«　WEEK 2　DAY 4　»

　　Col. 2:19 …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.

　　Eph. 5:23 For a husband is head of the wife as also Christ is Head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the Body.

　　The meaning of growing into the Head, Christ, is acknowledging the authority of the headship of Christ. We have to acknowledge Him as Lord and Head. He has the authority over us. In all things big or small we have to allow Him to be the Lord. This lesson is not easy. In our eating out in restaurants and in our shopping, seldom do we allow Him to be the Lord. Since we lack the practice in our daily life, it is not a surprise that when we come to the meeting, we find it difficult to prophesy for the Lord. The key to prophesying is to allow Jesus to be the Lord. In your daily life you have to allow Jesus to be your Lord. Only then will you have the experience, and only then will you have something to say in the meetings. Christ is not only the Head of us individually; He is also the Head of the church and the Head of all things. We should acknowledge the authority of His headship in our Christian life, in the church life, and in everything. By this we will grow into Him. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” p. 104)

　　When we grow into the Head, Christ, we are allowing Christ to increase and grow in all the inward parts of the members. Today our common problem is that we reserve a big part within us for ourselves and give the Lord only a little place. Therefore, it is impossible for Him to increase and grow within us. When He cannot grow, we cannot grow. There are many Christians on earth today, but there are few who would allow the Lord to grow within them. We must allow the Lord to have the proper place in us. We must allow Him to increase, grow, and occupy our whole being, part by part. In this way when you grow in the Lord and I grow in the Lord, the sum total will be the growth of the Body of Christ. In other words, when Christ grows in you and me, the Body of Christ will grow. Hence, the growth of the Body of Christ is the growth of Christ in His members.

　　If you allow Christ to grow in you, your gift will be manifested. As a result, Christ will not only be your life and living, but will be your gift as well….We are the members of Christ. As such, we must allow Christ to grow in us so that we can be perfected…. Hence, perfecting and growth in Ephesians 4 refer to the same thing.

　　In order to perfect others, we must first have the experience ourselves. We must first learn the lessons and know God’s economy. Then we can help others to see God’s economy. It is not a matter of improving and cultivating ourselves. It is a matter of denying our self and knowing the crucified and resurrected Lord as the Spirit who abides in us to be our life. We should live with Him, move with Him, and allow Him to be the Lord in everything. This shows us that, on the one hand, the cross has terminated our old man. On the other hand, it shows us that Christ is the Spirit of life who is now our life. The cross decreases us, and the resurrecting Spirit supplies Christ into us that we would be equipped. This is the perfecting. In the church meetings, all the prophesying should be based on this and should have this as the focus. This kind of word should be spoken frequently in the meetings. The more we speak this kind of word, the more perfecting there will be. We have to speak until all the brothers and sisters are affected in their daily lives by this kind of word. In this way they will receive the genuine perfecting. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” pp. 104-105)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” ch. 3