林前三6 “我栽种了，亚波罗浇灌了，唯有神叫他生长。”

　　西三16 “当用各样的智慧，让基督的话丰丰富富地住在你们里面，用诗章、颂辞、灵歌，彼此教导，互相劝戒，心被恩感歌颂神。”

　　我们既是基督身体的肢体，就应当喝纯净的话奶，使我们可以生长。然后我们必须吃主话语中的干粮，使我们能更多地生长。我们吃主的话，使我们刚强地长大。主的话满了食物，但有些人读经的时候，只照着字句得着知识。…基督是我们的真食物，圣经的每一页都是这位丰富基督的描述。整本圣经都是发表祂，或者含示祂。…当我们来到圣经前，我们该带着寻求基督的心而来。我们应当祷告说，“主啊，我来到你的话前。我不要只有教训，我要你。主啊，求你借着你的话，用你自己喂养我。”（生机建造的召会作基督的身体成为经过过程并分赐之三一神的生机体，二○至二一页）

　　1 Cor. 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.

　　Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

　　As members of the Body of Christ, we should drink the guileless milk of the word that we may grow. Then we must eat the solid food of the word so that we may grow even more. Our eating of the word causes us to grow in a strong way. The Word is full of food, but some get only knowledge according to the letter when they read the Bible.…Christ is our real food, and every page of the Bible is a description of this rich Christ. He is either expressed or implied throughout the whole Bible.…When we come to the Bible, we should come with a seeking heart after Christ. We should pray, “Lord, I come to Your Word. I do not care for teachings alone, but I care for You. Lord, feed me with Yourself through this Word.” (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. 279)

　　召会内在的生长是借着神叫基督的肢体在生命中长大（林前三6下）。有恩赐的人可以栽种并浇灌，但叫人在生命中生长的乃是神。这就是为什么我到聚会中说话之前，必须花一点时间祷告。我祷告求主与我是一，并以祂自己灌输我，使我所说的，都是在祂里面说的。我信祂已经丰厚地答应了这些祷告，因为当我说话时，我经常在里面感觉有供应，使我说话有新的亮光和即时的发表。

　　我们需要从圣经直接得着喂养，我们也需要从那些更认识圣经的人得着浇灌。神是随着我们的读经，并随着有恩赐之人的讲说，而叫我们生长。…当我们进到话中，我们就是在得喂养。当我们在话语的讲说之下，我们就领受浇灌；然后，神就叫我们生长。

　　召会内在的生长是凭着神在信徒里的增长（西二19）。我们是凭着神圣的生命，就是神自己，得重生的。如今我们正在得喂养，得浇灌，并且神正在叫我们生长。这个生长就是神自己在我们里面的增长（19）。当神把生命的长大赐给我们时，这意思是说祂自己在我们里面增长。当我们在话上得着喂养，并且得着有恩赐之人的浇灌，神自己就在我们里面运行、增长。

　　歌罗西二章十九节下半告诉我们，基督的身体是“以神的增长而长大”。我们是凭着神在我们里面的增长而长大。神本身不会增长，因为祂是完整的，也是完全的。祂的增长乃是在我们里面的，而祂在我们里面有多少增长，在于我们有多少地方让祂增长。我们可能满了世界、自己、自利，但借着读圣经，圣经的话就一点一点地除去我们的属世、自利，以及在神以外的所爱。然后在我们里面就会有更多地方归给神。祂就用这地方在我们里面扩展并扩增。这个扩增就是祂在我们里面的增长。祂的增长就成了我们的生长，因为我们与祂乃是一。召会的生长就是神在召会里的增长。借着我们在话上得喂养，并借着有恩赐之肢体的浇灌，我们里面消极的事物就被除去，就有更多地方让给住在我们里面的神。当祂得着更多的地方，祂就在我们里面增长，结果就带进召会生机的生长（生机建造的召会作基督的身体成为经过过程并分赐之三一神的生机体，二八至三○页）。

　　参读：生机建造的召会作基督的身体成为经过过程并分赐之三一神的生机体，第二章。

　　The intrinsic growth of the church is through the giving of growth in life to the members of Christ by God (1 Cor. 3:6c). The gifted ones may do the planting and the watering, but it is God who gives the growth in life. This is why I must always take some time to pray before I come to speak in a meeting. I pray that the Lord would be one with me and infuse me with Himself so that whatever I speak would be in Him. I believe that He has richly answered these prayers because quite often, as I am speaking, I feel supplied within to speak with new light and instant utterance.

　　We need the feeding from the Bible directly, and we need the watering from the ones who know the Bible more. God goes along with our reading of the Word and with the speaking of the gifted members to give us the growth.…When we get into the Word, we are feeding. When we get under the speaking of the word, we receive the watering. Then God gives the growth.

　　The intrinsic growth of the church is by God’s growing in the believers (Col. 2:19). We were reborn by the divine life, which is God Himself. Now we are being fed and watered, and God is causing us to grow. This growth is God Himself growing in us (v. 19). When God gives us the growth in life, this means that He is increasing Himself within us. As we are feeding on the Word, and as we are being watered by the gifted ones, God Himself is moving and growing within us.

　　The last part of Colossians 2:19 tells us that the Body “grows with the growth of God.” We grow by God’s growing within us. Of course, God in Himself is not growing, because He is complete and perfect. His growing is within us, and how much He grows within us depends on how much room we will give to Him to grow. We may be full of the world, of ourselves, of our own interests, but by reading the Bible, little by little the word of the Bible takes away some part of our worldliness, some part of our self-interest, and some part of our love for things other than God Himself. Then within us more room is given to God; He takes this room and expands and increases within us. This increase is His growth in us. His growth becomes our growth because we and He are one. The growth of the church is God’s growth in the church. By our feeding on the Word and being watered by the gifted members, the negative things within us are taken away, and there is more room for the very God who dwells in us. When He gets more room, He grows within us. This issues in the church’s organic growth. (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. 284-286)

　　Further Reading: 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,” ch. 2