TRANSFORMATION MAKING US QUALIFIED FOR THE BUILDING
If we have the infilling in our spirit, we surely will have the outflow into our mind. This outflow will saturate our mind and emotion. This is not correction from without but saturation from within. This is the real change, a change in nature, a change in disposition, and this is the proper, subjective sanctification. Originally our mind, emotion, and will were muddy, but now our mind is becoming gold, our emotion is becoming pearl, and our will is becoming precious stone. By this we are qualified, we are just right, for the building.
Here in this country in the past few years, by God’s mercy we have seen the gold, the pearls, and the precious stones. Many who have visited the church in Los Angeles have testified that the most striking, inspiring, and convincing point there is the eating of Christ. Sometimes several hundred people meet together, but no hint of differing opinions can be found among them. The oneness is there because the muddy mind has been swallowed up by the presence of Jesus, the terrible emotion has been transformed by the element of Christ, and the stubborn will also has been transformed. This is just right for the building. For the church in your locality to be thoroughly built up, all the dear ones must pay their full attention to the eating of Christ. Do not care for mere teachings. Rather, eat Christ, call on the Lord, breathe Him in, and eat the Word by pray-reading. If we do this, we will have the real gifts. Some people ask us if we have the gifts in our meeting. Actually, there are many gifts in the meeting. We all have to realize that the main thing that we need to build up a local church is to take Jesus as our life—to eat Him, to drink of Him, and to breathe Him in. Then all the pieces of clay will be transformed.
THE OPERATION OF THE TRIUNE GOD FOR OUR TRANSFORMATION
In Genesis 2 there are three kinds of precious materials, which match the three of the Triune God. Gold refers to the divine nature of the Father. The more we call on the Lord Jesus and enjoy Christ, the more gold we have. This means that we participate in the divine nature. The more we enjoy Christ, the more of the divine nature we have. Pearls refer to Christ with His redemptive work on the cross. A pearl comes out of an oyster. When a grain of sand wounds the oyster and remains in the wound, the oyster secretes its life-juice around the grain of sand. In this way the grain of sand becomes a pearl. Christ is the living oyster who came into the death water, and we are the grains of sand who wounded Him. As we remain in the church, His life-juice continually secretes over us to make us into precious pearls. The more we enjoy Christ, the more we stay with Him, the more we enjoy the secretion of His life-juice. Precious stones are not created but are produced by the transforming of things already created. This refers to the work of the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit burns us and presses us, we, the created matter, become precious stones. Gold, pearls, and precious stones denote the working of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This operation makes us fit for the building of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, we all need such a transformation. It is not teachings that build up the church. Neither are the gifts adequate to build up the Body. Rather, it is the transforming life of the living Christ. Let us all turn ourselves to the living Christ. Turn to Christ from teachings. Turn to Christ from the gifts. We must never take the Bible as a book of theology or a book of knowledge. We must take it as a book of life, as the embodiment of the living Christ, as the Spirit. In this way we enjoy Christ, and we eat Him, drink Him, and breathe Him in. If we do this, we will have the transformation.
Those who are trying to do a work merely by teaching others will get nothing. Whatever they do will be in vain. We all have to minister Christ to others. We may use teachings as the means, but we do not minister teachings to others. We minister Christ to others by helping them to eat Christ in the teachings. Likewise, do not help people to have the gifts. Gifts help people, but what people need is not the gifts but Christ. Learn to enjoy Christ. Learn to experience Christ. Learn to participate in Christ. Then learn to minister the Christ whom you have experienced to others. This will not only cause people to be regenerated in their spirit, but also will cause them to be transformed in their soul. It by this transformation that people will be ready for the building. Praise the Lord, the local churches are built up in this way.
(Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
