It's good to be with you again at the beginning of a new week, sharing with you keys to successful living, which God has placed in my hand through many years of personal experience and Christian ministry. First, let me say thank you to those of you who have been writing to me. Before I finish this talk, we'll be giving you a mailing address to which you may write. It means a great deal to me to hear how this radio ministry of mine has been helping you and blessing you. So please take time to write, even if it's only a brief note.

The title I've chosen for my talks this week is Progress to Perfection. This title brings out two important points about the Christian life. First, there is a goal for us to attain to. Second, there are definite steps that we have to take in order to attain to our goal. I want to emphasize the importance of having an aim in life. So many people merely drift through life. They're like ships without rudders and without anchors. They're at the mercy of every wind and current that comes into their lives. They're carried hither and thither. They have no stability, no fixed destination. And frequently such lives end in shipwreck.

I remember saying to somebody once, if you aim at nothing, you can be sure you'll hit it. We must have an aim in life. In the Christian life, there are two main kinds of goals. The first is the goal of external accomplishment, what we do for God. This is important, but it's not sufficient by itself. The second is the goal of internal development, what we become in God. Sometimes we become so occupied with the external that we lose sight of the internal. We may have our minds set on many good things, such as witnessing, distributing tracts, increasing church membership, raising money for the kingdom of God. All these things in themselves may be good.

But if we concentrate on them at the expense of our own internal personal development, the result is tension and disharmony, tension between what we're doing and what we are. And often our character negates the effects of our activity. People don't merely look at what we say or what we do; they look at what we are. And if we are not in harmony with what we do, then people conclude that we really don't have something real to offer them. We're just giving them labels, but we're not able to produce in our own lives.

So it's very important that we remember the goal of internal development. And this is what I'm going to be speaking to you about all this week. I want to set before you a specific goal. One that was set before all of us by Jesus. This goal is summed up in one all-embracing word: perfect. Let's look at what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 5, verses 43 through 48.

You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be the sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his Son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. You see, that's a clear, positive command. Be perfect. Simple. Straightforward. So many people are scared by that word perfect. Sometimes they associate it with some kind of unrealistic teaching. Sometimes the phrase used is sinless perfection.

Believe me, Jesus is not talking about something unreal and unattainable. The whole Christian life is very real and very practical. Jesus is setting before us a practical goal which, by the grace of God, can be attained. And we have no right to bring God's standards down to the level of our ability.

We have to trust God to raise the level of our ability up to his standards. And that's his standard. Be perfect. Furthermore, the standard of perfection is being stated very clearly. Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

So, the standard is God the Father. We are to be as perfect as our Father. We need to look into the meaning of this word perfect. It has various meanings. It can sometimes be translated mature, fully developed. It can sometimes be translated complete, that is not lacking in any respect.

However, when we take God the Father as the standard, it is not sufficient to translate it be mature or be complete. We have to accept it in its fullest meaning. Be perfect. As I've said, this often frightens people, but I'd like to use a little simple example from mathematics.

Let's take the use of the word round. There's only one standard for round. A thing is either round or it's not round. And if a thing is round, it's a circle. And they're just one kind of circle. There's not three or four different kinds of circles.

However, there are many different sizes of circles. Now, God the Father is the great circle, the measureless circle that encompasses the whole universe. Jesus doesn't expect us to have the same magnitude as God, but he does expect us to have the same character as God.

You and I may be very tiny little circles just in some small area where God has placed us with apparently trivial humdrum duties. You might be a housewife. I might be a who knows what, a bus driver. But in each of our own little areas, God wants us to be a perfect circle there, perfectly round, just as round as that great circle which is God the Father, which encompasses the whole universe.

So think of it. When Jesus says be perfect, think of it in terms of be round, don't be lopsided, don't have little bulges, don't have deficiencies. You may not be very big, but you can be a perfect circle. The example that Jesus gives us of perfection in God the Father makes it clear that perfection is related primarily to attitudes and to relationships.

For instance, in speaking about God the Father, Jesus says, God is good to the evil, to the good. He sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. In other words, God's character is not in any way changed or affected by those he relates to. Whether he relates to the evil or to the good, to the righteous or to the unrighteous, he's always perfect.

He's always completely round. You see, this is very important. If we're God's sons in this world, we cannot let the way people treat us change what God has done in us. In other words, the way people treat you must not be allowed to take the initiative in your life. No matter how wrongly people may treat you, you've still got to demonstrate the character of a child of God to them.

In Romans chapter 12, verses 14 through 18, Paul gives us some practical examples in words of exhortation to us as Christians. Let me read these words to you:

Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

That's really a pretty good practical application of what it means to be perfect. No matter whether we're dealing with nice people or nasty people, good people or bad people, it doesn't change us. For instance, if people persecute us, we don't get angry, we don't get vicious, we don't get resentful, we bless them.

If we're with those who rejoice, we rejoice too. But if we're with those who mourn, we sympathize. We empathize with them. We share their mourning.

One of the key words there is live in harmony. I believe harmony and perfection go close together. When we have accomplished perfection in our character, there's harmony between what we say and what we do, and in our relationship with others.

Paul goes on to say, don't be proud, but willing to associate with people of low position. I'm sure you know people who treat the socially privileged and the elite in one way, the humble and the poor in another way. That's not being perfect.

Then it says, don't be conceited. Then don't repay anyone evil for evil. In other words, if people do us evil, it mustn't produce evil out of us. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody, and then, very practical, at the end,

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

You see, the Bible is a practical book. It doesn't say we can live at peace with everybody, but it says if there isn't peace, it mustn't be our responsibility. We must do our best to live at peace with everybody. We are responsible for our actions, but we're not always responsible for the reactions of others.

The title I've chosen for my talks this week is Progress to Perfection. I'll begin by reviewing briefly the material that I covered yesterday.

First of all, the title indicates there is a goal to attain in the Christian life, and furthermore, that there are definite steps to attain that goal. It's not something vague or indefinite or imprecise. It's clear, precise, and practical.

Secondly, I emphasize the importance of having an aim in life. Not merely drifting like a ship without an anchor or a radar, carried around by every wind and current. I pointed out that people whose lives are like that usually end in shipwreck.

And then I drew a distinction between external accomplishment and internal development. In the Christian life, external accomplishment is what we do for God. But internal development is what we become in God. And it's important that there be harmony between these two.

We know many people, I'm sure, who are very busy for God, very active, very zealous. But they've neglected the development of their own character, and consequently there's a continuing tension between what they are and what they're trying to do. And often there's an inconsistency, so that people look first of all at what they do, and then look at what they are and conclude that what they're doing isn't genuine because it doesn't work in them.

Now Jesus stated very simply and exactly a practical goal, the goal for the Christian life. Be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect. So that's the goal. We can't choose. The decision has been made for us. We can only decide whether we will obey or whether we'll ignore the requirement of Jesus.

I pointed out that many people are afraid of that word perfect, but really it's a simple practical word. It includes the meanings of mature and complete, but it goes beyond that.

I illustrated it from the example of the word round. A thing is either round or it's not round. But on the other hand, there are circles of many different sizes. God the Father is the great, perfect circle that encompasses the whole universe.

You and I are not circles of anything like that magnitude, but in our own small and humble way, each of us, wherever God has placed us, can be just a completely round circle. In other words, perfect.

I also pointed out that perfection, as Jesus describes it, relates primarily to attitudes and to relationships. It means that we don't let other people's attitudes change us from what God wants us to be.

He's always completely round. You see, this is very important.

If we're God's sons in this world, we cannot let the way people treat us change what God has done in us. In other words, the way people treat you must not be allowed to take the initiative in your life. No matter how wrongly people may treat you, you've still got to demonstrate the character of a child of God to them.

In Romans chapter 12, verses 14 through 18, Paul gives us some practical examples in words of exhortation to us as Christians. Let me read these words to you:

Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Mourn with those who mourn.

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

That's really a pretty good practical application of what it means to be perfect. No matter whether we're dealing with nice people or nasty people, good people or bad people, it doesn't change us.

For instance, if people persecute us, we don't get angry, we don't get vicious, we don't get resentful, we bless them.