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Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 2:19
We will say more about Ephesians 4:15-16 and Colossians 2:19 in this chapter. Both portions refer to growth when speaking of the building up of the church. The building up of the church depends on the growth of the church. A physical house is not living, and it cannot grow, but the church is a living house built with living stones (1 Pet. 2:5). Hence, it must grow. The growth of the church is actually the building up of the church. If we do not have genuine growth, we cannot expect the church to be built up.
There are two references to growing in Ephesians 4:15-16 and two in Colossians 2:19. According to Ephesians 4:15, the believers need to “grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ.” In other words, we must let the life of Christ gradually increase in us. When we let the life of Christ increase in us in a specific matter, we will grow up into the Head, Christ, in that matter.
When we received Christ as our Savior, He entered into us as the Spirit to be our life; this is a glorious fact. However, in our actual daily life we often are not joined to Christ practically, nor is there an element of Christ’s life in our walk. For example, we may think that reading a book or a newspaper is a trivial thing, but if we are willing to learn lessons before the Lord, the Spirit within us will speak concerning this matter. He will ask, “Are you reading this book in Me?” When considering whether or not to read a book, most people would consider only the content of the book, that is, whether the content is good or bad. The Spirit’s concern, however, is whether or not the element of Christ is in our reading. When the Spirit asks such a question, we are exposed as being wholly in ourselves, not in Christ. When such a light comes, we need to repent. Even if a book or newspaper is good, we still need to repent. We do not need to repent because the book or newspaper is bad, but because we did not let the Lord into our reading and did not let the Lord add His element into us. Instead, we were wholly for ourselves and in ourselves.
When we repent in this way, we are repenting for the kingdom of the heavens, because we are acknowledging that we have not been under the ruling of the Lord, who is our Head. If we learn this lesson in such a seemingly trivial thing as reading a book or a newspaper, we will learn to deny ourselves and give the Lord the ground to mingle His element in us. Then we will experience a very practical union with Christ in the matter of reading a book or a newspaper.
In deciding whether or not to do something, people usually pay attention to whether it is good or bad. They believe that they can do anything as long as it is not bad. The Spirit, however, does not ask whether something is good or bad but whether there is an element of Christ in it. The Spirit asks, “How much of the element of Christ is in this? Are you doing this in Christ?” Once the Spirit asks such questions, we often become inwardly clear that there is not much of the element of Christ in it. Thus, we repent, saying, “Lord, even though this is a good thing, it does not have Your element in it.” Through this we grow more into the Head, Christ. As a further example, in the matter of clothing, the Spirit often asks, “Are you wearing these clothes in Christ? Is the element of Christ in the choice of your clothing?”
In matters related to money, the Spirit often asks, “Are you spending this money in Christ? Is the element of Christ in your spending?” How money is spent is an important matter in a Christian’s life. If we can properly handle the matter of spending money, our condition before the Lord will be quite good. If we need to grow up into the Head in what we read and what we wear, how much more we need to grow up into the Head in our spending of money. I know deep within that we often are unwilling to let the Lord “count” our money.
From my own experience, I know how difficult it is to let the Lord “count” our money, that is, to let the Lord have control over our money. Often when I considered the money that I had, a voice within would ask, “What would you do if the Lord wanted to count your money right now? Would you let Him count it with you?” Inwardly, I often would want the Lord to wait until I had “counted” it. Thus, in my considerations related to money, I did not have the element of Christ in me.
Let me say more about my experience of weakness related to money. Once, when I was “counting” my money, the Lord inwardly asked, “Do you intend to live off this money for the rest of your life, or will you depend on Me when this money runs out?” When this question came, I acknowledged the Lord and said, “Lord, at best I can live off this money for three months; in three months I will surely need to depend on You.” Then the Lord said, “If you will depend on Me in three months, why do you not depend on Me today? The money you are counting will not last forever; it will soon run out. Then you will pray, but what will be your attitude in the prayer?” The Lord’s speaking to me was so persistent that I eventually had to say, “Lord Jesus, come and count with me! Take as much as You want.”
I was afraid of letting the Lord Jesus “count” the money that I had because I was afraid that the Lord would say, “Keep seven hundred but give away the rest.” I was afraid of letting the Lord “count” my money because I did not want Him to control or direct my use of the money. I was wholly outside of Christ, not in Him, in the matter of money; I needed to grow. In the matter of spending money, we also need to experience growth and building up.
When I was serving the Lord in northern China almost twenty years ago, a brother came to me and said, “Brother Lee, an elder in a certain denomination is criticizing your speaking very strongly.” I said, “I am familiar with this elder. Since he has never come to hear me, how can he be critical?” The brother responded, “His family and friends have heard you, and they told him about it. Then he began to criticize you.” I replied to the brother, “Please convey in person to this elder what I am about to say. Tell him that if he allows the Lord Jesus to touch all his money, he will know whether or not I have spoken rightly.” From that day forward, I have never heard of this elder speaking a critical word. That word sealed his mouth.
It is not easy to grow into the Head, Christ, in the matter of money. Although we are saved and Christ abides in us, we need great mercy from the Lord in order to grow up into the Head in our actual living and to let Christ have His way in everything. This is the point of Ephesians 4:15. This verse is more than just doctrine. If it is only doctrine to us, it is worthless. As God’s children, we must see that everything related to the building up of the church depends on how much of the element of Christ is in us and how much Christ is in our actual living. This is the most basic point related to the building up of the church. If we do not grow up into Christ in our daily living, we cannot expect the church to be built up. If we do not grow up into Christ in all things, at best we will be Christians who fear the Lord, pray regularly, attend meetings, and do not have any major faults in our living. However, in order to take part in the building up of the church, we must have some basic growth and learn to grow up into the Head in all things. All things in verse 15 means great things and small things. We must grow up into Christ in all things and let the element of Christ increase within us.
By the Lord’s mercy, I learned some practical lessons in this regard at the end of 1933. Until then I had been merely zealous in my love for the Lord, but I had not learned many real lessons. In that year, however, the Lord started to touch many practical things in my living. For example, writing letters was an agony to me because the Lord would touch me concerning my words. Often I had to write a letter as many as eight times. Every time I finished writing, I would read the letter, and the Lord would touch me, as if to say, “Is this sentence of Me?” When I submitted to this sense from the Lord, I would have to tear up the letter and rewrite it. Therefore, I was quite intimidated concerning writing letters because there was always an inner speaking from the Lord.
We should never regard growing up into the Head in all things as a trivial point. If a brother is outside of Christ and sets Him aside in his writing of letters, or if he is outside of Christ and sets Him aside in the matter of his clothing, how can he be built up? If a sister speaks loosely and reads books and newspapers outside of Christ, how can she be expected to be built up in the church? This is not possible. In order for a believer to be built up in the church, he must learn spiritual lessons in every matter, deny himself in every matter, and let Christ participate in every matter. Then the element of God will increase within him. Only such a believer can be built up in the church.
Growth is also spoken of at the end of Ephesians 4:16, which says, “Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together...through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body.” There is a distinction between the growth of the Body in this verse and grow up into...Christ in verse 15. Growing up into Christ in verse 15 is related to basic growth in our spiritual life, but the growth of the Body in verse 16 is a further step of growth because it is related to letting the Holy Spirit operate in us to bring forth a function that is manifested through our being joined together and knit together with the members of the Body for the growth of the Body. In other words, growth in verse 15 is related to giving Christ the ground in our life; growth in verse 16 is related to being full of Christ in our function. This second step of growth causes the service of the saints in the church to be full of the element of Christ.
Some brothers and sisters have some experience of being joined to Christ in their personal life, but they do not manifest much spiritual function in relation to the other members of the Body of Christ. They seem to have the element of Christ in matters related to their living, but when they come together with others, not much of Christ is manifested in their function in the church meetings or service.
I know a sister who was indeed a person living in the Lord. Yet remarkably, she would always fall asleep in the meetings. She loved the Lord and lived in the Lord, but she loved to sleep in the meetings. Furthermore, even though she knew that she would fall asleep, she would still sit close to the speaker. She did not like to sit in the back, so she would always sit in the second or third row. A young co-worker went to speak at this sister’s locality around 1943. Since he had just started to serve the Lord, he was bold in himself but narrow in his capacity. As he spoke over a period of four days, the sister would fall asleep in front of him. Finally, when he could not stand this any longer, he spoke to the sister from the podium, saying, “If you continue to sleep, I will kick you out!” After the meeting I said to him, “Brother, you were too much. Do you not know that she loves the Lord?” Nevertheless, I still would like to ask, if brothers or sisters sleep in every meeting, what does this say about their service?
My burden is to show that it is possible for a Christian to grow up into Christ in many matters without manifesting Christ through functioning in the church. We may not fall asleep in the meetings, but if we have no burden for the service and cannot bear others, we are sleeping in our spirit. It is possible to have some personal growth but not contribute to the growth of the Body. After growing in Christ personally, we need to function for the sake of the growth of the Body. We cannot neglect our personal relationship with the Lord, but it must be for the building up of others. We must hold to truth in love, gradually grow up into Christ in all things, and be joined together and knit together with others according to our operating function so that the Body may grow and build itself up in love.
Growth is also spoken of in Colossians 2:19, which says, “Holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.” Since Ephesians and Colossians are sister books, Colossians 2 also speaks of growth in relation to the building up of the church. This shows that the growth of the church is based on the increase of the element of God. All growth in the church, whether individual or corporate, involves the increase of the element of God. The church is built up when God increases in us. The church is torn down when the element of God decreases. The increase in the element of God determines how much the church is built up.
The phrase grows with the growth of God is so concise and all-inclusive that it includes both steps of growth spoken of in Ephesians 4:15-16. Actually, the love, the truth, and the operation spoken of in these verses are God Himself; without God, they would not exist. In Genesis 11:1-9 God scattered the people from Babel over the surface of the earth because the people rebelled against God and rejected Him. When God forsook them, their language was confounded. However, when the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost, the resulting oneness was signified through the communication of human language (Acts 2:1-11). As soon as the Spirit came, there was oneness. Thus, oneness is God Himself. If we learn to live before God, deny our self, and reject the flesh, our oneness in the church will be unbreakable; even the authority of Hades will cause no harm because our oneness will be God Himself.
We need to see exactly how much of the element of God is in us. If we have too much of the element of our self, we need to be shined upon and judged so that the element of our self may be killed and so that the element of God may increase. We must take care of this principle in all our service in the church. In our prayer with others, visitation of others, or fellowship with others after the meeting, our natural element must gradually decrease so that the divine element of God may gradually increase. Without this, we will not have much growth or be built up.
All natural human elements divide and tear down the church; only the mingled element of God is the joining and building element of the church. If there is not the element of God in a prayer meeting, there is a problem with that meeting. If our ways of visitation are the same year after year, it indicates that we are not growing. Some people manifest only their natural human element in their visitation. Thus, instead of building up the church, they actually tear down the church. For example, before they visited the brothers and sisters, there was death, but it was not spreading quickly. However, as soon as they start to visit the brothers and sisters, this death spreads more quickly. In order to have service that builds up the church, we must learn to reject our natural element and let the element of God increase so that the divine life in us may grow. Only then can we manifest the function that joins us together and knits us together with others for the building up of the church.
