1Cor 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. Mark 4:3 Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed... 20 And these are the ones sown on the good earth: those who hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, one thirtyfold, and one sixtyfold, and one a hundredfold. Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 Meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
[Part 2 of 2] Planted, watered, and made to grow (v. 6) are all related to the matter of life. This indicates that the believers are God's farm to grow Christ. As plants on God's farm, the church, we need to grow. Without growth, we are useless. There are many believers today who are alive spiritually, but they do not grow. Of course, it is better to live than to die. As long as we are alive, we have the opportunity to grow. We all must grow to produce Christ. We should pray, "Lord, grant me the growth." The purpose of our growth on God's farm is to produce Christ. Just as it is the goal of a vineyard to produce grapes, it is the goal of God's farm to produce Christ. As a help in growing Christ, we need to consider chapters one and two again and again. If you read and pray-read these chapters, you will be watered and nourished. The very element and substance of Christ will be imparted into your being. Then spontaneously you will grow and produce Christ. The issue of your growth will be Christ. When we grow properly, Christ will be produced in us. Then whatever we grow of Christ will become the materials for God's building. The church is built only with Christ. However, the church is not built with the objective Christ, with a Christ who is in the heavens or who suddenly descends from the heavens. On the contrary, the church is built with the Christ we experience and who is even the produce grown by us. Thus, for the building of the church, we must have the Christ who is produced through our growth in life. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 198-199. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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