LIVE CHRIST! GROW CHRIST! PRODUCE CHRIST!
By His mercy and grace I would like to share with you how to live Christ, grow Christ, and produce Christ. In verse 7 the Lord says, “If My words abide in you,” and in verse 26 He says, “I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of reality.” Right in John 15 are mentioned the two matters of the Word and the Spirit. According to my experience, there is no other way to live, grow, and produce Christ, except by receiving the Word and by touching the Spirit. These are our direct means.
THE VALUE OF THE NAME
Besides the Word and the Spirit we have two other provisions. One is His name. When you come to touch the Lord and to touch His Word, you should realize that your condition is not what it should be. In yourself you are off; it is only in His name that you are in. If you will say, “O Lord, I am before You in Your name,” you will sense right away that you are no longer off. You cannot come in anything you are; you cannot come in anything you do. It is in His name alone that you are accepted.
THE VALUE OF THE BLOOD
When you come to the Lord with a sincere desire to live Him, grow Him, and produce Him, the light is there. You will sense not only that you are off, but even that you are sinful in many things. You may say to others that everything is all right, but there will be a question within, “Are you sure you are all right? Your present condition is not all right. It is too loose. You are too light. You are too much in the self and in the natural man. You are too much in your lusts. You are sinful.” If you think you are all right, then you are in darkness. No one who is in the light would think he is all right.
Why is it that whenever anyone comes to God he needs an offering? It is because while we are walking on this earth, we are contaminated with the natural things. Because we are still living in our natural man, in the flesh, whenever we come to God we need the trespass offering or the sin offering (see Lev. 4 and 5). Without the shedding of the blood we could not come into the presence of God. No one who is in the light would dare to say that there is nothing wrong with him. Without the light you may think that you are clean. But when you come under the light, you will see how dirty you are, and that you need a thorough cleansing.
We need the blood. This is the other provision God has made for us. In ourselves we cannot come to God. We need both the name and the cleansing blood. When we come, we say, “Lord, I come to You not in myself but in Your name. I come under the blood and with the blood. I take the cleansing of Your redeeming blood.” This will clear the way for us to receive the Word and touch the Spirit.
HOW TO TAKE IN THE WORD
You must spend time in the Word regularly. You can no more neglect the Word than you can your regular meals. Before you leave for work in the morning, you must spare at least ten minutes for reading the Word. Build up this habit in a legal, strict way. You will see what a difference it makes in your life.
When you get home from work, again you must get into the Word. First take a short nap, then kneel down, open the Word, and begin to read, pray-read, study, and search for half an hour or so. Do not say you are too busy. You are not too busy to talk on the phone! Leave the yard work for another time. This is your time to be watered and pruned!
(Life Messages, Vol. 1 (#1-41), Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
