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Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:15-16, 22-24
In the past few chapters we saw that God was processed to become the life-giving Spirit. Regardless of time and place, everyone who has believed in the Lord has been baptized in this Spirit and has been given to drink this Spirit. Such a person is in the Body of Christ and is a constituent of the church. Thus, Christ is in such a person, living in him, being formed in him, and even making His home in his heart so that his entire being is filled unto all the fullness of God. Furthermore, we see how this person is also sanctified by the gradual dispensing of the divine element into him, and through this dispensing he is transformed and ultimately conformed to the image of the Son of God.
If we have truly seen this light, we will have to confess that these important points were all lost during the preceding centuries. In today’s Christianity you can hardly hear anything concerning these subjective truths. What you hear are only human concepts, religious thoughts, or ethical teachings. Therefore, we must see that these subjective truths are what God desires to recover today. Although I know that in the past you heard some of these points, we must confess that our practical experience is insufficient. We do not have enough experience of allowing the divine element to sanctify and transform our entire being, and we have very little of the metabolic, organic transformation. We easily fall into the concept of outwardly improving our behavior. After believing in the Lord, we love Him, pursue Him, live in the church life, and even participate in His service. At this time, we often spontaneously try to improve or change ourselves. Our intention is proper and pure; we want to live before the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and be like one who serves God in the church. Nevertheless, we must admit that these ideas are still human concepts and religious thoughts, which also have the flavor of ethics. They are not our subjective experience of the God who was processed through incarnation, death, and resurrection to be joined with us so that we may become a part of Him. We still lack this kind of experience. Therefore, I hope that first we will speak these things, and by speaking them over and over they will become our experience.
The stratagem of Satan is always to take away what we have heard. This is similar to what we are told by the Lord Jesus in the parable in Matthew 13, that the word of the kingdom of the heavens is like the seeds that fell beside the way and were immediately devoured by the birds. The principle today is the same. The messages we preach are not religious or ethical doctrines, nor are they according to the natural human concept; rather, they are out of God’s revelation. However, we must confess that even though we have heard these words, we still lack the subjective experience. Therefore, I hope that these words will be recovered among us first. We need to fellowship about them and speak them again and again so that we may truly understand what it means for us to be baptized into the Triune God, into Christ, into the death of Christ, and into His Body, and to be given to drink one Spirit. We must also understand what it is for Christ to live in us, be formed in us, and make His home in us, that we may be filled unto all the fullness of God. We also need to comprehend what it means for the divine element to increase in us in order to sanctify and saturate us, that we may be organically transformed and thereby be conformed to the image of the Son of God. Ultimately, we will be inwardly filled with Him, we will abide in Him, and we will become the one Body, which is the church. I repeat that we need to constantly fellowship these matters with thorough prayer until we practically enter into these experiences.
At this time I want to speak on a few points in Ephesians 4:15-16 and 22 through 24. These may be considered the truths that are the most deeply buried by Christianity. People in Christianity do not mention these points, and even if they do, their teachings are according to religious concepts and do not take care of the essence of the revelation. Therefore, in this chapter every point in these few verses of the Bible will be new.
The first point is holding to truth in love (v. 15). I believe that eighty percent of you here do not know what it means to hold to truth in love. The Chinese Bible translates this phrase as “speaking the truth in love,” but this is too natural. Because the translators of the Bible lacked both the experience and the knowledge, they could only come up with this kind of translation despite all their time and effort. When I was young and came together with young Christians, we often encouraged one another to “speak the truth in love.” This was very shallow and low. The meaning here, however, is to hold to truth in love. The love here is not just a matter of loving man but of loving God and of loving His economy, His move, and His eternal plan.
This verse continues by saying: “We may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ.” It is true that we are already in Christ and Christ is already in us, but you must know that in many things you are not in Christ; rather, you are still outside of Him, because there is not enough growth in your spiritual life. It is like having a cup of water into which you put some tea leaves. First, the water in the center of the cup becomes the color of tea, but the water at the perimeter has yet to have the color of tea. If you say that this cup of water does not have tea in it, you are wrong; however, there is still a lot of water that is not tea. In the same way, even though you have been saved and are in Christ, when you look at your practical living, you are almost the same as the Gentiles. Nothing of your practical living is in Christ; rather, everything is outside of Christ. This is because you have not grown up. This means that there is not enough divine element added into your being. Hence, you have not grown up into Christ in your every part.
Thank the Lord that no matter what our situation was, when we came into the churches in the Lord’s recovery, we heard this kind of word. I remember very clearly in 1958 the first time I spoke a message in Manila on growing up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ. I said that for the building up of the church, we must all practically grow up into Christ in all things. In what things do we need to grow up into Christ? For example, in our attitude and in our speaking we need to grow up into Christ. All things means everything, without exception. Let me give another example: It is a good thing for the young brothers and sisters to get married, but it is also a test. Before you get married, you both think that you are like “saints,” “holy” persons, but after you get married, your “holiness” is tested. You are forced to confess that you have not grown up into Christ in so many things, especially in the matter of speaking with your spouse. The sisters all speak like Mary when they are with the elders, but it is an altogether different story when they are with their husbands. The brothers are very proper when they speak in the church meetings, but their true color is revealed when they are alone with their wives. There is almost no growth into Christ in your speaking; rather, your speaking is ten thousand percent outside of Christ. Perhaps your lips are only temporarily grown up into Christ during your morning watch. But when your morning-watch meeting is over and you return home, your lips grow back into Adam. Today, however, we must have the reality of holding to truth in love.
What is truth? Or, what is reality? Truth is the Christ whom you have experienced. It should not be that only when we go to morning watch we begin to mean business and let our lips, tongue, words, and tone of voice grow up into Christ, but then when the morning-watch meeting is over, everything goes back into Adam. This is not truth; this is not the reality. We must hold to truth in love; we should hold to truth not only outside of morning watch but even in our dreams during our sleep. The Chinese have a saying that means “to indulge in wishful thinking,” but I tell the young people that you should not give your thoughts free rein; rather, you should grow up into Christ.
We need to grow up. Growing up is not of our own effort or work. Growing up is a matter of constantly opening our being to allow the divine element to continuously increase within us. It is only by the increase of the divine element that we can grow up in His element. The reason we are outside of Christ is that we lack the divine element. The divine element must be continually added into us so that we can grow up into the Head, Christ, in the divine element. When the divine element is added into a certain part of our being, we grow up into the Head, Christ, in that part. What is this for? It is for the building up of the church. Thus, we hold to truth in love so that we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ.
Verse 16 says, “Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together.” Out from whom is a continuation of the phrase grow up into Him. If you have not grown up into Him, how can you be out from Him? I would say that if by this time you have grown up into Him, I have grown up into Him, and we all have grown up into the Head, Christ, in all things, then the entire Body now is out from Him, being joined together. This kind of being joined together is not in our naturalness, where your disposition matches my disposition and thus we are joined together. That kind of being joined together will end up in a quarrel after a short period of time. Joining together out of ourselves is absolutely unreliable; our being joined together must be out from Him.
This verse continues to say, “Through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part.” In our body there are many joints of supply, such as the shoulders, knees, and hips. In the Body of Christ, some brothers and sisters are tendons and others are joints. Tendons are for joining, while joints are for supplying. Through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part means that every part has its function. Consider my little finger. It is not a joint of supply, but it is a part. Whenever my ear itches to the point that I cannot stand it any longer, this little finger is very useful. If I did not have this little finger to function but only had my thumb, it would not be practical. In the same way, you may not be a large shoulder or a knee, yet you are at least a little finger with your own function. If you have not grown up into the Head, however, your function cannot be manifested; you can only be like a so-called church member at the worship services in today’s Christianity. The “church members” in today’s Christianity do almost nothing but attend worship services. For this reason, in such a situation there is absolutely no building up of the Body. This is not the Lord’s recovery. We are against this, and we renounce this. Today we desire to have a living Body and a testifying church. Where is the testifying church? It comes when every part exercises its function. However, this does not mean that merely because I encourage you, you now are able to function; rather, you need to grow up into the Head, Christ. You must grow. As you grow, your function will become manifested. The more you grow, the more your function will be manifested. The measure of function that is manifested depends entirely on the measure of your growth.
It is through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part that the Body can be knit together. I have known and coordinated with a few brothers for more than thirty years now, and by the Lord’s grace we can boast that we have certainly been knit together. What is the reason? It is because we have practiced growing up into Christ so that every joint of the rich supply can release its supply and that the operation of each one part can be manifested. In this way we are knit together. It is not because we have a thirty-year-old friendship in the Lord, nor is it because we have stood shoulder to shoulder to fight for the Lord’s recovery and have gained an inexpressible affection for one another. That kind of relationship is unreliable, and that kind of knitting together is not solid. We, however, can testify by the Lord’s grace that the condition among us is a knitting together. Furthermore, there are many American brothers and sisters here today with whom I can boast to the enemy that a condition of being joined together and of being knit together exists among us also. It is not emotional, nor is it a matter of having common likes and interests; rather, it is through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part.
The knitting together causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. What is this? This is the practical, subjective experience. This is growth and building. In the last chapter we spoke of sanctification, transformation, and conformation; in this chapter we will see growth and building.
You may frequently pray, “O Lord, cause us to be built up.” It is true that the Lord will hear your prayer, but He will immediately require you to grow. Where does the secret of growth lie? It is in sanctification, transformation, and conformation. If you are not sanctified, transformed, and conformed inwardly, it will be hard for you to grow. To grow up is another way of saying to be sanctified, transformed, and conformed. In other words, if we look at this from another angle, sanctification, transformation, and conformation are simply growth. The amount of transformation you have determines the measure of your growth. Your growth depends on your transformation, and transformation depends on the divine element being added into you. When the divine element is added into you, you are transformed and conformed inwardly. When you have the growth, you grow up into Christ.
It is not sufficient to merely be zealous and burning; you and I need to be transformed and to grow. We need to have the element of God constantly increasing in us until we are saturated with the divine element. In this way we will grow up into Christ. Then, if we are the joints of supply, our supply will be able to come out; if we are the parts, our function will be manifested. Thus, we will be knit together and will cause the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.
Dear brothers and sisters, can this teaching be found in Christianity today? Absolutely not. However, today among us it is not enough only to have this teaching; the Lord’s goal among us is to recover this reality—the reality of growth and building.
Now we come to see Ephesians 4:22-24, which is connected to 4:15-16. Verse 22 says, “That you put off...the old man,” and verse 23 says, “And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Then verse 24 says, “And put on the new man.” Christianity today also speaks these words but does not apply them properly. What is the old man? What is the new man? You should not define any term in the Bible by the term itself. You must look at the context around the term and at the entire book; you must even look at the entire Bible. If you look at the context here, you will realize that the old man and the new man are not individual but corporate. The new man here is the church life. Ephesians 2:14-15 says that the Lord has broken down the enmity in His flesh that He might create the two, the Jewish and the Gentile believers, in Himself into one new man. We see in the book of Ephesians that the new man is not individual but corporate, and it refers to the church. Since the new man is corporate, the old man, of course, must also be corporate. To put it simply using today’s language, the old man is society. The old man in Ephesians is the social life, and the new man is the church life. Putting off the old man is putting off the social life, and putting on the new man is putting on the church life.
Your putting off your social life and putting on the church life does not depend on any change in your outward activity; rather, it altogether depends on your growing up into Christ in all things. If you grow up into Christ in all things, will you still be able to have anything in the social life? It will be impossible! For example, at the time of the Mid-autumn Festival every family eats moon cakes and gives moon cakes to others as gifts. If during this season, you have not grown up into Christ in all things, you will not be able to keep yourself from following others to observe the festival. You might say that it is too hard, but I have the assurance that if you grow up into Christ in all things, the Mid-autumn Festival will fall off from you. I can testify that because I have been living the new man for a long time, I do not even know when it is time for the Mid-autumn Festival, despite the fact that I am an old Chinese man. Thank the Lord that the Mid-autumn Festival is a thing of the past for me. We put off the old man and put on the new man because we have grown up into Christ.
To help the brothers and sisters understand, sometimes I use putting on clothes to illustrate this matter. Someone may come into the church; he puts on the church life and shouts, “Hallelujah! I have seen the church!” But in actuality it is just as if he draped a jacket around his shoulders, and the jacket falls off after a short time. This is an outward kind of putting on. Another one may be a little clearer and say, “I have seen the church.” But his case is like putting an arm into one sleeve of the jacket; after a while when he moves around, the jacket still falls off. Yet another one may be even better and say, “I have seen the church. Thank the Lord, it is so good for me to be in the church life today! The church is my home. Home, home, sweet home.” This case is like putting the jacket on properly. But on the next day, suddenly one of the elders may be rude to him, so he becomes unhappy and unbuttons one of the buttons. The next week another person is rude to him, so he unbuttons another button. Then after two weeks a young brother offends him, and by this time his church life is nearly gone. He puts off the church life in just the same way that he put it on, saying, “Forget it! What kind of church life is this!” Then he takes off the jacket and throws it on the floor.
These kinds of putting on are not a growing up. Do not forget that the putting on in 4:24 is the growing up in verses 15 and 16. In the Bible to put on means to grow. It does not mean that you have a layer of skin and on top of that you put a layer of clothing; rather, it means that the one layer of skin grows. When you have grown up, it will not matter if the elders make you unhappy or if a certain brother offends you or even if all the angels are rude to you; you will have no way to put off the church life because it will have already grown and become part of you. The church life will be grown into your skin, your blood, and your marrow; you will remain a man for the church even after you die. I am not at all joking about this. It has been forty-five years since I came into the church in July of 1932. In these forty-five years I have tasted different things, things that are sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy hot. I did not eat “almond-flavored pudding” every day. Many times the situation was hotter than the spiciest Szechwan or Hunan foods, but I had to take it even if I did not like it. Sometimes I had to hold my nose to eat it.
The new man is not like a garment that is put on outwardly; it grows from within. How do we know that it grows from within? We see this in Ephesians 4. Between the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man, it says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Is this not something inward? This is not an outward activity. It is not a matter of saying, “Now all the other people are observing the Mid-autumn Festival, but I am not observing it. Rather, I am running to the church meeting.” No, it is a matter of being renewed in the spirit of your mind. This is not outward but inward. This is also subjective, and it is so subjective that within you there is only Christ and the church. All other things are dispensable: if you can have them, you have them, and if not, it does not matter. Only Christ and the church are absolutely necessary. Furthermore, Christ and the church have been constituted into each one of your cells. Others might compel you to eat moon cakes, but it would not matter. It does not mean that because you have eaten moon cakes, you have thrown away the church life. Even after eating the moon cakes, you can still say, “Christ is my satisfaction, and the church is my living. It does not matter whether or not I eat moon cakes; what matters is Christ and the church.”
This should be our experience today. The church is not a social group or a family association; the church is Christ wrought into us. We put off our social life of the former days and put on the church life of today. From beginning to end, everything and all things are Christ being manifested in the church. This is the golden lampstand. We all have been baptized into this Christ, and we all drink of Him. This Christ lives in us, is formed in us, and makes His home in us. He continually adds His divine element into us, thoroughly saturating our entire being, and thus we are transformed and conformed to His image. We spontaneously grow up into Him in all things and spontaneously put off the old man (the social life) and put on the new man (the church life). This is a great metabolic process in which new elements come in to replace the old elements, which have become waste to be discharged. We all have an inward, organic transformation, and the result is the church. This is the church life.
Dear brothers and sisters, today our fighting is for this, our prayer is for this, and our testimony is for this. This is the Lord’s recovery today. The Lord today must have this testimony in each locality on the earth before He can return and His kingdom is brought in. May the Lord have mercy on us so that we all may see this truth that was lost and now has been recovered. This is the recovery; it is something subjective, and it is an inward experience. These matters are not doctrines; rather, they should all become our experience. Among us, whether young or old, whether brothers or sisters, all should say, “O Lord, grant me mercy to participate in this testimony. O Lord, do not lose me, and do not let me lose this testimony of Yours.” For the past twenty centuries this subjective truth has been buried, but thank the Lord that today it has been resurrected to become a recovered, resurrected truth among us. We should live in it.
