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Ephesians 4:15 says that we have to grow up into Christ in all things. I would ask you to consider this. In how many things have you grown up into Christ? I believe it is necessary for us to go to the Lord and stay in His presence to write a list of all the items of our daily walk. Write down all the items of what you are, of what you do, of what you think, of what you have, and of what you use. It may be that you would write down more than a few hundred items to be considered in the light of the Lord’s presence.
Have you grown up into Christ in your thinking? You have Christ within you, in your spirit, but your mind may still be far away from the indwelling Christ. Your mind may be separated from the spirit. You have Christ within your spirit, but your mind has nothing to do with Christ. This simply means that you have not grown up into Christ in your mind. Your thinking is still not in Christ.
I do not mean that you are wrong in your thinking. You might be absolutely right, but you are not in Christ. Right and wrong are both of the same category; they are both of the tree of knowledge. With us, the seeking ones, it is not a matter of being right. It must be a matter of being in Christ. With us, to be in Christ is right. We need to grow. Bring this matter to the Lord and see how much you need to grow into Christ in your mind.
Now consider your emotion, another part of your soul. You have Christ in your spirit, but your emotion is still insulated from Christ. I want to say a word to the young people. On the one hand, we say that we do not want to be bound; we want to be liberated. This is absolutely right, but on the other hand, you have to check — is Christ in your emotion, or do you just have your emotion liberated? Some may think that they are in the local church where they are absolutely liberated and can do anything they like. In a sense, there is no restriction in the local church, but there is Christ. Can you say that when you are so excited, Christ is within your emotion to be excited together with you? You need to grow up into Christ in your emotion.
In our meetings we surely need to be released in our praising and singing, but we have to be sure that when we sing the hymns, Christ is singing within our singing. We have to be sure that when we are so released, Christ is released. The young people may be excited, but they have to be sure that they have Christ in their emotion. If you do not have Christ in your emotion and are shouting, that is looseness.
In order to be spiritual we need to be emotional, but we need to be spiritually emotional. This means to be emotional with Christ. You must have the assurance that Christ is in your emotion and that your emotion is not insulated from Christ but connected and mingled with Christ. The church life is a life of the saints mingled with Christ. Everything we do must be with Christ Himself mingling with us. If we do not have the assurance that Christ is doing something with us, we have to be a little careful. We should go to the Lord and ask Him, “Lord, in this matter, are You in my emotion?”
Not only in the meetings but also in our daily life, we should not be dumb believers. We have to be the ones who call on the name of the Lord in every place (1 Cor. 1:2). But in our calling, there must be Christ calling. We must have the assurance that when we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, He is calling within our calling. Otherwise, we will have too much looseness. That is not something of the Spirit, nor is it the release of the Spirit. That is the release of something else. That is wrong and will give people a bad impression. So we have to be balanced and fair. Surely we should not be bound. This is why we do not like to restrict anyone. Yet we need to be balanced. We need to be in the spirit with the assurance that we have Christ in the things we do. Of course, this needs the growth. We need to grow into Christ in our emotion.
Now we need to consider our will, another part of our soul. We need to grow into Christ in our will. That means our will has to be saturated with Christ. We have to grow into Christ in making any kind of decision. When we make a decision, we should not make it by ourselves. We have to open ourselves in our will to Christ and let Christ come into our will to take full possession of our will. Then we will make a decision by using our will with Christ. We will have the assurance to say that Christ is one with us in our will. The mind, emotion, and will are big items. Now let us consider some small items.
When the brothers buy a necktie, it seems that this is a small thing, but the principle in buying it is not small. You have to grow up into Christ in the matter of buying a tie. I am happy to see the young people seeking and loving the Lord so much. But as you are seeking the Lord so much, you need to grow up into Christ when you go to the department store to buy a tie. When you buy a tie, you must have the assurance that you are in Christ. If you are not sure, that means your shopping is not in Christ. With us it is not a matter of right or wrong; it is a matter of being in Christ or apart from Christ. You have to be able to tell Satan, “Satan, look, my shopping is in Christ!” Could you say this? You can cheat me, but you cannot cheat the devil, because he knows.
We also need to consider how we cut and style our hair. Brothers, how about your haircut? When you go to get a haircut, this is not a small matter, because you practice a principle of growing up into Christ in all things. This includes your haircut. Have you grown up into Christ in the way that you cut your hair? Do not argue with me. Simply go to Christ and check with Him. You may want to know what kind of haircut is right. I would say, “I don’t know. I am not Christ. He knows.” I believe that if you go along with Him and go to Him and say, “O Lord, my haircut,” you will know what to do. He knows and you know too. Others do not know. But after you cut it, those who are spiritual know whether or not the cutting of your hair is of the flesh or of Christ. They know whether you have grown up into Christ in the matter of cutting your hair.
We need to bring all the items of our daily walk to the Lord, and say, “O Lord,” over every item. Do not just say, “O Lord,” in a general way but in a specific way, in an itemized way. Item by item you have to say, “O Lord,” and seek His leading. Then you will have the growth in life. This kind of practice will revolutionize you.
The older brothers and sisters may feel that the young people are too much and need to be balanced. But we should not think that our oldness is something of Christ either. We have to grow up into Christ in our oldness. We have to give up our oldness. We need a change. My point is that we have to grow up into Christ in everything.
The sisters should not just call on the Lord in a general way. You have to call on the Lord in everything in your daily walk. You need to go to the Lord with every item of your daily walk and have a thorough dealing with the Lord. Then you will see the change, not by teaching, correction, or outward adjustment, but by the growth in life into Christ in all things. You need to call on the Lord when you buy your eyeglasses. Then the Lord will adjust you inwardly.
If we do not do this, we are not faithful to the Lord. When we use the name of the Lord, we must mean it. Second Timothy 2:22 says that we need to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Verse 19 says, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.” All those who name the name of the Lord must depart from any kind of iniquity. When we say, “O Lord,” we have to mean business with the Lord. We do not call on the Lord in a light or loose way. We mean it. If we call on the Lord and yet do not deal with the items of our daily walk, I am afraid that we are being loose with the name of the Lord. This is not good. We have to mean business with the Lord. If we mean business with the Lord by saying, “O Lord,” I believe the Lord will point out specific things to us in our daily walk which need to be dealt with. We need to bring every item of our daily walk into the presence of the Lord. In every item we need to pray, “Lord, how about this?” No one can tell us specifically except the Lord Himself.
The Bible tells us that the sisters should dress in a modest way (1 Tim. 2:9; 1 Pet. 3:3), but only the Lord knows how modest is modest. When you say, “O Lord,” the Lord knows and you know. In 1943 a young lady who was very worldly began to come to our meetings. After she came to a few meetings, the Lord touched her. The first time she came to the meeting, her hair was like a “high tower,” arranged high upon her head. One day she came to our meeting, and this tower was gone. Meeting by meeting we could see that something changed with her. That really means that she got rid of a number of things. Eventually, she became a simple young lady. No one told her anything. She experienced the transformation in life. The power of the divine life changed her.
One brother used to smoke before he was saved by the Lord. After he came to our meetings and was saved, he lost his taste for smoking by being transformed from within. He was absolutely changed and kept away from the old things of his old manner of life. In our meetings we do not give messages telling people to give up their sinful and bad habits. But Christ is the transforming life within the believers. If we mean business with the Lord by saying, “O Lord,” there will surely be a change in life. This change in life is not something outward but something from within. Christ is very careful. He is never careless. The more we go along with Him, the more we contact Him, the more we say, “O Lord,” the more we will be restricted by Christ. Christ will restrict us in everything. This restriction is transformation.
The issue of life is growth and transformation. Life grows; life also transforms. We do not trust in teaching, but we have full trust in the Lord’s life. The more you say, “O Lord,” the more you will be transformed from within. This transformation might seem slow, but it is steadfast, bit by bit, and day by day. The more you take in Christ, the more you will be transformed. He is not a doctrine. He is powerfully living. As you take Him in, He will transform you in your attitude, your emotion, your motive, your desire, your aim, and your behavior in many ways. Everything will be touched by Him.
Life grows and life transforms. C. H. Spurgeon was a great preacher in England during the last century, yet at one time he still smoked. A brother of the Brethren assembly was bothered by this and went to see C. H. Spurgeon. Spurgeon was trying to argue by saying, “I smoke for the glory of God.” This Brethren brother then put up a big signboard across the street, which said, “C. H. Spurgeon says he smokes for the glory of God.” That forced Spurgeon to give up smoking. Spurgeon lost his argument in the matter of smoking. Many times we try to argue with the Lord by saying that we have the peace to do something, but eventually we lose our case. If you will not lose the case with the Lord in this age, I am sure that in the coming age, you will lose it. I say again that this is not something legal. We have no legality, but we have the grace within. His grace is sufficient. Just say “O Lord” from a sincere heart and mean business with the Lord. Then He will come in to take away the evil things and all the things that are not of Him.
Anything that is not a profit to us mentally, physically, or spiritually is a waste, and that is something condemned by the Lord. When you say, “O Lord Jesus,” be honest and mean business with Him. You will see what will happen to you. I hope that you would go to the Lord and put this fellowship into practice. Call on the Lord over every item in your daily life, and see what the Lord will say to you. Then you will see not only the growth in life but also the transformation in life.
