “O Lord, whom do I have in heaven but You? And besides You there is nothing I desire on earth.”

C.　The problem of having many goals exists not only among common believers but also among Christian workers—cf. Phil. 1:15; 2:20-21:7

1.　Many Christian workers have the Lord as one goal and their work as another goal, and other Christians, even the seeking ones, have goals other than God.

2.　In a sense, we can say that being strong in spirit is easier than being pure in heart; our heart is where the real battle takes place.

3.　We may take the Lord as our goal on the surface, but we may secretly seek position or a successful work; this kind of seeking will only cause our vision to be blurred—cf. Matt. 5:8b:

a.　To take the leadership, to serve the Lord, one must have a pure heart and a pure motive.8

b.　To like being the leader is impure; to want to be the first leader is impure; even to have a consideration that someone does not want you to be the leader is impure.

c.　As long as you have an impure heart, the blessing can only be general; it cannot be special.

4.　We need to pray that the Lord will have mercy on us so that we will care for nothing other than Him.9

III.　To be pure and unadulterated is a matter of motive, of being free of ulterior intentions10; it is to be single, undiluted—Matt. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22; Psa. 24:4; 73:1:11

A.　Being single is not merely being simple; a simple person does not have wisdom (Prov. 14:33); we who serve the Lord must not be simple in that way, but we should be pure.

B.　The emphasis of purity is on being unadulterated:

1.　In the Old Testament God commanded the children of Israel to not sow their vineyard with two kinds of seed, to not plow with an ox and a donkey together, and to not wear clothing of mixed materials, of wool and linen together (Deut. 22:9-11); this shows that God does not like mixture.

2.　Purity requires not only cleanliness but, much more, singleness; many things may be clean, but they may be mixed with other things.

3.　To be pure is to be single in nature; a pure person’s motive, intention, purpose, and goal are all solely and purely for the Lord and for the church, without any ulterior intentions.

4.　We should not insinuate or have ulterior motives; when we preach the gospel, we should have only the intention of bringing others to believe in and receive the Lord; we must not have other motives, such as doing business or finding a spouse.

5.　Many times our prayers are not pure and contain our own motive, desire, and purpose; sometimes they even contain criticism or judgment; all of these are not pure but are with mixture:

a.　We who serve the Lord need to avoid mixture; all the messages and prayers that convey ulterior motives are useless in God’s eyes, because they cannot genuine cause people to have a revival; words that carry ulterior motives with them have their own flavor, and the saints will sense it.

b.　In God’s eyes mixture is more defiling than uncleanness.

c.　Man is complicated, and it is difficult for him to be pure; only Christ is pure—Matt. 21:12-16; John 2:14-17; Luke 2:49; Heb. 10:7.

d.　God is never pleased with men doing a mixed work; in the end ulterior motives always create problems—cf. Deut. 22:9-11.12

C.　There is a need to minister in a pure spirit, in a spirit that has been dealt with by the cross—cf. 2 Cor. 7:1:13

1.　We may minister a message which is very spiritual, right, and heavenly, but we may be a person with an impure spirit, a spirit of pride, self-desire, self-love, self-intention, and self- exaltation.

2.　If we are sent by the Lord to do any kind of work, we must perform it in a purified spirit, with a pure motive, a pure intent, a pure desire, a pure will, and a pure interest; then we can minister a pure flow of the pure divine life to people.

IV.　We need to purify our heart—James 4:8; 1 Pet. 1:22:14

A.　To purify our heart is to make our heart single, having only one goal—James 4:8:

1.　Our eyes can focus on only one object at a time; likewise, our heart should have only one goal; when we have more than one goal, our heart is impure, and we are double-souled.

2.　In order for our heart to be single and pure, we need to have a unique goal, God Himself— Psa. 73:1, 25.

3.　In order to purify our heart, we need grace; furthermore, the more our heart is purified, the more room Christ will have within us.

B.　To purify our heart is not a once-and-for-all matter but a matter that we must take care of day by day and moment by moment:

1.　Today we may be pure in heart, but tomorrow we may have another goal in addition to the Lord.

2.　Anything that competes with the Lord in our being, no matter how spiritual or scriptural it may be, causes our heart to be impure; thus, we need to receive the Lord’s grace to deal with our heart continually.

3.　We should not consider that as we deal with our heart, at some point it will become absolutely pure:

a.　Our dealing with our heart is according to the Lord’s shining, and His shining is gradual; He progressively intensifies His shining as we deal with the items that He brings to light, so that each time our heart is more thoroughly examined and purified.

b.　To some extent, this matter of the purification of our heart may continue until we are raptured, because as fallen creatures we are complicated and are often dishonest with ourselves and with the Lord:

1)　It is difficult to deal with the heart because our heart is deceitful; first, our heart deceives us, then it deceives others, and it even tries to deceive the Lord—Jer. 17:9.

2)　Part of the deceitfulness of our heart is manifested in our self-pity and self-love; because we love ourselves and sympathizes with ourselves so much, it is difficult for the Lord to spread within us.

3)　Although the Lord may have been in our spirit for a long time, because our heart is complicated, mixed, confused, and deceitful, He may not have had the opportunity to spread from our spirit into our heart.

4)　We need the Lord’s mercy so that we can be not only strong in our spirit but also pure in our heart, and we need to deal with our heart so that Christ will have a way to grow within us—Matt. 5:8; 13:3-8, 18-23.

Excerpts from the Ministry:

PURE

To be pure is to be single, undiluted. Being single is not merely being simple. A simple person does not have wisdom. Proverbs 14:33 says, “Wisdom rests quietly in the heart of one who has understanding,

/ But in the inward part of fools it makes itself known.” This is an example of being simple. We who serve the Lord must not be simple in this way, but we should be pure.

The emphasis of purity is not on being clean but on being unadulterated. In the Old Testament God commanded the children of Israel to not sow their vineyard with two kinds of seed, to not plow with an ox and a donkey together, and to not wear clothing of mixed materials, of wool and linen together (Deut. 22:9-11). This shows that God does not like mixture. Purity requires not only cleanliness but, much more, singleness. Many things may be clean, but they may be mixed with other things. To be pure is to be single in nature. A pure person’s motive, intention, purpose, and goal are all solely and purely for the Lord and for the church, without any ulterior intentions. We should not criticize one person indirectly while pointing to someone else, and we should not insinuate or have ulterior motives. When we preach the gospel, we should have only the intention of bringing others to believe in and receive the Lord. We must not have other motives, such as doing business or finding a spouse. If a person gives a testimony with the intention that others relate to him, he is not pure. Many times our prayers are not pure and contain our own motive, desire, and purpose. Sometimes they even contain criticism or judgment. All of these are not pure but are with mixture.

We who serve the Lord need to avoid mixture. One who leads the meetings should not have any other subordinate intention; otherwise, he is not pure. All the messages and prayers that convey ulterior motives are useless in God’s eyes, because they cannot genuinely cause people to have a revival. Words that carry ulterior motives with them have their own flavor, and the saints will sense it. In God’s eyes mixture is more defiling than uncleanness. Man is complicated, and it is difficult for him to be pure. Only Christ is pure (Matt. 21:12-16; John 2:14-17; Luke 2:49; Heb. 10:7). (CWWL, 1954, vol. 1, “The Building Up of the Character of the Lord’s Serving Ones,” ch. 5, pp. 210-211)

DESIRING THE LEADERSHIP

As long as you have even a little desire to be a leader, that is a debit to God’s economy. Brothers, as long as you have such a debit factor, you do not have the power to convince, subdue others. Elden was convincing because it was pure in God’s move. The convincing, subduing power came from a source that was pure and clean.

The Lord’s blessing is of different kinds. The rain, according to Matthew 5:45, is for everybody. The righteous do not get more and the unrighteous less. The Lord’s blessing today is everywhere. Many Christian groups have some blessing in a general way. But the special blessing is not general. These groups do not enjoy the Lord’s special blessing. I am afraid that in some of the churches in the recovery also this special blessing is lacking.

To take the leadership, to serve the Lord, you must have a pure heart and a pure motive. You must not try to build up a meeting just because it is in your hand. That is impure. To like being the leader is impure. To want to be the first leader is impure. Even to have a consideration that someone does not want you to be the leader is impure. As long as you have an impure heart, the blessing can only be general; it cannot be special. Apparently, you all are pure. You love the Lord. You sacrifice your time, your family, your home, and many other things for the Lord’s recovery. Yet you are not absolutely pure for the focus of the Lord’s recovery. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 1, “Practical Talks to the Elders,” ch. 1, p. 12)

THE PURE IN HEART TO SEE GOD

[Matthew 5:8] says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” To be righteous is to deal with ourselves, to be merciful is to deal with others, and to be pure in heart is to deal with God. Toward ourselves, we must be strict and allow no excuses. Toward others, we should be merciful, giving them

more than they deserve. But toward God we must be pure in heart, seeking nothing besides Him. The reward for being pure in heart is to see God. God is our reward. No reward is greater than God Himself. We gain this reward by being strict, righteous, with ourselves, by being merciful toward others, and by being pure in heart toward God.

To be pure in heart is to be single in purpose, to have the single goal of accomplishing God’s will for God’s glory (1 Cor. 10:31). This is for the kingdom of the heavens. Our spirit is the organ by which we receive Christ (John 1:12; 3:6), whereas our heart is the ground where Christ as the seed of life grows (Matt. 13:19). For the kingdom of the heavens we need to be poor in spirit, empty in our spirit, that we may receive Christ. We also need to be pure, single in our heart, that Christ may grow in us without frustration. If we are pure in heart in seeking God, we will see God. Seeing God is a reward to the pure in heart. This blessing is both for today and for the coming age. (Life-study of Matthew (2nd ed.), msg. 14, p. 172)

None of us is free from making mistakes. The only person in the Bible who never erred was the Lord Jesus. Even the apostle Paul made mistakes. Every human being makes mistakes. Some, however, make mistakes but do not depart from the right way, yet others depart from the right way as soon as they make a mistake. When the Lord Jesus spoke concerning the constitution of the kingdom in Matthew 5, He gave two basic conditions: one is to be poor in spirit, and the other is to be pure in heart (vv. 3, 8). If, instead of being poor in spirit or pure in heart, we have pursuits other than God, it will be easy for us to depart from the right way when we make a mistake. However, if we are poor in spirit and pure in heart, we will not depart from the right way, even though we may make many mistakes.

If we examine those who have gone astray, we will see that the problem was not a matter of right or wrong but of whether one was poor in spirit and pure in heart. A person who is not poor in spirit is self-satisfied and unable to receive help from others. A person who is not pure in heart has something other than God as his goal. The Lord said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (v. 8). God should be our unique goal. As soon as our goal deviates from God, our heart is no longer pure. It is easy for those who are not pure in heart and have pursuits other than God to stray from the right way when they make a mistake. Several churches in the Far East have passed through turmoils. Before going astray and leaving, some were quite vocal in their support of the church, but after they left, they stopped speaking concerning the church. This proves that something other than God was their goal and that they were not pure in heart. Therefore, being kept on the right way in spite of our mistakes depends on whether we are poor in spirit and pure in heart. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints,” ch. 8, pp. 475-476)

PRAYING OUT OF A PURE HEART

Second Timothy 2:22 says, “Pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” During the desolation of the church, only those with a pure heart can find the way. In the desolation of the church many people cannot find the way, because their heart is impure, and they are unable to discern the nature of things.

A Pure Heart Being a Matter of Motive

In the previous chapter we saw that in touching someone’s work, we must discern its nature. In this chapter we will consider the matter of motive. Our nature must be gold and silver, and our motive must be pure. When the church is in desolation, and we want to determine whether we should participate in the work of a certain preacher, we need to discern the nature and motive of the work. One who works for the Lord must have a clear motive, not a cloudy one. A clear motive is pure; a cloudy motive is mixed and impure. Paul says that some preach Christ because of envy (Phil. 1:15). Such persons may be zealous and obtain good results, but when we examine their motive, we see that their hearts are not pure.

In the Bible to be pure means to be only for God. In serving the Lord, we should be purely for Him and not for anything else. We should not covet anything for ourselves or have our own enjoyment.

Moreover, we should not ask anything for ourselves. We should be wholly for God. Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” A pure heart is a heart fixed on God. Whenever our heart pursues something other than God instead of being fixed on God, it is no longer pure.

Some local churches are right in the truth, in their standing, and in their practice, but their motive is not pure. They want something other than God or have some other pursuit. Although they may claim to be a local church and say that they are not a sect, and although their appearance appears to confirm this, there still is an inward problem with their motive because they are seeking something other than God. Thus, we cannot look only at standing, truth, doctrine, and so-called condition; we need to see the inward motive. We should not apply this word only to others; we should first examine ourselves. Our standing, truth, doctrine, and practice may be right, but we may not be pleasing to God, because He searches our heart to see our motive. God considers our heart an important matter.

First Samuel 13:14 says that David was a man according to God’s heart. David was according to God’s heart because his heart was right and pure toward God. David cared only for God and not for himself. In contrast, Saul cared only for himself and not for God. Although Saul was the anointed one with the proper position, his heart toward God was not right. In such a situation we must be like Jonathan and choose to follow David. We should not follow Saul simply because of his position. We need to see through his position to ascertain his motive. David’s followers acknowledged Saul’s position and standing as God’s anointed, but they also recognized his motive before God. They saw that despite Saul’s position, his heart toward God was not right. They also realized that although David did not have any position, his heart toward God was clean and pure. Saul had the proper position, but because his heart was improper, he lost the position; David did not have the position, but because he had a proper heart, he eventually obtained the position.

Just as a king cannot sit on the throne with a wrong motive, we cannot use our position in the church as a shield. We cannot say that our way is of the Lord because it is the position of the church. Everything hinges on our motive. Are the activities in our locality for God or for ourselves? Our answer will reveal whether we are a David or a Saul. Saul did not have a pure heart; those without a pure heart may have the right position, but in a short time they will lose that position.

To determine whether we can work with certain brothers or sisters, we need to discern their inward motive. We need to see whether they are for the Lord or for themselves and whether their heart is pure or mixed. This is not a high doctrine, but it is a crucial question regarding our inward condition. If we do not have a pure, single heart for God in our service, we should not expect to find co-workers like David. When our heart is even slightly impure, those who have a pure heart cannot work with us. We should not think that someone who does not work with us is sectarian. Putting a person who has a pure heart with a person who has an impure heart is a terrible mixture; it is Babylon the Great. We cannot condemn the sin of sectarianism while upholding the sin of mixture.

Those who are pure in heart will find others who live before God to be their co-workers. Since their heart has been dealt with, they are able to discern the condition of the heart of those they contact. The pure in heart stand together to maintain the Lord’s testimony, walk in the Lord’s way, and do the Lord’s work because inwardly their hearts are pure, not because they share the same doctrinal viewpoint. Differences in opinion related to doctrine lead to divisions. When one who is pure in heart meets another person who is pure in heart, he can willingly be martyred for that person and love him as if he were the Lord. We gain the best co-workers and companions when we are pure in heart.

We should not be foolish in choosing our co-workers. Just as a person cannot change his marriage, we cannot change our co-workers. If we are co-working with one person today and another person tomorrow, we have a problem. Our ability to work with someone depends on our heart. If I am accustomed to breathing fresh air, and I smell stale, dank air when I enter a room, I will not be able to take it. However, if I am accustomed to stale, dank air, then I will not even notice it. If someone has a problem in his heart, and we do not recognize it, there is a problem with our heart as well. A person

whose heart has been dealt with before the Lord can discern the heart of others. If our heart is pure, we can tell whether or not the heart of others is pure.

The companions I chose when I first began to serve the Lord are still my companions today; I have not changed my companions. Please forgive me for saying this—this is because when I was called to serve the Lord, my heart was pure; I only knew that the Lord had touched me and wanted me to live for Him. The first person I encountered was Brother Watchman Nee. I knew that I must be his co- worker, and I put myself under him because I felt that his heart was purely for God.

I coordinated with another brother for about twenty years before he passed away. There were no problems between us because the Lord brought us together. I felt that his heart was for nothing but the Lord. I can testify that he paid a great price for the church and suffered much. However, he never had any feeling for himself, nor did he speak for himself. He had a pure heart; thus, we served the Lord together in one accord and walked in the Lord’s way together. Only those who are pure in heart can walk in the Lord’s way.

Serving the Lord Requiring a Pure Heart

Some people have asked me to show them where the Bible says that we should leave the denominations. My answer is based on 2 Timothy 2:20-21: “…some unto dishonor. If therefore anyone cleanses himself from these…” In the denominations there are many vessels unto dishonor and items of mixture; therefore, we must cleanse ourselves from them. We should work with those who are pure in heart. To leave the denominations is to cleanse ourselves from vessels unto dishonor. Although some groups say that they have no particular ground, truth, fellowship, or practice, we can still see the “wood,” “earth,” and confusion among them. We see dishonorable things, such as covetousness, human effort, and impurity in service. If we realize that someone does not have a pure heart, we should pray, “Lord, I cannot participate in what he is doing; I cannot be his co-worker.”

God is not pleased with those who make divisions over doctrinal issues, such as pretribulation versus posttribulation rapture. The decision to separate from others must be made on the basis of nature and motive. The Bible clearly tells us to cleanse ourselves from vessels unto dishonor. We should be accommodating in other matters, but the Bible does not require us to accommodate anything of dishonor.

Lowliness is different from dishonor. God wants us to go along with the lowly (Rom. 12:16) but to cleanse ourselves from the dishonorable. Lowliness is a matter of situation and position; dishonor is a matter of nature. A piece of gold beneath our feet is not dishonorable; it is just lowly. However, if a clump of mud is beneath our feet, it is not simply a matter of lowliness, because mud is dishonorable by nature. If something is dishonorable, it is mud instead of gold; although we may elevate mud to a high and glorious position, it is still dishonorable. We should cleanse ourselves from what is dishonorable (2 Tim. 2:21). If we leave the denominations merely for the sake of doctrine or practices, our action has little value in God’s eyes. If we leave the denominations on the basis of nature and motive, God will be pleased.

I firmly believe that the overcomers will be raptured in separate groups. However, someone else might have the peace to believe that all the believers are raptured at once, either before or after the tribulation; I would not argue with him about this. If his nature is gold and silver, we can work together, but if he is earth and wood, we cannot work together, regardless of our doctrinal positions. The rapture is not a question of doctrine; it is a matter of loving the Lord’s appearing. Perhaps a brother gives a message on the doctrine of the rapture while coveting something apart from the Lord; this means that his heart is not pure, which is something that I cannot accept. If we both love the Lord and turn our heart to Him, then we can labor together. If we work with someone who desires something apart from God, we have a problem. We should work only with those whose nature is gold and silver and whose heart is pure.

A brother once exhorted me to be sociable and adaptable in order to be able to deal with all kinds of people. I would ask that brother how many companions he has who are of one heart with him. In the

spiritual realm there are no diplomats or politicians. No one can gain companions through diplomacy. In God’s house there are only vessels unto honor and vessels unto dishonor; we cannot use politics to gain companions. The more we live before God, receiving the breaking of the cross so that we desire God alone, the more we will be able to find pure-hearted companions. Companions that we gain using our methods, learning, position, and charisma will end up “biting” us. We should not decide to work with others by looking at their abilities or learning. This will be harmful to us. We have only one realm, that is, God Himself. We need to learn to live in God and take Him as our goal. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 2: The Course of the Church,” ch. 6, pp. 297-301)

PURIFYING OUR HEART

James 4:8 says, “Purify your hearts, you double-souled!” To purify our heart is to make our heart single, having only one goal. Our eyes can focus on only one object at a time. Likewise, our heart should have only one goal. When we have more than one goal, our heart is impure, and we are double-souled. In order for our heart to be single and pure, we need to have a unique goal, God Himself.

The problem of having many goals exists not only among common believers but also among Christian workers. The reason why many people seek God but are unable to see Him is that they have many goals. According to Matthew 5:8, if we are pure in heart, we will see God. Nevertheless, many Christian workers have the Lord as one goal and their work as another goal, and other Christians, even the seeking ones, have goals other than God. In a sense, we can say that being strong in spirit is easier than being pure in heart. Our heart is where the real battle takes place. We may take the Lord as our goal on the surface, but we may secretly seek position or a successful work. This kind of seeking will only cause our vision to be blurred. We need to pray that the Lord will have mercy on us so that we will care for nothing other than Him.

In order to purify our heart, we need grace. Furthermore, the more our heart is purified, the more room Christ will have within us. To purify our heart is not a once-and-for-all matter but a matter that we must take care of day by day and moment by moment. Today we may be pure in heart, but tomorrow we may have another goal in addition to the Lord. Anything that competes with the Lord in our being, no matter how spiritual or scriptural it may be, causes our heart to become impure. Thus, we need to receive the Lord’s grace to deal with our heart continually. The more we deal with our heart, the more purified it will be. We should not consider that as we deal with our heart, at some point it will become absolutely pure. Our dealing with our heart is according to the Lord’s shining, and His shining is gradual. He progressively intensifies His shining as we deal with the items that He brings to light, so that each time our heart is more thoroughly examined and purified. To some extent, I believe that this matter of the purification of our heart will continue until we are raptured, because as fallen creatures we are complicated and are often dishonest with ourselves and with the Lord.

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, / And it is incurable; / Who can know it?” It is difficult to deal with the heart because our heart is deceitful. First, our heart deceives us, then it deceives others, and it even tries to deceive the Lord. Part of the deceitfulness of our heart is manifested in our self-pity and self-love. Because we love ourselves and sympathize with ourselves so much, it is difficult for the Lord to spread within us. Although the Lord may have been in our spirit for a long time, because our heart is complicated, mixed, confused, and deceitful, He may not have had the opportunity to spread from our spirit into our heart.

We need the Lord’s mercy so that we can be not only strong in our spirit but also pure in our heart. The more our heart is purified, the more room the Lord will have to spread into our heart. His spreading is the growth in life. The genuine growth in life is not our growth but Christ’s growth in us. Such a growth depends on our heart. This is clearly revealed in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. Today we need to deal with our heart so that Christ will have a way to grow within us. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “The Way to Grow in Life,” ch. 6, pp. 412-413)

References and Further Reading:

1.　Life-study of Matthew, msg. 14.

2.　The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints,” ch. 8.

3.　The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 135.

4.　The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1950-1951, vol. 2, “The Pure in Heart,” chs. 1-2.

5.　The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1970, vol. 1, “The Way to Grow in Life.

6.　The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1983, vol. 1, “Practical Talks to the Elders,” ch. 1.

7.　The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953, vol. 3, “Character,” ch. 1.

8.　The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1954, vol. 1, “The Building Up of the Character of the Lord’s Serving Ones,” ch. 5.

9.　The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, vol. 2, Basic Principles of the Experience of Life,” ch. 15.

10.　The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1971, vol. 3, “Gaining People and Building Them Up for the Body of Christ,” ch. 1.

11.　The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 2: The Course of the Church,” ch. 6.

12.　The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1955, vol. 3, “The Living and Principles of the Kingdom People,” ch. 1.

1 Holy Bible Recovery Version, Matt. 5:8, note 1.

2 CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints,” ch. 8, pp. 475- 476.

3 Holy Bible Recovery Version, Matt. 5:8, note 2.

4 The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 135, p. 1480.

5 CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 2, “The Pure in Heart,” ch. 2, p. 10.

6 CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 2, “The Pure in Heart,” ch. 2, p. 12.

7 CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “The Way to Grow in Life,” ch. 6, p. 413.

8 CWWL, 1983, vol. 1, “Practical Talks to the Elders,” ch. 1, p. 12.

9 CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “The Way to Grow in Life,” ch. 6, p. 413.

10 CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “Character,” ch. 1, p. 543.

11 CWWL, 1954, vol. 1, “The Building Up of the Character of the Lord’s Serving Ones,” ch. 5, pp. 210-211.

12 CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “Character,” ch. 1, p. 543.

13 CWWL, 1963, vol. 2, “Basic Principles of the Experience of Life,” ch. 15, pp. 137-139.

14 CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “The Way to Grow in Life,” ch. 6, pp. 412-413.