After growing up into Christ, the Head, in all things, we will surely remain in the Head. Then, out from the Head, Christ, all the Body will cause its growth (Eph. 4:16).
Suppose that during the day we all live loosely, telling stories to one another. We all need to realize that this kind of storytelling brings death to us. In the evening when the time of meeting comes, we all will come and sit down in a deadened condition. If everyone is dead, the meeting also will be a dead meeting. There will be no singing, praising, or giving of thanks, because all were killed during the day. But suppose there is no such storytelling and no gossiping, reasoning, or debating in the church. This situation will keep everyone in a living condition with praising and singing to the Lord. Then when we come to the meeting, the meeting will be uplifted, high, full of the Spirit, full of singing, and full of Amens.
Because all the attendants in the meeting are deadened, sometimes it is difficult for the speakers to begin the meeting. The deadening atmosphere is in the meeting because the church has been deadened. Yet many do not have any consciousness of the deadness. They do not feel that they have done anything wrong, yet they have been so free to expose others. This might be the reason that we have been in one city meeting regularly week by week for ten years and yet have very little building. We need to hold to truth and allow no vanity to come out of our mouths (Eph. 4:29). Then we will maintain a living atmosphere, and whenever we come together, we will be very living, organic, full of praises, full of thanks, and full of prayers. Everyone will be able to pray and everyone will be able to open his mouth.
If we are living, when we open our mouth, our prayer also becomes living. But if we are deadened, even though we may struggle to pray, "Lord, I thank You. Lord, You are so good," there is still nothing but deadening. Even our prayer is deadening. This kind of deadening affects the ministers of the word. Eventually, the church is annulled. The reality of the church is taken away by our looseness, carelessness, and vanity in different matters. As a result, we do not have the growth, and without growth, building is impossible. The building up of the Body of Christ should not be merely a term on our lips; it should be something carried out in our daily life that builds up. That is building up by growth, and that is to grow up for the building up.
Be assured that when we live in the way of holding to truth in love, God will always be added into our being. Colossians 2:19 says that the Body "grows with the growth of God." In Himself God does not need to grow; He is altogether complete and perfect. But in us, He needs to grow. The measure of Christ in us is too short, and the quantity of Christ is too little. We need more Christ. We need God to be increased within us. We grow with this kind of growth.
The building up of the Body of Christ is by the Body's growth. We all need to grow that the Body may be built up. If we grow, the Body grows, and the Body grows for its building up.