The Riches and Fullness of Christ and the Advanced Recovery of the Lord Today, by Witness Lee

EVERYONE NEEDING JESUS CHRIST

We all know that it is not easy to be a human being. Some young people want to commit suicide at the age of eighteen or nineteen because they consider it too difficult to be a human being. All parents love their children, but this love sometimes becomes a bothering to the children. In the same way, although children are precious to the parents, many times they cause their parents to suffer beyond measure. It is not easy to be a parent or a child. It is likewise not easy to be a husband or a wife. It is not easy to be an employer, an employee, a teacher, a student, or to be in any other profession. This is why we all need Jesus. Only Jesus is qualified to be a human being. Without the Lord Jesus, we are not qualified to be a father or a mother. We are not qualified to be any kind of person. We may even want to commit suicide. Only when Jesus comes into us will we not have any thought of committing suicide. Jesus is too rich. When He enters into you, your enjoyment of Him is beyond description. He can satisfy all the needs of our human life.

His person, nature, experience, work, accomplishments, and attainments are all excellent beyond comparison. He is such a One. He is all-inclusive; hence, He is excellent beyond comparison. The water that we drink is precious because, on the one hand, it is rich in its constituents, and, on the other hand, these constituents are what the human body needs. Whether or not we understand it, as long as we drink in the water, it will function within us and will meet our need to satisfy our thirst. This is the way with our human life. As soon as Jesus comes in, we feel wonderful. We cannot explain it. Without Jesus, we are just a mess. This is something beyond human explanation. Hence, everyone needs Jesus. Only God can meet and solve all the needs within man. In our human life, we all need this all-inclusive and limitless Christ. In Him are unspeakable human riches and divine riches as well. He can save us to the uttermost.

THE CHRIST WHO IS THE BREADTH, THE LENGTH, THE HEIGHT, AND THE DEPTH SATISFYING ALL THE NEEDS OF THE HUMAN LIFE

For example, a young person has believed in the Lord and is saved. Before his salvation, he was very unreasonable and unruly. No one could deal with him. Whether it was the school, the police, the court, or his parents, no one could lay their hands on him. One day, this young man believed in Jesus in a wonderful way. In three to five days, his whole person had a wonderful change. The Jesus that he had received began to exercise a regulating function in him, and all his peculiar conduct was changed.

After a while, he discovers that he still has some peculiarities in his disposition and temperament. He still hates others and envies others. He feels that since he has become a Christian, he should not be like this any longer. He tries his best to improve himself, but the result is that his temper becomes worse. The more he tries to improve, the more he envies others. The reason for this is that he is striving by himself, and it is difficult for him to see any improvement. This is often our experience. The more we pursue the Lord, the more we feel that we are not right. For this reason, when we love the Lord and pursue after Him, we have to remember to drop our self and give up our self. No matter how peculiar, quick-tempered, or proud we are, we have to forget about these things to touch the Lord. When we contact the Lord with our spirit, we should not ask the Lord to do so many things for us; rather, we should touch the Lord Himself. This is like connecting the electricity to our homes; we do not need to pray for electricity to give light and heat. All we do is link up with the electric source and allow the electric current to flow. Electricity will then be transmitted to us, and every electric appliance will be able to operate and to function. Hence, we must continually touch the Lord in our spirit. He will kill our temper and pride, and He will swallow up our envying. In the end, we will be saved.

Finally, the riches in the Lord’s divinity and the power in His humanity will become our humanity. In this way, the limitless Christ will be in us to meet all our needs and to enable us to do all things. This is like what Paul said: “I can do all things in Him who empowers me’’ (Phil. 4:13). In the book of 1 Corinthians, he told us that he was made an uncommon person not because of himself, but because of the grace of God that was with him (1 Cor. 15:10). Paul was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insulting, destructive person (1 Tim. 1:13). After he touched Christ, Christ was in him, and he became an uncommon person.

Furthermore, Paul said that the riches of Christ that he enjoyed are unsearchable. In the end, he spoke of the “excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord’’ (Phil. 3:8). The riches of Christ are unsearchable; He is both high and deep, and His measure is the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth of the universe (Eph. 3:8). We need to spend all the days of our life to experience His riches.

(The Riches and Fullness of Christ and the Advanced Recovery of the Lord Today, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)