Scripture Reading: S. S. 6:4a; John 14:20-21, 23; Eph. 3:17; Heb. 10:19-20
Ⅰ
In the fourth stage of overcoming, the lover of Christ overcomes the flesh, the natural man, the old man, by living within the veil—S. S. 5:2— 6:13.
Ⅱ
Tirzah and Jerusalem signify God's sanctuary, God's dwelling place, with God's holy city surrounding it to be its safeguard—6:4a:
A
When the overcoming lover of Christ becomes one with God to be God's dwelling place, in the eyes of God she is as beautiful as Tirzah and as lovely as Jerusalem.
B
Through her living in Christ's ascension in resurrection, the lover of Christ becomes mature in the riches of the life of Christ so that she becomes the building of God, the sanctuary of God and its safeguard—cf. Gen. 2:8-12, 18-24; 1 Cor. 3:9-12.
C
The lover of Christ lives in the Holy of Holies, the inner chamber of the heavenly sanctuary, within the veil, experiencing the ascension of Christ through the cross after her experience of His resurrection—S. S. 4:8.
D
By loving the Lord with the best love, we are incorporated into the Triune God to become His dwelling place—Rev. 2:4; John 14:20-21, 23; Eph. 3:17:
１
It is the love in God that gives Him the yearning to unite, mingle, and incorporate with us, and it is the same love in us that gives us the yearning to unite, mingle, and incorporate with Him—1 John 4:19, 8, 16.
２
We become God's dwelling place, His sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, by participating in the four stages of the divine romance revealed in Song of Songs—1:2-3; 2:14; 4:8; 6:4.
３
By loving the Lord with the best love and by participating in every aspect of the divine romance, we become the New Jerusalem, which is the enlarged Holy of Holies—Rev. 21:9-10.
E
To become the sanctuary of God is to be built up (related to the building up of the Body of Christ) in the growth in the life of Christ with its unsearchable riches unto maturity—Eph. 4:12-16:
１
In the Old Testament the building of God is typified by Tirzah and Jerusalem; in the New Testament this building is the organic Body of Christ—v. 16.
２
The building up of the Body is organic and depends on our growth and maturity in life—v. 15.
３
Ultimately, this building up of the organic Body of Christ, which is also Christ's wife (5:25-32), will consummate the New Jerusalem, the holy city as the consummation of the Holy of Holies, the mutual dwelling of God and His redeemed in eternity—Rev. 21:2-3, 16, 22.
Ⅲ
There is the need of the Lord's ultimate calling of us to live within the veil through a stronger experience of the cross in dealing with the flesh after our experience of His resurrection as the new creation of God—Heb. 10:19-20:
A
Although the sanctuary of God is in the heavens, it is divided into two sections—the outer Holy Place and the inner Holy of Holies—by the veil, which signifies our flesh.
B
In God's economy the sanctuary of God has a negative thing—our flesh:
１
In relation to Christ, the veil in the sanctuary of God was split at the time of Christ's crucifixion—Matt. 27:51.
２
In relation to the believers, the veil remains so that God may use it to perfect His seeking ones and so that they may be one with God by dwelling in Him as the Holy of Holies—2 Cor. 12:7; Rev. 21:22.
３
No matter how mature and spiritual we may become, as long as our body has not yet been transfigured, we still have the flesh, which is the veil:
ａ
In our experience the veil, the flesh, must be riven, and then we need to pass the riven veil to live in the Holy of Holies—Heb. 10:19-20.
ｂ
We need to learn the lesson of the cross daily, passing through the veil by experiencing the dealing of the cross that we may live within the veil—in the Holy of Holies, in the consummated Triune God—Gal. 5:24.
C
The lover of Christ is called by Him to live within the veil in the Holy of Holies, God Himself, to enjoy the processed and consummated Triune God embodied in Christ—Heb. 9:3-4.
Ⅳ
Through the dealing of the cross, we become the sanctuary of God; this sanctuary is the Holiest of all, which is God Himself—S. S. 6:4a:
A
When we enter into the Holiest of all, we enter into God and become the sanctuary; in this sense, we become God—Heb. 10:19-20.
B
John 14:23 and Ephesians 3:17 prove that the God whom we are pursuing is making us His duplication; for God to make us His duplication means that He makes us His dwelling place, His Holy of Holies.
C
The lovers of Christ will eventually become duplications of God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead; this is the fulfillment of God becoming man that man might become God, which is the high peak of the divine revelation.