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Scripture Reading: 1 Thes. 2:14; 1 Cor. 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:33; Rev. 2:7a, 11a, 17a; 2 Pet. 1:1, 3-5; Eph. 5:18-22; Col. 3:16-18
Life builds, and this building is not just a local matter, because a local church is a part of the Lord’s Body. The Body of Christ is universal, including all the local churches. So if we are continually in the process of growing, we will be built together in our locality, and all the local churches will be built together as one. This does not mean that all the local churches have to be organized into one. Although the churches are local in their administration, they are all parts of the Body of Christ, and every local church is a local expression of the Body of Christ. Thus, in principle, all the local churches must be the same. All the local churches must follow one another (1 Thes. 2:14).
The apostle did not have different teachings toward different local churches. He taught the same thing everywhere in every church, and he commanded the same thing in all the churches (1 Cor. 4:17; 11:16; 14:33). In Revelation 2 and 3 there are seven epistles from the Lord to the seven local churches respectively, yet the end of each epistle says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). Each epistle is written to one definite local church, but that particular epistle is also for all the churches. This implies that all the churches, as the Lord’s testimony in the Spirit, should be the same.
Now we want to see how life works in us to grow, transform, renew, save, and build. We need to see the concept of God in His divine economy. Our natural concept is always different from God’s concept. We consider either that God does everything for us or that we do everything, but God’s way is higher than ours.
Second Peter 1 gives us a clear picture of how God’s life works. First, God has granted to us all things which relate to life within and godliness without (v. 3). But on the other hand, verse 5 says that we have to use diligence to develop what God has given: “For this very reason also, adding all diligence, supply bountifully in your faith virtue; and in virtue, knowledge.” The word adding means to develop.
Faith is like a seed, and this seed needs to be developed. God created the seed and has given us the seed. Now on our part we have to be diligent. We have to use our diligence to sow the seed. To sow the seed is to have the seed developed. After sowing the seed, we have to water it. Then the seed will grow. Out of the seed, the roots develop. Out of the roots, the stump develops, and then the branches, the leaves, the blossoms, and the fruit develop. This is a step-by-step development of life.
Neither God nor we do everything. On the one hand, God has created the seed and has given us the seed. On the other hand, we have to sow the seed, water it, and take care of it. Then it grows step by step until we have the fruit and the harvest. This is the way that life works. This is a life principle.
Second Peter 1 tells us that God has given us three categories of things. First, God has given us Christ as faith. Peter said that we have been allotted equally precious faith (v. 1). In this equally precious faith, Peter and we are exactly the same. Even if we are not able to define what faith is, we still have it. There are many precious things which we cannot explain. We have our physical life, but what is it? No one can define it, not even the medical doctors. Life is just life. In the same way, we have something within us called faith. We cannot explain it, but we have it. We cannot give it up or forget it. After believing into Christ, some may want to give up being a Christian, but they cannot do it. It is too late. Something came into them which they cannot give up. Once it gets in, it never leaves. We have been caught by the Lord, and He has come into us as our faith. We have all been allotted equally precious faith.
Second, God has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness (v. 3). Godliness includes the church life. First Timothy 3 reveals that the great mystery of godliness is the church life (vv. 15-16). Godliness is the expression of life. We have all things which relate to life within and to the expression of life without.
God has given us all these things, and we have received them, but how can we prove this? Let us use the seed of a certain plant as an illustration. All the things related to what this seed will be are included in the seed. If you have given me the seed, you have given me the root, the stump, the branches, the leaves, the blossoms, and the fruit. Since I have received the seed, I have received all these things. Everything related to life and the expression of life is included in the seed.
Second Peter 1 says that God’s divine power has granted to us all things. This divine power is nothing less than God Himself. At the very moment we opened up our mouth to say, “O Lord Jesus,” He came into us. We may say that the Triune God came into us, but we need to realize that this One is the divine power. The divine power is nothing less than God Himself in His Divine Trinity. The Triune God as the divine power came into us, and this divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness.
The Triune God is the seed within us (1 John 3:9). We need to see that the very Triune God who is the divine power, the seed of all the things which relate to life and godliness, is now within us. Godliness includes the church life. If we are faithful to cooperate with this all-inclusive seed, the church life will be developed.
God has also granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises (2 Pet. 1:4). The Bible is a book of promises. God has given us faith, the seed of all the things related to life and godliness, and the Word, which has the great and precious promises. We have everything we need. In these verses the predicate is in the perfect tense: God has granted. Everything has been granted, and everything has been received. All believers, young and old, have received the same three things: faith, the seed of life, and the promises of the Word.
God has done everything on His part, so what shall we do? If we forget what God has given us, this is wrong. Second Peter 1:5 says that along with what we have received of God, we have to add all diligence to do the developing work. God has given us the seed, the soil, the land, the sunshine, the air, and the rain. Everything is here. The Bible tells us that God has given us all things. Now we do not need to do a separate work by ourselves. We simply need to go along with what God has given, to develop what God has given. We do this by sowing the seed and watering it. Then it will be developed step after step until we have a harvest. This is the cooperation we need to render to God’s doing. God has done so much. Now we need to cooperate with God.
Do not just believe that since God has done everything, He will do everything. It is wrong to think that everything must be done by God and that there is no need for us to do anything. But there is also another wrong extreme. This is the thought that we have to do everything. The right way is that on the one hand, we realize that God has given everything. On the other hand, we realize that we need to cooperate with God. We need to develop what God has given. We have the seed, and now we need to sow it and water it. We need to render the proper cooperation to God.
Let us apply this principle in a practical way. The hardest job in the whole world to the wives is for them to be subject to their husbands. Surely the sisters cannot be subject in themselves. Then what shall they do? They may say, “I cannot be subject, but God can. God is the God of impossibilities. I cannot, but God can!” This is good doctrine, but it does not work. God can be your subjection, but He needs your cooperation.
The way of cooperation can be seen in Ephesians 5:18-22 and Colossians 3:16-18. Ephesians 5:22 says, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord.” Colossians 3:18 says, “Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” Please notice that these verses end with the phrases as to the Lord and in the Lord.
We also have to read Ephesians 5:22 in the context of the previous verses. They say that we need to be filled in our spirit. Then we will be filled with God and filled with singing, praising, and thanking (vv. 18-20). This shows that the subjection comes out of the enjoyment of God, that is, out of the singing, praising, and thanking. Some of the wives try to be subject to their husbands without singing, praising, and thanking. Instead, they try by the “gnashing of teeth.” It is no wonder that they cannot make it. They are short of singing, praising, and thanking. If they would say, “O Lord! Amen! Hallelujah,” and exercise their spirit to rejoice in the Lord, spontaneously they would be subject to their own husbands. The real subjection comes out of being filled in spirit.
God has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness, and the submission of the wives is a small part of this godliness. Godliness is the expression of the life within, and this expression includes the subjection of the wives. If we practice the right way to develop the seed within, this seed will grow into subjection. This subjection will be sweet and spontaneous. There is no need of self-effort by the gnashing of teeth. Instead, we need to be joyful in the Lord. Then subjection becomes an enjoyment, not a suffering. It becomes our resting bed, not a burden. God has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness, including subjection. Now we need to cooperate with God to develop this seed by being filled. Be filled in your spirit with the Spirit! Be filled with singing, with praising, and with thanking. The issue of this will be godliness, including subjection.
Now let us consider Colossians 3. Verse 18 tells the wives to be subject to their husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Verse 16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.” The Spirit within us is the divine power, and the Word outside of us is the great and precious promises. We have to be filled with the Spirit and with the word of Christ. The Spirit is in Ephesians 5, and the word of Christ is in Colossians 3.
We need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly by pray-reading the Word. When we pray-read the Word, it becomes the Spirit. In John 6:63 the Lord said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” If we call on the name of the Lord and pray and read His Word, His Word will become the Spirit. Then we will be rejoicing in the Lord because we are full of Christ. Spontaneously, we will have the sweet subjection.
The subjection comes out of the seed that has been sown into us. The divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness. This power is the Spirit within us. We also have been given the great and precious promises in the Word outside of us. We should not keep away from the Spirit within and the Word without. We have to continually contact the Spirit within and pray-read the Word without. We do not merely study the Word as a book. We pray-read the Word by calling upon the name of the Lord. We have the Spirit within as the divine power and the Holy Scriptures without as the great and precious promises. All the riches of the divine life are our portion for us to enjoy. When we enjoy these riches, we will have the expression of life, godliness, in our living. Our living will be one of godliness, the expression of God as life.
Whatever we need will be supplied to us. Subjection, patience, humility, love, power, and mercy are all in the divine seed within us. The Body life, the local church life, is included in this godliness. The local church life has been given to us. Perhaps we have seen the New Testament church, so we agree to come together and practice it. But if we do this without the enjoyment of Christ, our practice will be a mess. We need to call on the name of the Lord, be filled within, and enjoy His Word. This is to render Him the adequate cooperation. Then we will enjoy the current of the heavenly electricity flooding us with the riches of life. Spontaneously, we will have the proper church life. The church life comes out of the divine seed within us. It is not something made up by us. The church life is a great item of godliness. We have the church life within already. What we need now is to develop it. The fruit is included in the seed, and the seed has been given to us. If we develop the seed, we will develop the fruit.
In Ephesians 5 there is the Spirit, and in Colossians 3 there is the Word. Eventually, the Word and the Spirit are one. By comparing these two matching portions of the Scripture, we can see that the Word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the Word. We can make the Word the Spirit by calling on the name of the Lord and pray-reading. Then the Spirit will be consolidated with the Word. We need to be filled in our spirit and let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. God has given, and God has done everything. Now we need to take the initiative to be filled. If we open the window, the air will come in. We have the Spirit and the Word as the key to being filled. Now we need to exercise our spirit to be filled with the Spirit by letting the word dwell in us richly through calling on the Lord and pray-reading the Word.
We need to consecrate ourselves anew to the Lord for the working of the inner life. We should pray, “Lord, You have given everything to me, and I have received everything of You. Now I want to give You the cooperation. Lord, I am willing. I put myself into Your hands.” We need a renewed consecration for the development of life within us.
