THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

The Divine and Eternal Life

Message Five
Life—Growth, Development, Maturity, and Fruit

Scripture Reading: John 18:37; 10:10b; Mark 4:26-29; 2 Pet. 1:5-7; Heb. 6:1; Gal. 5:22-23; John 15:16

I. The Lord’s recovery is a recovery of the truth and of life—John 18:37b; 10:10b:

A. Whereas Christianity relies on organization and human work, the church relies solely on the light of the truth for the enjoyment of the Lord’s life—Titus 1:1-2; 1 Tim. 2:4; 3:15; 6:19.

B. The entire content of the church must be the growth of Christ in us as truth and life—John 14:6; Col. 2:19; 3:4.

C. Both the truth and the life are Christ Himself, but they are two different aspects of what He is—8:32, 36; 14:6; 11:25:

1. The truth is the outward definition and explanation, and life is the inward and intrinsic content—1:4; 18:37b; 8:12, 32.

2. Christ is in us as our life, but the experience of life needs an explanation; this explanation is the truth—Col. 3:4.

D. The experience of the Lord as life is contained in the Lord as the truth—John 14:6; 11:25.

II. If we would have the proper knowledge of life, we need to know what the growth of life is—Col. 2:19; Eph. 3:17a; 4:13 4-5; 5:18; 2 Tim. 1:7:

A. The growth of life is not the improvement of behavior, the expression of piety, zealous serving, the increase of knowledge, to abound in gifts, or the increase of power—Col. 2:19; Eph. 3:17a; 4:13; 5:18; 2 Tim. 1:7.

B. The growth of life is the increase of the element of God, the increase of the stature of Christ, the expanding of the ground of the Holy Spirit, the decrease of the human element, the breaking of the natural life, and the subduing of every part of our soul—Col. 2:19; Eph. 3:17a; 4:13; 5:18; 2 Tim. 1:7.

III. The Lord’s recovery is not a movement; the recovery is Christ Himself as the seed of life sown into our being—Matt. 13:3-4a, 19:

A. The kingdom of God is the Triune God in His incarnation sown into His chosen people to grow and develop in them into a kingdom—Mark 4:26-29.

B. The kingdom of God is produced by the multiplication of the seed—v. 26-29:

1. The sower sows the seed, the seed grows and multiplies, and eventually the multiplication of the seed becomes the constituent of the kingdom—Matt. 13:24.

2. The kingdom is not built by work but by the multiplication of the seed of life—v. 24.

C. The kingdom is the enlargement of Christ, the multiplication of Christ as the seed sown into us—Luke 17:20-21; 8:5-8.

IV. In 2 Peter 1:5-7 we have the development of the seed of the kingdom from faith to love:

A. Our faith needs to be exercised that the virtue of the divine life may be developed to reach its maturity—vv. 5-7.

B. Faith may be compared to a seed—1 Pet. 1:23; 2 Pet. 1:1:

1. In 1 Peter 1:23 the seed is the word with Christ in it as life.

2. In 2 Peter 1 this seed becomes our faith, which is “faith equally precious” (v. 1); this faith is one with Christ as the seed—v. 1.

C. The development from faith to love includes virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, and godliness—vv. 5-6.

D. Eventually, we have the full development and maturity from the seed of faith, through the roots of virtue and knowledge, the trunk of self-control, and the branches of endurance and godliness, to the blossom and fruit of brotherly love and love—vv. 5-7.

V. To be transformed is to be metabolically changed in our natural life, whereas to be matured is to be filled with the divine life that changes us—Heb. 6:1; 2 Cor. 3:18:

A. The last stage of transformation is maturity, the fullness of life—John 10:10b 2 Cor. 5:4b:

1. God’s eternal purpose can be accomplished only through our transformation and maturity—Gen. 1:26; Col. 1:28; 2:19; Eph. 4:13.

2. Maturity is a matter of having the divine life imparted into us again and again until we have the fullness of life—John 10:10b.

B. The fullness of life is blessing, which is the overflow of life into others—Gen. 47:7, 10; 49:28; 1 John 5:16.

C. God will sovereignly use persons, things, and events to empty us of everything that has filled us and to take away every preoccupation so that we may have an increased capacity to be filled with God—Rom. 8:28; Luke 1:53; Matt. 5:6.

VI. Fruit denotes both expression and multiplication; we need two kinds of fruit out of the divine life—the fruit of Christian virtues and the fruit of persons regenerated with the divine life—Gal. 5:22-23; John 15:16:

A. All these virtues in 2 Peter 1 are a kind of fruit; if we express these virtues day after day, this means that we are very fruitful—2 Pet. 1:8.

B. The fruit borne by the branches in John 15 denotes the saved persons regenerated with the divine life through the dispensing of the branches; this is proved by the requirement that the bearer of this fruit should “go forth”—v. 16b.

C. We need the fruit in these two categories to afford us a rich, bountiful entrance into the coming kingdom; if we are faithful to bear these two kinds of fruit in this age, we will enjoy the Lord as our reward in the coming kingdom age—2 Pet. 1:1, 4-11.

VII. The believers, who have been regenerated in Christ with God’s life, are God’s cultivated land, a farm in God’s new creation to grow Christ that precious materials may be produced for God’s building—1 Cor. 3:9:

A. According to the Bible, growth equals building; this takes place by the growth of the divine seed of life within us—1 John 3:9; Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16.

B. 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 illustrated by the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:

1. The seed is sown into the soil to grow with the nutrients of the soil; 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. 3:43.

2. The rate at which we grow in life depends not on the divine seed but on how many nutrients we afford this seed; the more nutrients we supply, the faster the seed will grow and the more it will flourish—Psa. 78:88; Matt. 5:3, 8:

a. 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 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.

b. 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—Matt. 13:3-9, 19-23.

3. 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.

 

Ministry Excerpts:

TODAY THE LORD’S RECOVERY BEING A RECOVERY
OF THE TRUTH AND OF LIFE

The Lord has not left us in darkness. Today all His truths are contained in the Bible, which He has given to us. We must realize that the Bible is a book of life. The reason the Bible is a book of life is that its entire content is truth. All experienced Christians confess that no one can enjoy Christ as life if he does not know the Bible or understand the truth in the Bible. We need to go to the supermarket to buy food for our physical body in order to be fed and sustained. In like manner, we must come to the Bible to receive the truth that is in it if we want to receive and enjoy the Lord as life. All the truths in the Bible are food for our spiritual life.

The Bible is not merely a book of knowledge. All the knowledge contained in the Bible is in fact truth, and in this truth, life is concealed. When we read the Bible, if we study only the letter but not the intrinsic truth within, we will not receive life. Hence, every Bible reader has to see the truth that is conveyed through the letter of the Word. Once we see the truth, we will spontaneously touch life. The Life-studies have been published to help us enter into the depths of the letter of the Word. Therefore, all those who carefully study the Life-studies will surely gain a certain amount of experience. The Life-studies bring us into the biblical truths, from which we may receive the genuine life supply.

Today the Lord’s recovery is a recovery of the truth and of life. We all know that the decline of Christianity is due to the fact that it has lost both the truth and life. This loss of the truth and life eventually produced many human methods and worldly organizations, which are not what the Lord wants. The Lord does not want any organization or human method. Instead, He wants His church to know Him as the truth and to receive and enjoy Him as life. The entire content of the church must be the growth of Christ in us as truth and life. This may be likened to an orchard, the entire content of which is the fruits of life produced from the fruit trees. In an orchard we cannot find any organization or behavior. We can only see the fruit trees growing and bearing fruit as the issue of their growth in life. This should be the situation of the churches in the Lord’s recovery today. In the churches we do not want to have any organization or human methods. Rather, we want to minister to God’s people for their growth by planting and watering as the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6 and 9.

Both the Truth and the Life Being the Lord Himself,
but They Being Two Different Aspects of What He Is

The Lord’s recovery is mainly founded upon four pillars: the truth, life, the church, and the gospel. The reason Christianity is degraded is that it has lost the truth and is short of life. The Bible tells us that the Lord Himself is the truth and the life. In John 14:6 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the way and the reality and the life.” In this verse the reality is the truth. Thus, the Lord said that He Himself is the life and the truth.

Both the truth and the life are the Lord Himself, but they are two different aspects of what He is. The difference is that the truth is an outward definition and explanation, and life is the inward and intrinsic content. The Lord is in us as our life, but the experience of life needs an explanation. This explanation is the truth. If we receive the Lord according to this explanation, we have life. Hence, in order to experience and enjoy the Lord as life, we must know the truth. The experience of the Lord as life is contained in the Lord as the truth. If we are not clear about the truth and do not understand or know the truth, we will have no way to enjoy the Lord as our life. For this reason we must spend an adequate amount of time to learn the truth. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 5, “Truth, Life, the Church, and the Gospel—the Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery”, msg. 6)

No One Truly Knowing the Lord without Knowing the Bible

To edify a person spiritually, we must help him to know the Bible. In the past two thousand years Christians all acknowledge that no one can truly know the Lord without knowing the Bible. We human beings are not merely a spirit. Although we have a spirit, we are not merely a spirit but a human being. If we were a spirit only, then God would need to give us only His Spirit and not the Bible; however, since we are not a spirit only, He must also give us the Bible.

The spiritual inheritances God has given us are the Spirit, which cannot be seen, and the Bible, which can be seen. Inside of us is the Spirit, and outside of us is the Bible. Christians throughout the ages can testify by experience that a proper Christian must be fully balanced in both respects—the Bible without and the Spirit within. These two aspects must be absolutely balanced. Any bias toward one side will result in serious problems. Among Christians throughout the ages, some have leaned toward the Spirit within, which has resulted in great errors. Still more lean toward the Bible without. Seemingly, they have not erred as much, yet among them there is a very serious condition of death. In other words, if there were only the Spirit within and not the Bible without, man would easily commit errors. Conversely, if there were only the Bible without while lacking the Spirit within, man would become extremely dead, altogether lifeless, and without any vitality.

Christians can be likened to a train. There needs to be the fuel inside as its energizing power. But a train needs to have tracks outside as well. If there is fuel within but no tracks without, the train would not be able to run. Even if it runs, problems will arise. However, if there are only the tracks without but not the fuel within, the train may be on the right track, but it cannot move. Therefore, for a train to run, and to do so smoothly, there must be the coordination of two aspects: the inner aspect and the outer aspect. Outwardly, there must be the regulation of the tracks; inwardly, there must be the energizing of the fuel. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 3, “On Knowing the Bible”, msg. 1)

THE GROWTH OF LIFE

Under normal circumstances a Christian will pursue the growth of life after being saved. Many Christians, however, have mistaken views and pursuits because they do not know what the growth of life truly is, even though they have paid a high price and are not lacking in love for the Lord. As a result, they are limited in their growth of life and are unable to follow a straight path.

Before pursuing the growth of life, we must first understand what the growth of life is and what are some of our mistaken concepts. The growth of life is definitely not improvement in behavior, the expression of piety, zealousness in service, an increase of knowledge, an abounding in gifts, or an increase of power; none of these are sufficient to indicate growth in life.

The more a person’s behavior improves, the more the self is strengthened. Similarly, expressions of piety cause the human element only to increase. The mere expression of piety will cause one to be strengthened rather than diminished. Hence, this is not the growth of life. Zeal in service, in the same way, causes an increase only in the human element. This is true concerning the increase of knowledge, the abounding in gifts, and the increase of power. All these things only increase the human element and cannot cause one to have the growth of life.

The growth of life depends on the increase of God and Christ within us—all other aspects should decrease. If we desire to grow in life, our gifts must be stripped by God, and our shell of godliness and piety must be knocked down and broken by God. Our knowledgeable mind, our gifts, and our power must be shattered by God so that the Holy Spirit will have a way to be released. The growth of life depends upon the increase of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit within us. Everything else must decrease.

Furthermore, the growth of life subdues every part of our soul. The more our soul is subdued, the more life grows, and the more our soul decreases, the more life increases. This is a certain fact. When we meet a saint, there is no need to measure what has been increased in him; rather, we should observe what has been decreased in him and whether he has been poured out and broken. If there is a decrease of himself, then God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit have surely gained ground in him and have increased in him. Only this is the real growth of life.

The real growth of life is not the improvement of behavior, the expression of piety, zealousness in service, an increase of knowledge, an abounding in gifts, or an increase of power. Rather, the real growth of life is the increase of the element of God, the increase of the measure of the stature of Christ, the expansion of the ground of the Holy Spirit, the decrease of the human element, the breaking of the natural life, and the subduing of every part of the soul. (CWWL, 1955, vol. 4, “Further Talks on the Knowledge of Life”, msg. 18)

THE LORD’S RECOVERY BEING NOT A MOVEMENT BUT CHRIST HIMSELF AS THE SEED OF LIFE SOWN INTO OUR BEING

Recently an opposer told a brother, “We are going to stop you.” He said that they were planning to stop the Lord’s recovery. If the opposers try to do this, they will find themselves in trouble. Do not touch anything of life, for the more you touch it, the more it multiplies. If you leave it alone, it may remain dormant. But if you touch it, it will grow. Suppose you say to some seed, “Seed, I shall stop you. I shall bury you in the earth.” How good that would be for the seed! But if you leave the seeds on a pedestal, appreciating them, looking at them, and treasuring them, that will be the most effective way to stop them. But if you try to terminate the seed by burying it in the earth, the seed will grow. The opposers simply do not know what the Lord’s recovery is. The Lord’s recovery is not work, teaching, or theology. It is a seed; it is the living Christ as a seed. I have the assurance to declare to the whole universe that the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit has been sown into thousands of Americans. Do not touch them. If you try to persecute them or bury them, the one grain will be multiplied into many more grains. Who can stop the Lord’s recovery? The seed has already been sown. The Lord came to the earth as a sower to sow Himself. Hallelujah, Jesus has been sown into humanity! The principle is the same in the Lord’s recovery today. The recovery as the seed of life has been sown in America, Europe, Brazil, and many other places. No one and nothing can stop it. The Lord’s recovery is not a movement. It is Christ Himself as the seed of life sown into our being. The sower is Christ, and the seed is also Christ, Christ in the word sown into us to make us the sons of the kingdom.

According to this parable and the Lord’s own interpretation of it, this seed is sown into our heart (v. 19). In the past we have pointed out that our heart is not the receiving organ, but the loving organ, and that our receiving organ is our spirit. We say this based upon Ezekiel 36, where God promises to give us a new spirit and a new heart, a new spirit to receive God and a new heart to love Him. Here the Lord Jesus does not mention anything about the spirit; but He does say that the heart is the place where the seed is sown. Nothing can enter our spirit without first passing through our heart. In 1 Peter 3:4 our spirit is called the inner man of our heart. This indicates that our spirit is surrounded by our heart. The three main sections of the heart are the mind, the emotion, and the will. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we had no awareness that we were exercising our spirit. But we did realize that we believed in Him with our heart. In other words, when we believed in Him, we opened our heart. The result, however, was that He came into our spirit. When we opened our heart to believe in Him, He came into our spirit. But our spirit is not the soil for growing Christ. The soil is our heart. This parable makes it perfectly clear that our heart is the soil, the earth, the very place where the seed is sown and where it grows. Therefore, in this parable the Lord does not deal with our spirit; He mainly touches our heart. (Life-study of Matthew, msg. 36)

The Kingdom of God Being God Himself Sown into Human Beings
and Developing in Them into a Kingdom

The crucial matter revealed in chapter four of the Gospel of Mark is the kingdom seed or kingdom gene. The kingdom of God is not produced by activity or organization. The kingdom of God is actually God Himself sown into human beings and developing in them into a kingdom.

We need to be impressed with the fact that the kingdom of God is not a matter of teaching, activity, or organization. On the contrary, the kingdom of God is the Triune God in His incarnation sown into His chosen people to grow and develop in them into a kingdom.

In this brief definition of the kingdom we have a statement of the intrinsic element of the entire teaching of the New Testament. What does the New Testament teach us? The New Testament teaches us that the Triune God has been incarnated in order to be sown into His chosen people and then develop within them into a kingdom. This is the intrinsic element of the New Testament teaching.

If we read the New Testament in this light, we shall see that the Triune God became a man. When this man, Jesus Christ, began to preach the gospel and teach the truth, He was sowing Himself into others. This means that His preaching of the gospel and His teaching of the truth were actually a sowing of Himself into those who heard Him. While He was preaching and teaching, He was sowing His word into His hearers. His word conveyed Himself into them. Hence, through His word He Himself as the God-man, the Triune God in humanity, was sown into His chosen people. Preaching and teaching were His way of sowing Himself as the seed of the kingdom. When God’s chosen people heard the word of this God-man and received it, they were actually receiving a wonderful Person, the One who is both the Triune God and a real man. This is what is recorded in the four Gospels. (Life-study of Mark, msg. 15)

The Kingdom of the Heavens Being Built by the Multiplication of the Seed

The good earth is the people according to the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. The constitution is a complete description of the good earth, of one who is poor in spirit and pure in heart, who has no worldly traffic within him, whose being is not hardened, who has no hidden rocks of temper, lust, self, and flesh concealed within him. All this corresponds to the requirements given in the constitution. Those who are the good earth have no thorns, no anxiety of life, and no deceitfulness of riches. Therefore, they become the good earth in which the seed can grow. This good earth is the people who live according to the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. In other words, their living exactly matches the constitution.

The kingdom of the heavens is built by the multiplication of the seed. The sower sows the seed, the seed grows and multiplies, and eventually the multiplication of the seed becomes the constituent of the kingdom. This reveals that the kingdom is not built by any kind of work, but that it is built by the multiplication of the seed sown by the sower. Christ came as the sower sowing Himself as the seed of life. This seed of life enters humanity to bring forth fruit, the sons of the kingdom. This is the multiplication of the seed. The kingdom is built by this multiplication. Therefore, the kingdom is the multiplication of the seed sown by the sower. The sower Himself is the seed, and the multiplication of the seed is the multiplication of the sower. Hence, the kingdom is built with the multiplication of Christ. The kingdom is the enlargement of Christ, the multiplication of Christ as the seed sown into us. If we see this, we shall know what kind of living we should have and in what kind of situation we should be so that we may participate in the kingdom. (Life-study of Matthew, msg. 37)

HAVING THE DEVELOPMENT FROM FAITH TO LOVE IN 2 PETER 1:5-7

In [2 Peter] 1:5-7 we have the development from faith to love. This development includes virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, and godliness. Eventually, we have the full development and maturity from the seed of faith, through the roots of virtue and knowledge, the trunk of self-control, and the branches of endurance and godliness, to the blossom and the fruit of brotherly love and love. (Life-study of 2 Peter, msg. 6)

In 2 Peter 1:5-11 we have the development of excellent virtues through the enjoyment of the divine nature for a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Second Peter 1:5 says, “And for this very reason also, adding all diligence, supply bountifully in your faith virtue, and in virtue knowledge.” The Greek word rendered “adding” literally means “bringing in besides.” Besides, along with, the precious and exceedingly great promises given to us by God, we should bring in all diligence to cooperate with the enabling of the dynamic divine nature for a rich entrance into the Lord’s kingdom through God’s fulfillment of His promises.

In verse 5 Peter urges us to supply bountifully in our faith virtue. What the divine power has given us in verses 3 and 4 is developed in verses 5 through 7. To supply virtue in faith is to develop virtue in the exercise of faith. The same principle applies to all the other items. The word “supply” in verse 5 actually means develop. Peter is telling us to develop what we already have. We have faith, and now in our faith we need to develop virtue.

This Faith Needing to Be Exercised That the Virtue of the Divine Life May Be Developed to Reach Its Maturity

The faith Peter mentions in 1:5 is the like precious faith allotted to us by God (v. 1) as the common portion of the New Testament blessing of life for the initiation of the Christian life. This faith needs to be exercised that the virtue of the divine life may be developed to reach its maturity.

Faith in 2 Peter 1 Being Compared to a Seed

Faith in 2 Peter 1 may be compared to a seed. In chapter one of 1 Peter the seed is the word with Christ in it as life. Here in 2 Peter 1 this seed becomes our faith, which is the like precious faith. This faith is one with Christ as the seed.

After a seed has been sown in the soil, it needs to be developed. The principle is the same with the development of the seed of faith. In our faith we need to develop virtue. Literally, the Greek word for virtue means excellency; it denotes the energy of the divine life issuing in vigorous action. If faith is regarded as a seed, virtue may be considered a root that comes out of this seed. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 157)

The Seed Being Sown in the Soil and Then Growing and Developing
Until It Blossoms and Bears Fruit

In verse 8 Peter goes on to say, “For these things, existing in you and abounding, constitute you neither idle nor unfruitful unto the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The words “these things” refer to all the virtues covered in verses 5 through 7, from faith to love. Faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly love, and love should all exist in us. Nevertheless, these are only some of the “all things” that have been granted to us by the divine power. We need to see that all these things are included in the seed. This seed contains the root, the trunk, the branches, the blossom, and the fruit.

The Greek word for “existing” is huparcho. It denotes the existence of certain things that belong to someone from the beginning and thus become his rightful possession to the present. This indicates that all the virtues mentioned in verses 5 through 7 are the possession of the believers and exist in them forever through their experience of partaking of the divine nature in all its riches.

Peter speaks of these virtues not only existing in us but also abounding. The divine virtues are not only existing in and possessed by the believers, but are also abounding and multiplying in them in the development and growth of the divine life. All the virtues already exist in the seed, and now they are waiting for the opportunity to abound. In order for the virtues in the seed to abound, the seed needs to be sown in the soil and then grow and develop until it blossoms and bears fruit. (Life-study of 2 Peter, msg. 6)

TRANSFORMATION BEING A METABOLIC CHANGE IN LIFE

Transformation is a metabolic change in life. Thus, transformation is not a matter of fullness; it is a matter of change. Plants do not require transformation, because they are simply plants. But we, the children of God, need transformation. Only through transformation can we reach maturity. We have a natural life, but this life is not good for God’s economy. Although our natural life does not need to be replaced, it does need to be metabolically changed. We must not only have an outward change in appearance, but also an inward change in nature. Although our human life is necessary for God’s economy, it should not remain a natural human life; it should be a human life that has been transformed in nature so that the divine life may be mingled with the transformed human life to become one. This is a deep matter.

At least two verses in the New Testament unveil the matter of transformation. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” The Greek word translated “transformed” in this verse also appears in 2 Corinthians 3:18. According to the Greek, this verse should be rendered, “And we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” The word “transformed” in these verses indicates that in our Christian life we need a metabolic change. We do not need outward correction and alteration; rather, we need an inward change in nature and in life.

The Time of Maturity Coming When This Change Reaches the Point of Fullness

This metabolic change begins with regeneration. When we were saved, we were not only justified and our sins forgiven; we were also regenerated. At regeneration a new life, the divine life, was put into our spirit. From the time of our regeneration, this life has been transforming our natural life. As the divine life changes our natural life, it imparts more and more of the divine life into our being. Therefore, transformation is the change of our natural life. When this change reaches the point of fullness, the time of maturity has come. To repeat, the last stage of transformation is maturity. Maturity is not a matter of our being changed; it is a matter of having the divine life imparted to us again and again until we have the fullness of life.

Let us now apply this matter to Jacob. Although Jacob underwent many changes between chapters twenty-five and thirty-seven, we do not see any further change in him after chapter thirty-seven. In chapter twenty-five Jacob was a supplanter, a heel-holder. As we read from chapter twenty-six to thirty-six, which covers a period of approximately twenty-five years, we see how Jacob changed. Everything that happened to him during these years was for his transformation. When in chapter thirty-seven Jacob lost his beloved son, Joseph, he was absolutely different from the person he was in chapter twenty-seven. In a spiritual sense, the Jacob in chapter twenty-seven had several hands to use in grasping whatever he wanted. He grasped what belonged to his father, to Esau, and, later on, to Laban. However, in chapter thirty-seven Jacob did not even use his own two hands. The Jacob in this chapter seems to have no skill or ability; instead, it seems that he is not able to do anything. This indicates that he has absolutely changed. From chapter thirty-seven until the end of this book, we do not see any further change in this man. In these chapters we see a person who has not only been changed; we see a person who is full of life. In chapter thirty-seven we see neither change nor the fullness of life. The change took place before this chapter, and the fullness of life was reached after it.

The Fullness of Life Being Blessing, Which Is the Overflow of Life

I would ask you to read chapters twenty-seven, thirty-seven, and forty-seven once again. In chapter twenty-seven we see a supplanter. He had many hands, he was able to do everything, and no one could defeat him. Whoever came in contact with Jacob—his father, his brother, or his uncle—was the loser. Jacob, on the contrary, always came out ahead. He made a gain from his brother, from his father, and from his uncle. He even made a gain from Rachel, Leah, and their two maids. However, at the time of Rachel’s death, Jacob began to suffer loss. But even this loss produced a gain, and that gain was Benjamin. In chapter thirty-seven Jacob underwent another loss, the loss of Joseph. In this chapter Jacob did not gain anything. From this point onward, Jacob lost one thing after another. Eventually, in chapter forty-seven, he gained the fullness of life. The fullness of life is blessing, which is the overflow of life. When you are filled past the brim with life, this life will overflow into others. This overflow is the blessing. Therefore, in chapter twenty-seven we see a supplanter; in chapter thirty-seven, a transformed man; and in chapter forty-seven, a mature person. Jacob’s transformation began at the time God came in to touch him (32:25), and it continued until chapter thirty-seven, when the process of transformation was relatively complete. However, in this chapter Jacob did not yet have maturity, the fullness of life. In order to gain this, he had to experience the dealings in the last stage, the dealings at Hebron.

Now we must consider how Jacob, a transformed person, could be filled with life. Human beings are vessels. However, unlike jars and bottles, we are not vessels without feeling, sense, or will. If you want to fill a bottle with a certain liquid, the bottle has no opinion or feeling about it. There is no need to have the consent of the bottle before we fill it. But it is difficult to put something in us living vessels because we are filled with opinions, desires, and intentions. Parents know how difficult it is to put medicine into their children. Likewise, it is not an easy matter for God to put His life into us.

Empty Vessel

Genesis 43:1 and 2 say, “And the famine was severe in the land. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food” (Heb.). At this point Judah reminded Jacob that in order to buy food again in Egypt, they had to take Benjamin with them. Thus, due to the severity of the famine, Jacob was forced to send his youngest son with his brothers to Egypt to buy grain (42:4, 36; 43:1-15). What a suffering this was to Jacob! God was emptying this jar, taking everything away from him. After Benjamin went with his brothers to Egypt, Jacob was left alone without any of his sons. Joseph had been taken away, Simeon had been detained in Egypt, and now all the others had also gone down to Egypt. Perhaps that night Jacob said, “What do I have left? All my twelve sons are gone, and I don’t know what will happen to them. On the first trip one of my sons was detained. I cannot say how many will be detained the second time.” Although this was a great suffering to Jacob, the main point here is not his suffering—it is the fact that he was being emptied out by God. God took away everything that had previously filled him, and now Jacob was completely empty. But, as we shall see, on the day Jacob received the good news about Joseph, he was completely filled with the fullness of life.

God had taken away Rachel, Joseph, Simeon, and finally all the remaining ten sons, including Benjamin. When Benjamin was with his brothers in Egypt being reconciled to Joseph, Joseph was very happy. Jacob, however, was at home alone, being emptied out by the Lord. Night after night Jacob probably had the deep sense that he was an empty vessel. Everything that had once filled him had been taken away. This was altogether sovereign of the Lord. The Lord was preparing him to be filled with the divine life. (Life-study of Genesis, msg. 93)

TWO KINDS OF FRUIT OUT OF THE DIVINE LIFE

The Fruit of Christian Virtues

All these virtues in 2 Peter 1 are a kind of fruit (v. 8). If we express these virtues day after day, this means that we are very fruitful. Day after day in our daily walk we should bear such fruit. Otherwise, people will not be able to see faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly love, or the divine love in us. Then we will be barren, unfruitful, in these virtues. If we live by taking Christ as our life, we will bear the fruit of Christian virtues day after day. The virtues in 2 Peter 1 are actually God’s attributes. God is faith, God is love, and God is all our Christian virtues. God’s attributes, or characteristics, become our supply in different aspects. When these divine attributes are expressed through us and by us in our daily walk, they become our virtues. These Christian virtues have been filled up with God’s attributes. The divine attributes expressed in our human virtues are the Christian virtues, which are the fruit in our character.

The Fruit of Saved Persons Regenerated with the Divine Life

If we are such fruit-bearing believers in the Christian virtues, the second category of fruit will be borne by us. This second category of fruit is mentioned in John 15. The Lord said that He is the vine tree, and we are the branches (v. 5). The branches of the vine tree do not bear the fruit merely of the Christian virtues. The fruit borne by the branches in John 15 denotes the saved persons regenerated with the divine life through the dispensing of the branches (v. 16b). This is proved by the requirement that the bearer of this fruit should “go forth” (v. 16a). To bear ethical and moral virtues as fruit does not require us to go forth. But to bear the fruit of persons regenerated through our dispensing of the divine life requires us to go forth to contact and reach people. We Christians should bear both the fruit of virtues and the fruit of regenerated persons.

Bearing Two Kinds of Fruit for a Rich Entrance into the Coming Kingdom

We all need to rise up to have a new start. We need to forget the past, look to the Lord, and tell Him, “Lord, I am here. I want to have a new start. I want to forget about everything in the past, even the past history of my Christian life and church life. Lord, I realize that You are the divine power within me, energizing me all day long. Lord, as the Spirit, You are my companion living with me. I want to live by You and to walk with You. I want to forget about everything related to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, involving matters of right or wrong and yes or no. I want to have a clean, purified, and absolutely new start with You.” We need such a divine beginning. In simplicity we should take Christ as our divine power, energizing us within, and take Him as the life-giving Spirit, the very companion with whom we should walk all day. Then we will bear the fruit of virtues, expressing the divine attributes to be empowered, energized, and qualified to speak Christ as the gospel to others. Our speaking will be powerful and weighty. Week after week we will see the fruit of solid persons added to the fruit of our virtues. We will bear not only the fruit of the attributes of God as our virtues but also the fruit of saved, solid persons added to our virtues. We will be full of fruit in two categories: the category of virtues and the category of solid persons. We need the fruit in these two categories to afford us a rich, bountiful entrance into the coming kingdom. Many students in a school graduate, but only a few graduate with a prize or a reward. If we are faithful to bear these two kinds of fruit in this age, we will have a new church life, and we will enjoy the Lord as our reward in the coming kingdom age. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, “Our Urgent Need—Spirit and Life”, ch. 3)

THE BELIEVERS BEING GOD’S CULTIVATED LAND TO GROW CHRIST SO THAT PRECIOUS MATERIALS MAY BE PRODUCED FOR GOD’S BUILDING

First Corinthians reveals that because the Corinthians pursued miraculous gifts, believing that the church could be built up by them, they did not grow in life but remained infants in Christ (3:1). Hence, in verse 6 Paul said to them, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.” Planting, watering, and causing the growth are all related to life. In verse 9 Paul continued, “You are God’s cultivated land, God’s building.” The believers who have been regenerated in Christ with God’s life are God’s cultivated land, a farm in God’s new creation to grow Christ so that precious materials may be produced for God’s building.

What causes us to grow in the divine life is not mainly the exercise of God’s power upon us but the impartation of His life into us. Consider the natural law that governs the growth of a seed. When we sow a seed into the ground, we do not expect a harvest the next morning. According to the law of the natural life, it takes time for a seed to grow. Similarly, we should not have a superstitious belief that if we pray and fast for God’s power to come upon us, we will grow overnight and suddenly reap a tremendous spiritual harvest. Instead, we should realize that in order for us to grow Christ as God’s cultivated land, we need to experience life. In order to have a proper spiritual harvest, we need to grow in life day by day.

God’s building is accomplished mainly by life. We should not hold on to a superstitious belief that if we fast and pray, we will receive power and have a large increase overnight. Rather, we should give Christ the adequate room to grow in us day by day. (CWWL, 1972, vol. 3, “Life and Building in the Bible”, ch. 2)

Divinity and Humanity

In building a house, it is necessary to have the proper material. When God created the universe, He did not use any material; He created simply by His speaking. For instance, He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. However, in order to build a home in us, Christ must have the material. On the one hand, this material is Christ Himself as the element; on the other hand, this material includes something from us with our humanity.

The Seed and the Soil with Its Nutrients

This is illustrated by the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. The seed is sown into the soil to grow with the nutrients in the soil. This seed, therefore, does not grow just with itself; it grows with itself and the nutrients in the soil. As a result, the produce is a composition of elements from both the seed and the soil. Here we see an important spiritual principle. In order to grow, the seed must be sown into good soil. If the seed were sown into sand or among stones, it would not grow, because neither sand nor stone can supply the necessary nutrients.

In Matthew 13 the seed is divinity, and the soil with its nutrients is humanity. 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. For this reason, human beings can believe in the Lord and receive Him. The seed that has been sown into us is Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. The rate at which the seed grows within us depends on the nutrients afforded by us. The more nutrients we supply, the faster the seed will grow and the more it will flourish.

According to the Bible, growth equals building. The Lord Jesus declared, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). This building takes place by the growth of the divine seed within us. The Triune God, the source of life, has sown Himself in Christ as a seed into our being. Once this seed comes into us, it meets something within us—our spiritual nutrients—and it begins to grow. The degree of growth depends not on the divine seed but on how many nutrients we afford this seed. Matthew 13 indicates that only the good soil (vv. 8, 23) affords the adequate nutrients for the growth of the divine seed.

The New Jerusalem—a Composition of Divinity and Humanity
Blended and Mingled Together as One Entity

The conclusion of the divine revelation in the Bible is a building, the New Jerusalem. This building is a blending and mingling of divinity with humanity. This is proved by the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21. Verse 3 refers to the New Jerusalem as “the tabernacle of God,” and verse 22 says, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” The New Jerusalem as the tabernacle of God is for God to dwell in, and God and the Lamb as the temple are for the redeemed saints to dwell in. This indicates that the New Jerusalem will be a mutual dwelling place for God and man. Furthermore, this building is a composition of human beings. The gates are pearls inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel (v. 12), and on the twelve foundations are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (v. 14). This indicates clearly that the New Jerusalem is a composition of the Triune God, who is the essence, center, and universality, and God’s redeemed people.

The New Jerusalem is a composition of divinity and humanity blended and mingled together as one entity. All the components have the same life, nature, and constitution and thus are a corporate person. This is a matter of God becoming man and man becoming God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. These two, God and man, man and God, are built up together by being blended and mingled together. This is the completion, the consummation, of God’s building. We all need to see this vision. (Life-study of Samuel, msg. 30)