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* I-III: the Blessedness of Being Poor in Spirit and Pure in Heart

  1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens”—Matt. 5:3:
  2. To be poor in spirit is not only to be humble but also to be emptied in our spirit, in the depth of our being, not holding on to the old things of the old dispensation but unloaded to receive the new things, the things of the kingdom of the heavens—cf. Luke 6:20.
  3. We need to be poor, emptied, unloaded, in our human spirit that we may realize and possess the kingdom of the heavens—cf. Matt. 19:13-15.
  4. To be poor in spirit means that we are humble, acknowledging that we have nothing, know nothing, can do nothing, and are nothing—Gal. 6:3; John 15:5b; Isa. 57:15; 66:2:
  5. Those who are poor in spirit have a willing spirit for the things of the Lord and for the things of the church—Psa. 51:12.
  6. Those who are poor in spirit experience the Spirit of joy and the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of Jehovah—Heb. 1:9; Rom. 14:17; Isa. 11:2-3.
  7. All spiritual progress depends on man’s hunger—Luke 1:53; Psa. 81:10:
  8. We should be afraid of self-contentment, self-satisfaction, and satisfaction with the things of the past—Phil. 3:13.
  9. Spiritual stagnation is the result of indifference to one’s own spiritual lack; all failure and decadence are the result of self-complacency—cf. Deut. 4:25.
  10. Past victory can never be our present strength—cf. Josh. 7:3-4:
  11. We cannot go on without new knowledge of the Lord and a new vision of Him—cf. Acts 26:16; Phil. 3:8b, 10a.
  12. Whenever we find ourselves crying, “I cannot make it,” our progress has begun; then God is easily able to create a desire for Him in us—cf. 2 Chron. 20:12.
  13. We should remember that God gives difficulties to us in order to dig more deeply in us so that He can fill us more with Himself—cf. Rom. 8:28-29.
  14. Whenever we become empty, the Lord will fill us up; spiritual progress is a matter of being continually emptied out and continually filled up—cf. 2 Kings 4:1-6.
  15. “Truly I say to you, Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child shall by no means enter into it”—Luke 18:17:
  16. A little child, not filled with and occupied by old concepts, can easily receive a new thought—cf. Psa. 139:17.
  17. People need to be like little children and, with an unoccupied heart, receive the kingdom of God as a new thing.
  18. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”—Matt. 5:8:
  19. To have a pure heart means that our heart is single, seeking nothing but the Lord Himself, so that Christ may grow in us without frustration—Matt. 13:19-23.
  20. If we are pure in heart in seeking God, our reward is that we will see God.
  21. In God’s appearing to him, Job saw God, gaining God in his personal experience and abhorring himself—Job 38:1-3; 42:1-6.
  22. Today our God is the all-inclusive Spirit as the consummation of the processed and consummated Triune God; the God whom we look at today is the consummated Spirit, and we can look at Him in our spirit—2 Cor. 2:10; 2 Tim. 4:22.
  23. We see God so that we may be constituted with God; seeing God transforms us, and seeing God equals gaining God so that we may become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead—2 Cor. 3:16, 18; Matt. 5:8; Rev. 22:4.

Hymns: 743, 744

Message 1: The Blessedness of Being Poor in Spirit and Pure in Heart

That We May Be under Christ’s Heavenly Ruling as Our New King

and That We May See God to Express Him in His Life and Represent Him with His Authority

2025 ITERO-F 1c

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  1. (Cont.)
  2. The more we see God and love God, the more we deny ourselves and abhor ourselves—Job42:5-6; Isa. 6:5; Luke 14:26.
  3. If we see the Lord, we will see that the things and objects of this world are trash—Phil. 3:7-8; cf. Jer. 15:19.
  4. Spiritual progress is the increase of the element of God in us and the decrease of things within us that usurp God’s place—1 Tim. 4:15; Col. 2:19.
  5. As long as there is one thing, one event, or one person that takes possession of us, there is something in our heart usurping the place of God; an idol is anything within us that we love more than the Lord or that replaces the Lord in our life—Prov. 4:23; Ezek. 14:3.
  6. We must be pure; our heart should not be occupied by anything other than God—Matt.13:19-23.
  7. Our spiritual progress depends on the degree to which our heart is turned toward God—4:17; 2 Cor. 3:16; cf. 2 Kings 23:25.
  8. The more a person is in the word of God, the purer he becomes—Psa. 12:6; 119:140; John17:17.
  9. We should aspire to have an enlarged heart—Psa. 119:32:
  10. Solomon was competent to oversee God’s people because he had wisdom and a large heart, which are two aspects of one thing:
  11. Although he asked only for the wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in among God’s people, God gave him “largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore”—1 Kings 3:5-9; 2 Chron. 1:10; 1 Kings 4:29.
  12. The seashore encloses the sea, God having “set the sand as a boundary for the sea”; this shows that Solomon’s heart was larger than the sea—Jer. 5:22.
  13. We must be genuine ministers of the new covenant, having an enlarged heart with the intimate concern of the ministering life, which is a fruitful life—2 Cor. 7:2-3:
  14. With an enlarged heart the apostles were able to embrace all believers regardless of their condition, and with an opened mouth they were able to speak to all believers frankly concerning the real situation into which they had been misled—2 Cor. 6:11..
  15. This kind of openness and enlargement is needed to reconcile, to bring back, the misled or distracted believers to God.

* IV-V: our heart and our spirit need to be renewed

  1. In order to maintain the newness of our heart and our spirit, we need to be renewed day by day with the fresh supply of the resurrection life to become as new as the New Jerusalem—2 Cor. 4:16-18:
  2. Newness is God; the believers should be renewed to be as new as the New Jerusalem since they all are becoming the New Jerusalem by walking in newness of life and building the New Jerusalem by serving in newness of spirit—Rom. 6:4; 7:6.
  3. While we are in the midst of suffering, we need to receive the renewing; otherwise, the suffering that we pass through means nothing to us; within us there is a refuge—our spirit—Psa. 91:1.
  4. In order to be renewed day by day, we need to be revived every morning—Matt. 13:43; Luke 1:78-79; Prov. 4:18; Judg. 5:31; 2 Cor. 4:16.
  5. We need to come to the Lord’s table in newness; we can be renewed by learning to say, “I’m sorry; forgive me.”—Matt. 26:29.

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Message 1 (Cont. 1)

2025 ITERO-F 1c

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  1. (Cont.)
  2. We are renewed day by day through four items: the cross; the Holy Spirit, by which we are reconditioned, remade, and remodeled with the divine life; our mingled spirit; and the holy Word of God—2 Cor. 4:10-12, 16-18; Titus 3:5; Eph. 4:23; 5:26.
  3. Our mingled spirit needs to spread into our mind in order to subdue, take over, and occupy our mind, thus becoming the spirit of our mind; the more the mingled spirit penetrates, saturates, and possesses our mind, the more we let Christ’s mind become our mind—Phil. 2:5; Eph. 4:23; 1 Cor. 2:16; Rom. 12:2.
  4. We should not live according to the vanity of the mind but according to the spirit of the mind; this is the key to the daily living of the corporate one new man, the secret to having a church life filled with the character of God, the aroma of Christ, and the oneness of the Spirit—Eph. 4:3-4, 17-18, 23.
  5. Our loving the Lord and our exercising our spirit in prayer and in reading the Word day by day change and renew our mind; this is to get rid of all the old concepts concerning the things of the human life and be made new again by the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and the enlightening of the Holy Spirit—Psa. 119:105, 130; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Deut. 17:18-20.

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  1. The Lord’s recovery depends upon our renewed, purified heart and our renewed, strengthened spirit; when our heart is fully possessed by Christ and our spirit is habitually exercised to touch the Lord, God will have a way, and the recovery will be prevailing:
  2. This consummates God’s intention in making the believers the new man as the new creation to consummate in the New Jerusalem; as a result of our being renewed, we are made a new creation, which is the new man in Christ—Col. 3:10-11; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15-17; Eph. 2:10, 15.
  3. God’s goal is to have the one new man, which ultimately will consummate in the New Jerusalem, the final consummation of the one new man.

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Message 1 (Cont. 2)

2025 ITERO-F 1c

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  1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens”
  2. To be poor in spirit is not only to be humble, acknowledging that we have nothing, know nothing, can do nothing, and are nothing, but also to be emptied in our spirit, unload the old things of the old dispensation. We need to be poor, emptied, unloaded, in our human spirit that we may realize and possess the kingdom of the heavens; have a willing spirit for the things of the Lord and the church; experience the Spirit of joy, wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, and of knowledge and fear of Jehovah; beware of self-contentment, self-satisfaction, past victory and self-complacency but to progress with new knowledge of the Lord and a new vision of Him, allowing God to dig more deeply in us through difficulties that He can fill us more with Himself. Spiritual progress is a matter of being continually emptied out and continually filled up. We need to be like little children with an unoccupied heart, receive the kingdom of God as a new thing. [Matt. 5:3] Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens. [Isa. 66:2] …But to this kind of man will I look, to him who is poor / And of a contrite spirit…
  3. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”
  4. Our heart is pure when it is single, seeking nothing but the Lord Himself that Christ may grow in us without frustration, like Job, that we will see God and gain God in our personal experience and abhor ourselves. Today, when we see God as the all-inclusive Spirit, the processed and consummated Triune God, the Spirit transforms and reconstitutes us with God that we may become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. The more we see God and love God, the more we deny ourselves, abhor ourselves and see that the things and objects of this world are trash. Spiritual progress is the increase of the element of God in us and the decrease of things within us that usurp God’s place, that replace the Lord in our life. Spiritual progress depends on the degree to which our heart is turned toward God. The more a person is in the word of God, the purer he becomes. [Matt. 5:8] Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. [2 Cor. 3:18] But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit. [Psa. 119:140] Your word is very pure, / And Your servant loves it.
  5. We should aspire to have an enlarged heart
  6. Although Solomon only asked for the wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in among God’s people, God also gave him a heart that was larger than the sea that he was competent to oversee God’s people. Like Solomon, for us to be genuine ministers of the new covenant, we also need an enlarged heart with the intimate concern of the ministering life, which is a fruitful life that we are able to embrace all believers regardless of their condition, and with an opened mouth that we are able to speak to all believers with openness and enlargement concerning their real situations, to reconcile and bring back the misled or distracted believers to God. [2 Cor. 6:11] Our mouth is opened to you, Corinthians; our heart is enlarged.
  7. In order to maintain the newness of our heart and our spirit, we need to be renewed day by day with the fresh supply of the resurrection life to become as new as the New Jerusalem
  8. Newness is God; the believers should be renewed to be as new as the New Jerusalem since they all are becoming the New Jerusalem by walking in newness of life and building the New Jerusalem by serving in newness of spirits. In order to be renewed, we need to: ①be prepared to receive renewal through sufferings; ②be revived every morning; ③come to the Lord’s table in newness; ④be renewed by learning to say, “I’m sorry; forgive me.” We are renewed day by day through four items: the cross; the Holy Spirit by which we are reconditioned, remade, and remodeled with the divine life; our mingled spirit; and the holy Word of God. Our mingled spirit needs to spread into our mind to subdue, take over, and occupy our mind, thus becoming the spirit of our mind; the more the mingled spirit penetrates, saturates, and possesses our mind, the more we let Christ’s mind become our mind. We should live according to the spirit of the mind; this is the key to the daily living of the corporate one new man, having a church life filled with the character of God, the aroma of Christ, and the oneness of the Spirit. Our loving the Lord, exercising our spirit in prayer and reading the Word day by day change and renew our mind; clear up all the old concepts concerning the things of the human life and be made new again by the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and the enlightening of the Holy Spirit [2 Cor. 4:16] Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. [Eph. 4:23] And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind. [Eph. 5:26] That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word.
  9. The Lord’s recovery depends upon our renewed, purified heart and our renewed, strengthened spirit; when our heart is fully possessed by Christ and our spirit is habitually exercised to touch the Lord, God will have a way, and the recovery will be prevailing
  10. As a result of our being renewed, we are made a new creation, which is the new man in Christ to consummate in the New Jerusalem, fulfilling God’s goal and His desire. [Col. 3:10-11] And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there cannot be … but Christ is all and in all.

Bird’s-eye View for Prophesying, a Sample

Message 1: The Blessedness of Being Poor in Spirit and Pure in Heart

That We May Be under Christ’s Heavenly Ruling as Our New King

and That We May See God to Express Him in His Life and Represent Him with His Authority

2025 ITERO-F 1c Musing Abstract

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Message 1: Appendix

…A pure heart and an empty spirit are the two main conditions for the nine blessings spoken by the Lord in Matthew 5.

…Our spirit is the organ for us to contact God (John 4:24), and our heart is the organ for us to love God (Mark 12:30). Our spirit contacts, receives, contains, and experiences God. However, it requires our heart to love God first…

…To serve the Lord is something in the spirit. To love the Lord is something in the heart. The heart is for loving, and the spirit is for serving. We need to serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.

Mark 12:30 says, “You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.” The function of the heart is to love. The heart is a loving organ, and we are told to love the Lord our God from our whole heart.

< Excerpts from “The Tree of Life”, Chapter 13,“THE NEED TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT AND PURE IN HEART TO EXPERIENCE THE TREE OF LIFE”>

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We all need to look to the Lord that we would learn the lesson of dealing with all these negative things in our being. We need to ask the Lord to grant us a pure heart with a mind that always turns to Him and that is set upon Him. We need to ask the Lord to grant us a conscience that is always exercised to confess our failures and our sins before Him. Then the Lord will have the way to make our emotion so fervent and zealous for Him with a will that is submissive, pliable, and strong. May we also deal with the Lord to be poor in spirit. We need to be hungry and thirsty for more fresh, new, and up-to-date experiences of the Lord. We should not be settled or fixed but be emptied in our spirit all the time. Then we will experience and enjoy Christ, and He will have the opportunity, the capacity, and the space to grow within us. May the Lord grant us a proper heart and a proper spirit for us to experience and enjoy Him as the tree of life.

< Excerpts from “The Tree of Life”, Chapter 13,“THE NEED TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT AND PURE IN HEART TO EXPERIENCE THE TREE OF LIFE”>

2025 ITERO-F 1c