Scripture Reading: 1 Thes. 3:13; Prov. 4:23; Matt. 13:3-9, 19-23
Ⅰ
According to the Bible, growth equals building; this takes place by the growth of the divine seed of life, the seed of the kingdom within us—1 John 3:9; Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16; Mark 4:26; Luke 17:20-21:
A
Ephesians 3:17 reveals that the Triune God has come into us to do a building work with Himself as the element and also with something from us as the material; this is illus-trated by the parable of the sower in Matthew 13; the Lord sows Himself as the seed of life into men's hearts, the soil, that He might grow and live in them and be expressed from within them—v. 3:
１
The wayside signifies the heart that is hardened by worldly traffic and cannot open to understand, to comprehend, the word of the kingdom; the birds signify the evil one, Satan, who comes and snatches away the word of the kingdom sown in the hardened heart—vv. 4, 19.
２
The rocky places that do not have much earth signify the heart that is shallow in receiving the word of the kingdom; deep within such a heart are rocks—hidden sins, personal desires, self-seeking, and self-pity—which hinder the seed from taking root in the depths of the heart—vv. 5, 20-21:
ａ
The sun with its scorching heat signifies affliction or persecution (vv. 6, 21); the scorching heat of the sun causes the seed that is not rooted to wither.
ｂ
The heat of the sun is for the growth and ripening of the crop, which take place once the seed has been deeply rooted; but because of the seed's lack of root, the sun's heat, which should cause growth and ripening, becomes a deathblow to the seed.
３
The thorns signify the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches, which utterly choke the word, preventing it from growing in the heart and causing it to become unfruitful—vv. 7, 22; Luke 12:15-21.
４
The good earth signifies the good heart that is not hardened by worldly traffic, that is without hidden sins, and that is without the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches; such a heart gives every inch of its ground to receive the word that the word may grow, bear fruit, and produce even a hundredfold—Matt. 13:8, 23.
B
The seed is sown into the soil to grow with the nutrients of the soil; as a result, the produce is a composition of elements from both the seed and the soil—v. 23.
C
We have within us certain nutrients created by God as a preparation for His coming into us to grow in us; God has created the human spirit with the human nutrients along with the human heart as the soil for the divine seed—cf. 1 Pet. 3:4.
D
The rate at which we grow in life depends not on the divine seed but on how many nu-trients we afford this seed; the more nutrients we supply, the faster the seed will grow and the more it will flourish—Psa. 78:8; Matt. 5:3, 8:
１
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 are strengthened with power 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 hearts—Eph. 3:16-17; Rom. 8:6; 1 Tim. 4:7; cf. Jude 19.
２
If we are 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.
E
On the one hand, God strengthens us with Himself as the element, and on the other hand, we afford the nutrients; through these two, God in Christ carries out His intrinsic building—the building of His home—in our entire being—Eph. 3:16-19.
Ⅱ
The heart is the conglomerate of man's inward parts, man's chief representative, his acting agent:
A
Our heart is a composition of all the parts of our soul—the mind, the emotion, and the will (Matt. 9:4; Heb. 4:12; Acts 11:23; John 14:1; 16:22)—plus one part of our spirit—the conscience (Heb. 10:22; 1 John 3:20).
B
Our heart and its condition before God are organically, intrinsically, and inseparably related to the condition of our spirit, soul, and body:
１
The exercise of the spirit works only when our heart is active; if man's heart is indif-ferent, the spirit is imprisoned within and is unable to show forth its capability— Matt. 5:3, 8; Psa. 78:8; Eph. 3:16-17.
２
The soul is the person himself, but the heart is the person in action; the heart is the acting agent, the acting commissioner, of our entire being.
３
The activities and movements of our physical body depend on our physical heart; in like manner, our daily living, the way we act and behave, depends on what kind of psychological heart we have.
C
The heart is the entrance and exit of life, the "switch" of life; if the heart is not right, life in the spirit is hindered, and the law of life cannot work freely and without obstruction to reach every part of our being; though life has great power, this great power is controlled by our small heart—Prov. 4:23; Matt. 12:33-37; cf. Ezek. 36:26-27.
Ⅲ
In order to live a holy life for the church life, the kingdom life, we need the Lord to establish our heart blameless in holiness—1 Thes. 3:13:
A
God is the unchanging One, but according to our natural birth our heart is changeable, both in our relationship with others and with the Lord—cf. 2 Tim. 4:9-11.
B
There is no one who, according to his natural, human life, is steadfast in his heart; be-cause our heart changes so easily, it is not at all trustworthy—Jer. 17:9-10; 13:23.
C
Our heart is blamable because it is changeable; an unchanging heart is a blameless heart—Psa. 57:7; 108:1; 112:7.
D
In God's salvation the renewing of the heart is once for all; however, in our experience our heart is renewed continually because it is changeable—Ezek. 36:26; 2 Cor. 4:16.
E
Because our heart is changeable, it needs to be renewed continually by the sanctifying Spirit so that our heart can be established, built up, in the state of being holy, the state of being separated unto God, occupied by God, possessed by God, and saturated with God— Titus 3:5; Rom. 6:19, 22.
Ⅳ
In order to be those "who are being sanctified" in living a holy life for the church life, the kingdom life, we must cooperate with the inner operating of the One "who sanctifies" by dealing with our heart—Heb. 2:10-11; Psa. 139:23-24:
A
God wants our heart to be soft:
１
When God deals with our heart, He takes away the heart of stone out of our flesh and gives us a heart of flesh, a soft heart—Ezek. 36:26.
２
To be soft means that our heart is submissive and yielding toward the Lord, not stiff-necked and rebellious—cf. Exo. 32:9.
３
A soft heart is a heart that is not hardened by worldly traffic—Matt. 13:4.
４
God softens our heart by using His love to move us; if love cannot move us, He uses His hand through the environment to discipline us until our heart is softened—2 Cor. 5:14; 4:16-18; Heb. 12:6-7; cf. Jer. 48:11.
B
God wants our heart to be pure:
１
A pure heart is a heart that loves God and wants God; besides God, it has no other love, inclination, or desire—Psa. 73:25; cf. Jer. 32:39.
２
Our heart should be single for God so that we are fearful of nothing except offending Him and losing His presence—Psa. 86:11; Isa. 11:1-2.
３
Our goal and our aim should be God Himself, and we should not have any other motive—Matt. 5:8.
４
We must pursue Christ "with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart"—2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Tim. 1:5; Psa. 73:1.
C
God wants our heart to be loving:
１
A loving heart is a heart in which the emotion loves God, wants God, thirsts after God, and yearns for God, having a personal, affectionate, private, and spiritual rela-tionship with the Lord—42:1-2; S. S. 1:1-4.
２
We must turn our heart back to the Lord again and again and have it continually renewed so that we may have a new and fresh love toward the Lord—2 Cor. 3:16; Hymns, #546 and #547.
３
All spiritual experiences start with love in the heart; if we do not love the Lord, it is impossible to receive any kind of spiritual experience—cf. Eph. 6:24.
４
Our love for the Lord qualifies, perfects, and equips us to speak for the Lord with His authority; if we love the Lord to the uttermost, we will be filled and overflowing with Him—John 21:15-17; Matt. 26:6-13; 28:18-20.
D
God wants our heart to be at peace:
１
A heart at peace is a heart in which the conscience is without offense, condemna-tion, or reproach—Acts 24:16; 1 John 3:19-21; Heb. 10:22.
２
If we confess our sins in the light of God's presence, we receive His forgiveness and His cleansing so that we may enjoy uninterrupted fellowship with God with a good conscience—1 John 1:7, 9; 1 Tim. 1:5.
３
The result of practicing fellowship with God in prayer is that we enjoy the peace of God, which is actually God as peace mounting guard over our hearts and thoughts in Christ, keeping us calm and tranquil—Phil. 4:6-7.
４
We need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts by forgiving one another to put on the one new man—Col. 3:13-15.
Ⅴ
As our hearts are being established blameless in holiness by the continual renew-ing of the sanctifying Spirit, we are becoming the New Jerusalem (the eternal king-dom) with the newness of the divine life and we are becoming the holy city with the holiness of the divine nature—Rev. 21:2; 1 John 5:11-12; 2 Pet. 1:4; Heb. 2:10-11.