IV. TO GROW CHRIST IN THE GOOD EARTH
OF THE HUMAN HEART FOR HIS MULTIPLICATION
TO BE THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH
TO FULFILL GOD’S ETERNAL ECONOMY
Christ has sown Himself into our heart as the growing earth to grow Christ. When I was young, I was taught that I must learn the Bible doctrines and teachings, but no one ever told me that I must grow Christ. I would like to impress you all with this and encourage you to remember just one thing: Now that Christ is in you, you must grow Christ. What do you do every day? Growing Christ must be your main job.
Christ grows in the good earth (Matt. 13:8, 23). What is the good earth? The good earth is a good heart that is pure, simple to God, and also absolute for Him. It is in this good heart as the good earth that Christ grows. If on the one hand you love Christ and, on the other hand, you love many things besides Him, your heart is not single, pure, and absolute. Such a heart is not a good heart, and such a heart cannot grow Christ. Perhaps you have stones in your heart, or thorns and thistles. All these things compete with Christ. They are in rivalry with Christ. Such a heart cannot grow Christ. All of us need to purify our heart, simplify our heart, and deal with our heart so that it would be absolute toward Him. Then our heart will be the good earth for growing Christ.
This growing of Christ is for Christ’s multiplication. The Lord Jesus told us that He was the one grain of wheat (John 12:24). If He had not fallen into the earth to die, He would have remained one grain. But He fell into the earth and died, and He brought forth many grains. These many grains are His multiplication. Two thousand years ago there was only one Jesus in Palestine, but today on this earth there are millions of "Jesuses." Jesus has been multiplied.
His multiplication is for the constitution of the church in order to fulfill God’s eternal economy. God has a big project, which is called His eternal economy (Eph. 3:8-10). His eternal economy is just to sow Christ into many human beings through you and me. So today we all have to be sowers. Through us more grains will come out. This is the multiplication for the constitution of the Body of Christ, which is the church.
(The Constitution and the Building Up of the Body of Christ, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)
