«　WEEK 3　DAY 4　»

　　Eph. 4:15-16 …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.

　　Holding to truth [in Ephesians 4:15] means holding to what is real.…The real things in the universe are Christ as the Head and the church as His Body. We have to hold to these two things in love so that we may grow up into the Head, Christ, in all things.…The growing up is the building up.

　　We grow up into Christ, the Head, and then something issues out from Christ, the Head. “Into Christ” is for our growth. “Out from Christ” is for our function, our usefulness. On the one hand, we are growing up into Christ. On the other hand, what we do is out from Him as the source for our function, our usefulness. (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,” p. 301)

　　The Body is joined closely together through every joint of the rich supply. These are the gifted persons such as the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers.…We need many joints in the local churches. If we do not grow up into Christ, He has no way to make us a joint. In order to become a joint, we need to pray more, seek the Lord more, read the Bible more, feed on Christ more, etc.…We would have morning watch more. Some may have a five-minute morning watch, but we would have a fifteen-minute morning watch. With this kind of exercise over a period of time, we may become a joint in the Body.

　　In the Body some are joints.…Others are parts, who operate according to their measure. Through these two categories of members, the Body grows, and this growth is unto the building up of itself in love. If we are not a joint, we must be a part…. We should not think that only the joints are useful. Every part in the Body is also useful. The thighs in our physical body are not joints, but they are great parts. We need our thighs to stand because they bear our weight.…We all should praise the Lord that we are either joints or parts in the organic Body of Christ.

　　If you are a joint, you should supply the Body with the riches of Christ…. If you are a part, you should operate.…Through the joints supplying and the parts operating, all the Body causes the growth of the Body, and the growth of the Body results in the building up of itself in love. (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. 301-302)

　　Every member of the Body needs not only to be supplied but also to function. First, we are supplied, and second, we function. All the Body causes the growth of the Body through all the members being supplied and functioning, and this growth is the building up of the Body.

　　We cannot do more than our measure, nor should we do less than our measure. When every member is supplied through the joints and functioning according to its measure, the Body is building itself up. Christ, the Head, through His all-inclusive death and resurrection, fully accomplished redemption and produced the church. Through His death and resurrection He also constituted some of the saved members to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. These constituted gifts minister to perfect and supply all the saints, who then function to directly build up the Body of Christ. Regrettably, … in organized Christianity…we see great speakers working to build up congregations in order to make a display of their work. There is no organic building by every member. Therefore, the genuine building up of the Body needs to be recovered. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 2, p. 38)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, “The Building Up of the Body of Christ,” chs. 1-4