Ⅰ
The intrinsic growth, the organic growth, of the church is the growth in the divine life, which is the processed and dispensing Triune God—Eph. 4:15-16; 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 13:14:
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The church grows in this life, by this life, with this life, and through this life; we were born of the divine life, which is God Himself, and now God is causing us to grow—John 1:12-13; 1 Cor. 3:6c.
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Colossians 2:19 speaks of the growth of the Body, which is the growth of God within us:
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To grow is to have Christ added into us—1 Cor. 3:6-7; Gal. 4:19.
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The growth of the Body depends on what comes out of Christ as the Head—Eph. 4:15-16:
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When the Body is supplied by holding the Head, the Body grows with the growth of God—Col. 2:19.
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The Body grows out from the Head, for all the supply comes from the Head—Eph. 4:15-16.
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The growth of the Body depends on the growth of God, the addition of God, the increase of God, within us—Col. 2:19:
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God is not growing in Himself, because He is complete and perfect; He is growing within us.
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God gives the growth by giving Himself to us in a subjective way.
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The more God is added into us, the more growth He gives to us; this is the way that God gives the growth—1 Cor. 3:6-7.
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Only God can give growth; only God can give us Himself, and without Him we cannot have growth—vv. 6-7:
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The addition of God into us is the growth He gives.
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For God to give us growth actually means that He gives us Himself—Rom. 8:11.
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For God to give us the growth in life means that He is increasing Himself within us.
Morning Nourishment
Col. 2:19 And not 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.1:28 Whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ.
The essence of the church is the divine life, which is the processed and dispensing Triune God. We all have been regenerated with this divine life. The church is now growing in this life, by this life, with this life, and through this life.
Christ is increasing, and God is increasing in the growth of life within the members of the organic Body of Christ…To grow is a matter of life, which is God Himself. As the Body of Christ, the church should not be deprived of Christ, who is the embodiment of God (Col. 2:9) as the source of life. By holding Christ, the Head, the church grows with the growth of God, with the increase of God as life. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” pp. 278, 287)
Today’s Reading
The genuine growth in life is to grow with the growth of God, that is, to grow with the increase of God, the addition of God. In Himself, God cannot and does not need to grow. He is eternal, perfect, and complete. However, there is the need for God to grow in us. We all need more of the increase, the addition, of God within us. We need to grow with the growth of God; that is, we need God to increase, to grow, in us.God is rich in every way. He is rich in glory and in all the divine attributes. He is rich in love, kindness, mercy, light, life, power, and strength. God’s riches are endless. Now this rich God is adding Himself into us. God’s riches are the element and substance by which we grow. God is real, rich, and substantial, and we need to absorb Him.
Our God today is the processed, all-inclusive Spirit, and we have a spirit with which to absorb Him. Thus, we must exercise our spirit to stay in His presence to absorb Him. This takes time. Although we all have experienced absorbing the riches of God, our experience is not yet adequate. For this reason, we must spend more time to absorb Him. We should not spend so much time in our mind, emotion, and will, but spend more time in our spirit to adore the Lord, to praise Him, to offer thanks to Him, and to speak to Him freely. As we fellowship with Him in this way, we will absorb His riches, and He will add more of Himself into us. The more God is added into us, the more growth He gives to us. This is the way God causes the growth. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3595)
The increase in the element of God determines how much the church is built up. 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.
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…. 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. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, “Service for the Building Up of the Church,” pp. 468-469)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 356; CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, “Service for the Building Up of the Church,” ch. 6