Scripture Reading: John 3:30; Gal. 4:19; Eph. 3:17; 4:23; Phil. 2:12-13; Mark 4:26-29
Ⅰ
The growth in life is the increase of Christ as the tree of life in the believers—Col. 2:19; John 3:30; Rev. 2:7b:
A
The real growth in life is the addition of Christ as life into our being— John 14:6.
B
A Christian's spiritual progress should not be only an outward improve-ment but should be an inward increase of the element of Christ—Eph. 3:17.
C
When Christ grows and is formed in us so that there is the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ within us, this is spiritual progress— 4:13; Gal. 4:19.
D
Because life is Christ, the growth of life is the increase of Christ within us—John 11:25; 14:6; 1 John 5:11-12; Eph. 3:17:
１
Christ came into our spirit as life, and now we need to open ourselves and let Christ spread within us and fill, saturate, and permeate us.
２
The growth of life is the increase and expansion of Christ—Gal. 4:19.
E
We need a revelation to see that genuine growth in life is not a mere change in behavior or the improvement of ourselves but the increase of Christ within us—Eph. 1:17; 3:17.
F
The growth in life is Christ wrought into us and formed in us—Gal. 4:19:
１
To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ fully grown in us— Eph. 4:13.
２
As Christ is being formed in us, He makes His home in our hearts; He desires to saturate every part of our heart, our inward being, until He takes full possession of it—3:16-17.
３
If we desire to grow in life by having Christ increase within us, we need to experience Christ in a full way—Phil. 3:7-12.
G
In order for Christ to increase within us and for us to decrease, we need a renewed mind and a submissive will; the more we are renewed in our mind and subdued in our will, the more Christ will grow in us—Eph. 4:23; Rom. 12:2; 1 Cor. 6:17; Phil. 2:12; 2 Cor. 10:5-6:
１
We need to be renewed in the spirit of the mind—Eph. 4:23:
ａ
When the life-giving Spirit, who is mingled with our regenerated spirit, spreads into our mind, this mingled spirit becomes the spirit of our mind; it is by this mingled spirit that our mind is renewed— v. 23.
ｂ
To be renewed in the spirit of our mind is inward and intrinsic; this renewing revolutionizes our logic, philosophy, thought, concept, and psychology—Rom. 12:2.
ｃ
The only possibility of God's purpose being fulfilled in this age is that we would all be willing to be renewed in the spirit of our mind—Eph. 1:9; 3:11; 2 Tim. 1:9.
２
Our will must be subdued and be in harmony with God—Phil. 2:12-13:
ａ
Since our whole being moves according to our will, our will is the most powerful part of our being and represents our whole being— John 7:17.
ｂ
The neck stands for the human will under God; the Lord con-siders the submission of our will a beautiful thing—S. S. 4:4.
ｃ
In order for us to have a union of our will with God, He must subdue the activities of our will and the life of our will—v. 1:
⑴
Submission is in the aspect of activities; harmony is in the aspect of life, nature, and tendency—vv. 1, 4.
⑵
A submissive will stops its own activities; a harmonious will is one with God and is of the same heart as God—John 4:34; Matt. 26:39.
Ⅱ
The kingdom of God as a realm of the divine life is Christ as the tree of life planted into us and growing within us—John 3:3, 5; Mark 4:26-29:
A
The life of God is the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is the realm of the divine life for this life to move, to work, to rule, and to govern so that life may accomplish its purpose—John 3:3.
B
The kingdom of God is actually the God-man, the Lord Jesus, sown as a seed into the believers and developing into a realm over which God can rule as His kingdom in His divine life—Luke 17:20-21; Mark 4:3, 26-29:
１
The Lord Jesus, who is the embodiment of the Triune God, came to be the kingdom of God by sowing Himself as the seed of the king-dom into God's chosen people—Col. 2:9; Luke 17:20-21.
２
After this seed has been sown into the believers, it will grow and develop within them into the kingdom of God, which is for the fulfill-ment of God's eternal purpose and also for their blessing and enjoy-ment—Col. 1:13.
３
The development of the kingdom within us is our entering into the kingdom of God—2 Pet. 1:3-11.