The Bible shows us that the Triune God is coming into us to do a building work in us with Himself as the element together with the human nutrients in our spirit and the human heart as the soil; as He grows in us, we are built up to be the church as the organic Body of Christ. Amen!
The matter of the building up of the church has been very much neglected and misunderstood in Christianity throughout the last two thousand years.
Some have a good heart for God and see that Christ builds His church, so they try to help Him to do it by doing this and that according to what they think or believe from the word of God that they should do.
Eventually, what Christian workers do is not build up the Body but build up their own church, their own ministry, and their own organisation.
But praise the Lord, He has revealed to us the blueprint for the building up of the church!
One of the points of this blueprint is that the material of the building should be uniquely Christ, for the unique material for the building up of the church is Christ Himself, who is everything.
We need to see, enjoy, and experience the all-inclusive Christ, and we need to be brought to the highest point in God’s economy to see that in Christ, God became man so that man would become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead.
This is spoken of in type and prophecy in 2 Sam. 7 and in reality in Rom. 1:3-4 and 8:29.
This high peak of the divine revelation is not just some higher knowledge, a higher revelation; it has very much to do with us, and it has an issue.
The issue is the divine building, the building of God into man and the building of man into God.
The building up of the church is not at all something that is physical, outward, or organizational; rather, the building up of the church is related to Christ who is both divine and human, human and divine.
For us to have more of this Christ and to be able to participate in the building of the church, we need to be constituted with Christ.
Christ was incarnated, put on humanity, lived a perfect human life on earth, went through death and resurrection, and in resurrection, He brought His humanity into divinity to be begotten as the firstborn Son of God.
And we as the many believers in Christ are the many sons of God to constitute the house of God, the church, the Body of Christ.
May we see the blueprint of the building up of the church and may we seek to build only with Christ by allowing Him to grow in us and be built into us.
May the Spirit have a way to speak to us, enlighten us and bring to light the matter of the building up of the church with Christ as the unique element.
We do need to have many necessary arrangements in the church life, many activities, and many outward things; however, as we are carrying these out, there must be a governing vision that controls us.
We need to see that as we preach the gospel, visit the new ones, have outings with the saints, meet in the prayer meetings or home meetings, and as we do anything in the church life, we are here to enjoy Christ and infuse Christ into one another for the building up of the church.
It is this Christ whom we enjoy, experience, and minister that will effect in the building up of the Body of Christ.
Affording God the Human Nutrients (our spirit) and the Proper Soil (our heart) for Him to Grow in us and Make His Home in us
When we come to the matter of the building up of the church as the house of God, we have to read Eph. 3:16-21; here we see that the Triune God is working to make His home in our heart.
In the whole Bible, God’s central work is to build Himself into man and build man into Himself; this is what we see in this portion in Eph. 3.
The Triune God comes into us to do a building work with Himself as the element and also with something from us as the material.
On one hand, the element is divine, and on the other hand, the nutrients and the soil are human.
In Matt. 13 the Lord spoke the parable of the Sower sowing the seed; Christ is the Sower, and He sowed Himself as the seed in the soil of our heart.
Our heart is the soil, and Christ is both the Sower and the seed; the seed is also the word of God, which embodies Christ.
The Lord sows Himself as the seed of life into man’s hearts, the soil so that He might grow and live in them and be expressed from within them (v. 3).
![And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some [seeds] fell beside the way, and the birds came and devoured them. And others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much earth, and immediately they sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered. And others fell on the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them. But others fell on the good earth and yielded fruit, one a hundredfold, and one sixtyfold, and one thirtyfold. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Matt. 13:3-9](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/And-He-spoke-many-things-to-them-in-parables-saying-Behold-the-sower-went-out-to-sow.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some [seeds] fell beside the way, and the birds came and devoured them. And others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much earth, and immediately they sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered. And others fell on the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them. But others fell on the good earth and yielded fruit, one a hundredfold, and one sixtyfold, and one thirtyfold. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Matt. 13:3-9")
The seed is sown into the soil to grow with the nutrients of the soil; the result is that a plant grows, and this plant is a composition of elements from both the seed and the soil.
The seed doesn’t just grow by itself; once put in the soil, the life germ in the seed breaks the shell and starts growing, and its growth is dependent on the nutrients afforded by the soil.
If you put a seed on the mantlepiece or in the sand, nothing will happen, but if you put it in the soil, there are some nutrients that will cause it to grow.
We have within us certain nutrients created by God as a preparation for His coming into us to grow in us.
God created in us the human spirit with the human nutrients along with the human heart as the soil for the growth of the divine seed within us (1 John 3:9; 1 Pet. 1:23; Col. 2:19).
There is a spirit in man, and this spirit is actually the breath of Jehovah breathed into man’s nostrils (Gen. 2:9; Prov. 20:27).
Man’s spirit is something compatible with God. Man’s heart is the soil and in man’s spirit, there are the human nutrients for the growth of the divine seed in us.
Just as every seed requires a particular kind of soil to grow, so our heart is the right kind of soil – once we deal with our heart – for Christ to grow in us.
Within the human heart and with our human spirit there are some nutrients that are compatible with God and which will cause the seed of God to grow in us.
The rate at which we grow in life depends not on the divine seed but on how many nutrients we afford this seed of God in us; the more nutrients we supply, the faster the seed will grow and the more it will flourish (Psa. 78:8; Matt. 5:3, 8).
Some are rebellious and stubborn, not setting their heart right and not having a faithful spirit toward God; in such conditions, the seed cannot grow.
But if we are poor in spirit and pure in heart, if we deal with our spirit not to be filled but unloaded and deal with our heart to be the good soil, we will afford Christ the nutrients He needs to grow in us.
Blessed are the poor in spirit and the pure in heart; our spirit and our heart need to be proper and dealt with, so that the divine seed would grow in us.
If our spirit is being occupied all the time with so many things, if our heart is not pure but always distracted by so many things, the seed will not grow well.
If we remain in our soul, in our natural man, there will not be any nutrients for the growth of the divine seed.
But if we’re strengthened into our inner man and if we pay attention to our spirit and exercise our spirit, the nutrients will be supplied and Christ will make His home in our heart (Eph. 3:16-17; Rom. 8:6; 1 Tim. 4:7).
Especially these days as we live in this crooked and perverted generation, we need to exercise our spirit much more than before.
Everything around us tries to annihilate and annul our life before God; we need to exercise our spirit.
We even need to be strengthened into our inner man with the power that raised Christ from the dead, seated Him at the right hand of God and subdued all things under His feet.
May we take heed to our spirit (Mal. 2:15), not allowing anything to distract us from exercising our spirit.
If we’re going to have the Lord as the seed of life grow within us to be our full enjoyment, we have to open to the Lord absolutely and cooperate with Him to deal thoroughly with our heart (Matt. 13:3-9, 19-23).
There may be hidden sins, desires, and things that hinder the growth of God in us.
Our heart may be hardened, or there may be many cares of this world choking the growth of the seed.
We need to cooperate with God to have a good soil in our heart, not having a hardened heart, a heart with rocks, or a heart that is distracted by the things of this world, but having a pure heart before the Lord.
On one hand, God strengthens us with Himself as the element; on the other hand, we afford the nutrients.
May we realize this, and may we have many short prayers to Him throughout the day to deal with our heart and to exercise our spirit so that He may grow in us for the building up of the church!
Lord Jesus, we love You. We open to Your divine dispensing. Grant us to be poor in spirit and pure in heart. We want to deal with any rocks in our heart, any worries and anxieties of this age, and any hard part in the soil of our heart. Amen, Lord, may our heart be pure to be the good soil for You to grow. We exercise our spirit, Lord, to afford the human nutrients that You require so that You may grow in us and make Your home in us. Make Your home in all our heart. May the seed of life grow in our heart a little more today. We open to You absolutely and we want to cooperate with You to deal thoroughly with our heart. Amen, Lord, strengthen us into our inner man today so that Christ may make His home in our heart! Amen, Lord, we want to pay attention to our spirit and exercise our spirit so that the nutrients may be supplied and Christ would make His home in our heart!
The Building of the Church takes place by the Growth of Christ as the Divine Seed in Us
![Everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been begotten of God. 1 John 3:9 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and [through] the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. Eph. 4:15-16](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Everyone-who-has-been-begotten-of-God-does-not-practice-sin-because-His-seed-abides-in-him.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "Everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been begotten of God. 1 John 3:9 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and [through] the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. Eph. 4:15-16")
According to the Bible, our growth in the divine life equals the building up of the church.
The Lord Jesus declared, I will build My church (Matt. 16:18), and this building takes place by the growth of the divine seed within us (1 John 3:9; Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 2:19; Eph. 2:21-22; 1 Cor. 3:1, 6-9, 12; 16:13).
If we realize this, we will no longer try to serve God by doing this and that so that we “build up the church” or “help Christ to build His church”; we will stop our doing and cooperate with His growth in us, for growth equals building.
On His side, God strengthens us into our inner man through His Spirit with power so that Christ may make His home in our heart.
On our side, we need to afford Him the human nutrients – our dealt-with heart and our exercised spirit – so that He may grow in us.
As He strengthens us into our inner man with Himself and as we afford Him the human nutrients, God in Christ carries out His intrinsic building – the building of His home – in our entire being.
The problem is not on God’s side; He has done everything, He is available to us, and He can do everything in us. He is faithful to dispense Himself into us whenever we open to Him.
When we come to a meeting, He speaks to us and supplies us. When we open His word and turn our heart to Him, he nourishes us.
But what about our heart? What about our spirit? Do we have any hidden sins, lusts, desires, and intentions in our heart?
Do we still worry and allow the anxieties of this age to trouble us and choke the growth of Christ in us? Do we still spend so much time in the world that the soil of our heart is hardened and Christ cannot grow in us?
Do we exercise our spirit, or is our spirit so full that we don’t have any room for the Lord’s fresh speaking? Do we allow God’s word to go further into us and have a thoroughfare in our being?
Do we let Christ make His home in our heart? Do we give Him free access to all our inward parts – our mind, our emotion, and our will?
There’s no problem on God’s side – the divine element is perfect, ready to operate.
But there is a problem on our side, for we may not afford Him the human nutrients He requires for growing in us.
We need to supply the necessary nutrients so that the divine element would mingle with the human element and result in the building.
If we don’t cooperate with the Lord’s making His home in our heart, we may be believers for decades but the seed of life may not grow in us.
It’s not that God is not merciful or that He is not faithful to dispense Himself into us, but that our spirit is not fully open to the Lord and our heart doesn’t turn to Him.
How can we experience the real building up of the church if Christ as the seed of life doesn’t grow in us?
The building up of the church is very much frustrated because our heart and our spirit are not open and dealt with.
If we don’t supply the Lord the human nutrients by turning our heart to Him and exercising our spirit, He cannot grow in us, and we cannot build up the church.
How does Christ build up the church? First, He produced the church by Him as a grain of wheat falling into the ground to die and dispense His life into the many believers in Christ to make them the many members of the Body of Christ, the many sons of God.
He is now dispensing Himself into us, and we need to allow Him to work Himself into us and build Himself into us by dealing with our heart to afford Him the good soil to grow, and by exercising our spirit to afford Him the human nutrients.
Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to contact You. We turn our heart to You and we’re willing to deal with any rocks, thorns, or hardness in our heart. Amen, Lord, strengthen us into our inner man and make Your home in all our heart. May the divine seed grow in us a little more today so that we may experience the building up of the church. We want to cooperate with You by affording You the human nutrients You need to grow in us so that You may carry out Your intrinsic work of building Your home in our entire home. Mingle Yourself more with us today. Empty us from anything else that’s not You. Fill us with Yourself. May we be poor in spirit and pure in heart for You to build Yourself into us and to build us into You. Amen, Lord, we fully open to you. Make us willing to thoroughly deal with our heart and properly exercise our spirit today!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother James Lee, and portions from, Life-study of 1&2 Samuel, msgs. 30-31 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 9, entitled, The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ through the Process of Spiritual Metabolism according to the Believers’ Inner Experience of the Indwelling Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
– His Son, Jesus, is our Savior. / Once in human form He came. / Now as Spirit He can enter / As the breath of life to man. / As a seed within our spirit / Christ takes root and starts to grow, / Spreading in our inmost being / Till His life we come to know. (Hymns #1299)
– The seed is planted, wheat is grown / And meal is the sum / Of all the growth upon God’s farm, / Where Christians grow as one; / But all the growth in life is for / The building of the church, / That God and man may have a home / And both may end their search. / The farm is for the building, / for God and man a home, / Where both may dwell among / His people gathered into one. (Hymns #1242)
– Lord, how Your light makes clear / That we could not but e’er fail You; / Yet there’s a message true, / The seed of life within us will break through— / Lord Jesus, grow in us. / Make us in spirit poor; / Lord, take whate’er we think we know. / We’ll open to life’s flow, / And thus take in the life that makes us grow— / Lord Jesus, grow in us. (Hymns #1132)
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