One who is truly in God’s hand is one who has gone through hardships, sufferings, and has scars. We can say that this person is full of openings. In such a person God has been doing a tearing-down work. The result of the tearing down is building. The material that God uses for the building is God Himself, which is Christ Himself. A person in whom God has been building is full of life within and without. This is the first content of the fullness. When we touch this person, we receive life. His speaking is neither doctrine nor empty words but the supply of life. He only needs to speak a few words, and in these words, there is life and there is Christ. This is the coming out of the fullness, because he has passed through God’s building. The element of the fullness of Christ as the material has been built into him and comes out from him. This is the expression of the fullness.
Anyone who has been built by God in this way supplies us with life whenever we touch him; however, the ability to supply life does not come out of his natural ability. Those who supply life to others have been built by God. The extent to which we allow God to build in us determines how much life we can supply to others. This cannot be learned through imitation. Even praying before God for three days and three nights will not avail.
Everyone who supplies life has been built by God, but God’s building is through tearing down. The amount of tearing down that we allow God to do in us determines how much God is able to build in us; it also determines how much we can supply to people. Whether we are giving a message, giving a testimony, praying, conversing, or visiting people, life will flow out from us and supply people if we are built. This is a sign of the fullness, and this proves that the element of the fullness has been built into us.
In the last chapter we saw that the first content of the fullness is life. A person who has been built by God with the element of the fullness is able to give life to people at any time. The second content of the fullness is resurrection. This life has passed through death, is able to withstand death, and cannot be destroyed, hindered, held, or bound by death. Often, when we contact a saint, he supplies us not only with life but also with resurrection. We may be in a difficult situation, having been knocked down, or we may be in a situation of death to the extent that we despair even of living. At the point where we cannot get up and break through, we may meet a saint. As we contact and fellowship with him, we sense a power being transmitted into us, a supply entering into us that causes us to rise up to break through the realm of death. This is resurrection, the power of resurrection, and the supply of resurrection. The content of the fullness is in the One who supplies us. This fullness cannot be acquired through learning, study, or even prayer. The fullness can be acquired only by our allowing God to tear us down and build us up. If God is building the fullness into us, when people meet us, what they need will come out of us. If they need life, it will come out of us. If they need resurrection, it will come out of us.
The fullness also has a third content, which is light. Sometimes in contacting a brother, we sense that he is full of light, and even we ourselves are full of light when with him. It may also seem that when we leave him, we are in darkness, but as soon as we are with him, we are in the light. He can be compared to a shining lamp. When we are in his presence, we are in the light. When we leave him, we are in darkness. This person is full of light because in him there is the building of God. God has torn him down, and God has also built Himself into him. God is light and Christ is also light (1 John 1:5; John 8:12), and the fullness is a great light. This light has been built into this person and has become the element within him. Therefore, God’s light is in his thoughts, his emotions, and even in his preferences and opinions. This light is the content of the fullness.
This is not an empty doctrine. We are speaking in great detail so that everyone can see the Body of Christ and its condition. It is useless for us to merely shout, “The church is the Body of Christ!” The mere utterance of these words will not cause us to come out of darkness and be full of light. No, if we do not have light, when people contact us, we will still not have light; if we are not bright, when people contact us, we will still not be bright. This is because we have not been built by God, and the element of fullness has not been built into us. If God’s tearing-down work is not in us, there is also no building of God, no fullness, and no light.
The fourth content of the fullness is the way. If there is the fullness, there is the way. If there is no way within us, we do not have the building. If we have the building, we will have the way. To have the building in us means that we have nothing except God Himself built into us. We need to know that it is one thing to be saved and have God in us, but it is another matter to be built by God and to have God built into every part of our being. We can sense God’s presence in the thoughts of some older saints. We can sense God is with them in their preferences, and even their opinions cause us to sense that God is with them. This is because for many years the fullness has been built into them. God has torn them down, dealt with them, broken them, and wrecked them. God has also gradually “beaten” Himself into them.
Those who have learned this lesson know that sometimes God will not let go of even a little thought or a slight preference of ours. In order to show mercy to a person and to establish him, God cannot let go of any of his preferences. God will be very strict with him. Only those whom God lets go of are loose. Those who are truly in God’s hand are restricted every day. We should prepare to be disciplined whenever we have a thought that does not have God in it. Whenever we have a preference in which the Lord has no ground, we should beware of encountering difficulties. When God’s hand comes in, it strikes us, tears us down, and destroys us so that He can bring many natural elements within us into death. Then God will come in to build. God does not build with anything other than Himself, and He builds Himself into us little by little.
What is spiritual progress? Spiritual progress is the increase of the element of God within us. This increase is not simply growth; it is building. When we speak of growth, we are all happy. Growth is natural, and regardless of how much we grow, we grow unconsciously. However, we are aware of every step in the process of building because every step is painful. Spiritual progress is building, and without building there is no progress. With the Body of Christ, it is a matter of progress and growth; with the house of God, it is a matter of building. Actually, the two are one; the growth is the building. Without building, there is no growth. Every step of the building goes through fire and tearing down. In this way God is gradually wrought into us, and there is the fullness within us. The expression of the fullness is nothing other than God being built into us gradually.
The building of God takes Christ as the material so that man is inwardly filled with His element. At this point even if a man falls, the element within him will not be lost. A brother may say that two months ago he was doing very well. His prayer had the Lord’s presence, his preaching was with power, and his fellowship with others was fresh and full of Christ. However, after being touched by an elder, he may be stumbled. As a result, he has a difficult time praying, and when he does pray, there seemingly is no power. He is also unable to give messages. This is because he was stumbled. If anything can be lost in this way, it is something that has not been built up. Whatever has been built up by God has been constituted into us and mingled with us. We cannot lose God’s constitution. The more we fall, the more secure and full it becomes, because it is of resurrection and is able to withstand falling. However, anything that is outward will be lost as soon as we fall. Thus, if something cannot stand firm when it is touched, it has not been built up.
There was a certain brother who liked to imitate others in prayer. He imitated the accent, the wording, and even the lively tone. However, after being touched by an elder, he sat at the back of the Lord’s table meeting, and his voice could not be heard. When asked why he was no longer praying, he said that he was disheartened. He was disheartened because he had been dealt with by an elder. This shows that what was in him was not built by God. Whatever is built by God cannot be lost no matter how much it is touched; instead, the more it is touched, the more secure, fresh, living, and abundant it is, because it is of resurrection.
If a grain of wheat or a flower seed does not pass through death, it remains the same. Once it is put into death, it is given the opportunity to manifest the fullness within by growing more grain or pretty flowers. If we are untouched by the elders, we will remain the same. The more we are touched, the more abundant and full we become. The more difficulties we have, the stronger we become. The more we are dealt with, the more abundant we will be. This is the fullness. This is Christ being built into us. The element of the fullness that has been built into a person cannot be shaken by the environment.