meet his needs in every kind of situation—43:11, 13-14; 17:1; Phil.
1. God's eternal purpose can only be accomplished through our transformation and maturity—1:26; Col. 1:28; 2:19. 2. Maturity is a matter of having the divine life imparted into us again and again until we have the fullness of life—John 10:10. C. Maturity is a matter of the enlargement of capacity—Psa. 4:1:
1. Maturity in life is the sum total of receiving the discipline of the Holy Spirit—Heb. 12:5-11. 2. Others may see a person who has matured in life, but they cannot see the accumulated discipline of the Holy Spirit which that person has received secretly day after day throughout the years—2 Cor. 1:8-10; Gen. 47:7, 10. ‹‹ Day 5 ›› D. God will sovereignly use persons, things, and events to empty us of
everything that has filled us and to take away every preoccupation so that we may have an increased capacity to be filled with God—Luke 1:53; Matt. 5:6. E. The life of Jacob reveals that everything that happens to us is under God's
sovereignty for our transformation and maturity; nothing is accidental:
1. In order to become mature, Jacob first had to suffer the loss of Joseph, the treasure of his heart—Gen. 37:31-35. 2. A mature believer has learned that God is merciful and all-sufficient to meet his needs in every kind of situation—43:11, 13-14; 17:1; Phil. 1:19-21a; 4:11-12; cf. 1 Tim. 6:6-8. 3. His trust and rest are altogether in the mercy of his all-sufficient God, no longer in himself or in his ability—Rom. 9:16. 4. The strongest sign of Jacob's maturity was his blessing others—Gen. 47:7, 10; 48:14-16; Heb. 7:7. ‹‹ Day 6 ›› VIII. The mature bride is the goal of God's will and purpose—Rev. 19:7-9:
A. The readiness of the corporate bride depends on the maturity in life of the
overcomers—v. 7; Heb. 6:1; Phil. 3:12-15; Eph. 4:13. B. The marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God's New
Testament economy, which is to obtain for Christ a bride, the church, through His judicial redemption and by His organic salvation in His divine life— Gen. 2:22; Rom. 5:10; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2. C. In the Gospel of John, Christ is revealed both as the Lamb who came to take
away sin and as the Bridegroom who came that He might have the bride—