Maturity is Being Enlarged in our Capacity by the Discipline of the Holy Spirit

The goal of Paul’s ministry was to present every man mature, full-grown in Christ for the one new man; we are in the process of being matured to arrive at maturity, the fullness of life, to have the enlargement of our capacity with the help of the discipline of the Holy Spirit.

As believers in Christ, we were born of God, and His life came into our spirit at the time of our regeneration. Day by day, as we enjoy the Lord, eat Him in the Word, drink Him as the Spirit, and breathe Him in, we should grow normally, properly, unto maturity.

Our daily life should be a life of normal growth in the divine life; just as we grow in the human life, so we need to grow in the divine life.

However, there are many hindrances in our being; there are many things in us that are eaters of the divine supply. Instead of growing normally, even growing daily, there are things in us that eat the growth in life and we do not grow properly. Oh Lord Jesus!

We eat the food, we enjoy the Lord, and we do not grow, for something in us eats up the spiritual nourishment. Oh Lord! One such big eater is our opinions.

We are all entitled to our opinions, and especially these days, everyone has an opinion and wants to express his opinion. But our opinions hinder the Lord’s growth in us.

Opinion is everything that comes out of us when we’re away from God, when we’re not one with Him. When a person is without God and away from God, he is the source of opinion, even the embodiment of opinion.

We can say that opinion is a serious disease in the church life; it is like a cancer, eating up our growth in the divine life and causing us not to grow in a normal way.

We need to go to the Lord concerning our opinions and open to Him, even to have a vision from Him concerning what our opinions are, so that we may take Him as the source in all things and grow in life in a normal way day by day.

Our opinions are different concepts and ideas, different ways of thinking. If we go to the Lord with our opinions, if we just open to Him concerning the opinions we have, we will be saved from damaging the church life, for we will not express our opinions but rather we will express Christ.

As we go on in the church life day b day, as we go to the meetings and fellowship with the saints, do we remain in our opinions or do we open to the Lord and to the fellowship with the saints?

How much are we genuinely enlightened and how much do we put ourselves aside when we speak something?

Do we allow the Lord to speak through us and do we speak from the Triune God as our source, or do we just express our opinions?

We may visit a certain locality and we may see things there that differ from where we come from, so we may express our opinions to do this and change that; though these things may seem good, they are our opinions.

When we express our opinions, we treasure them, we hold them dear, and we are one with them; eventually, we become the embodiment of opinion, and the Lord has no way to grow in us, for we express ourselves.

May we learn to not express our opinions but open to the Lord, enjoy Him as life and minister Christ to others as life for their growth in life unto maturity for the building up of the church as the bride of Christ.

Dispense Christ into others for their Growth unto Maturity to Present them Full-Grown in Christ

In Colossians 1:28-20 we see that the goal of Paul’s ministry was to present every man mature, even full-grown in Christ, for the one new man (Col. 3:10-11).

He did not just preach the gospel to raise up churches and increase the kingdom of God; more than that, Paul ministered Christ to the saints for their growth unto maturity.

What is the goal of our ministry? As we care for the new ones, as we minister Christ to the young ones, and as we cooperate with the Lord in coordination with the saints to shepherd others, what is our goal?

Do we just want them to get some doctrines and understand the deeper teachings of the Lord, or do we dispense Christ into them for their growth unto maturity?

Do we just want others to come to the meetings and share something of what they enjoyed of the Lord, or do we want to present them full-grown in Christ?

May the Lord deliver us from our own motives and goals as we serve the Lord and care for others; may we learn to minister Christ to them for their growth in life unto maturity day by day.

The Greek word rendered “full-grown” in Colossians 1:28 may also be translated “perfect”, “complete,” or “mature.”

We all have received the life of God at the time of our regeneration, but we need to grow day by day to mature unto perfection in this life.

Furthermore, we need to labour one with the Lord to shepherd the saints around us and minister Christ to them for their growth in life unto maturity.

The apostle Paul struggled and laboured on behalf of the saints, even struggling in prayer for them, that they would grow in life unto maturity (Col. 1:28; 4:12).

Not only Paul but also the apostles together with them struggled in prayer and laboured with the Lord and with the saints to bring the saints they care for before the Lord, water the seed of life in them, and help them grow unto maturity.

Paul’s ministry was to dispense Christ into others so that they would be perfect and complete by maturing in Christ unto full growth. Amen!

Our ministry is the same today. The goal of our serving the Lord and caring for others is not any outward thing, such as causing them to be better or coming to the meetings more, nor is it merely that they would open their homes and have home meetings in their homes.

Our goal is to help the saints grow in life unto maturity so that we may present them full-grown in Christ.

First, we need to grow; we need to deal with any hindrance to the growth of Christ’s life in us.

Then, we need to exercise our spirit and be one with the Lord to minister Christ to others so that we may present every man full-grown in Christ for the one new man.

In order for us to become the one new man, for the Lord to gain the church as the one new man, we need to struggle in prayer and minister Christ to the saints so that they may grow in life unto maturity.

May we pray for those around us, even struggle for them before the Lord, that they may grow unto maturity and we would be able to present them full-grown and mature in Christ.

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into us as the divine life to regenerate us. Grow in us more today. Grant us today’s portion of grace so that we may grow in life in a normal way. Amen, Lord, what we desire is to grow in a normal way to be the Lord’s overcoming saints who compose His bride! May we grow in life unto maturity a little more today. We open to You, Lord, and we come to You concerning the saints You put us with. Make us those who minister Christ to others for their growth in life unto maturity. Save us from having any other purpose or goal in our caring for others apart from dispensing Christ into them for their growth in life. Amen, Lord, may we be one with You to struggle in prayer on behalf of the saints until they are full-grown in Christ and mature before the Lord! May our ministry be to dispense Christ into others so that they would be perfect and complete by maturing in Christ unto full growth!

Maturity is Being Enlarged in our Capacity by the Discipline of the Holy Spirit

One good example of someone who went through a long process to not only be transformed but also mature is Jacob; Genesis 37-47 in particular shows us the process of Jacob’s maturity.

In Genesis 27 Jacob was a supplanter; in Genesis 37 Jacob was a transformed man; and at the end of chapter 47, he was a mature person.

Maturity is the fullness of life, the last stage of transformation. God’s eternal purpose can only be accomplished through our transformation and maturity (Gen. 1:26; Col. 1:28; 2:19).

Transformation causes a metabolic change to take place in our being; maturity in life fills us with the divine life.

Maturity in life is a matter of having the divine life imparted into us again and again until we have the fullness of life (John 10:10).

Many times, however, our capacity to receive and be filled with the divine life is quite small, so the Lord is working to enlarge our capacity. Maturity is a matter of the enlargement of our capacity (Psa. 4:1).

We are quite narrow and short, and we do not really want to open to the Lord to be filled with Him; when we open to Him, we receive only a little bit of Him, so He has to work in us and around us to increase our capacity.

One major work of God toward us through the Holy Spirit is His outward discipline. The discipline of the Spirit experienced by us causes us to grow in life unto maturity and have the enlargement of our capacity.

Romans 8 shows us this matter quite clearly. On the positive side, the Holy Spirit is the anointing, leading us in all things and having the law of the Spirit of life to free us from sin and death (Rom. 8:2).

How wonderful it is to exercise our spirit, touch the Lord, and be freed from the power of sin and death, for the law of the Spirit of life operates in us! Even more, as we walk by the Spirit, we put to death the practices of the body (v. 4).

The Spirit guides us and leads us so that we may live according to Him, and He also helps us in our weaknesses. He is the wonderful Spirit in us as the anointing, leading us, guiding us, and infusing more of God into us.

All the activities of the Spirit are the anointing, which is very positive.

Romans 8:28, however, speaks concerning all things, which work together for good for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose. This refers to the discipline of the Holy Spirit in our outward environment.

On the one hand, the Holy Spirit operates in us and leads us, anoints us, adds more God to our being, and delivers us from anything negative. On the other hand, the Spirit works in our environment by means of all things to discipline us.

The discipline of the Holy Spirit outside of us coordinates with His inward moving and leading to cause us to grow in life unto maturity and have the enlargement of our capacity for us to have the fullness of life.

Many times we go through difficult things, unpleasant things, and painful situations, and in the midst of all these things, the Holy Spirit operates through His discipline to cause us to be a little more open to the Lord and to have an increased capacity to be filled with God.

We need to realise that, although many times we suffer pain by the discipline of the Holy Spirit, all things work together for good, for we are being conformed to the image of Christ, the firstborn Son of God (v. 29). Praise the Lord!

If we obey the Lord’s anointing, if we follow the leading of the Spirit as the anointing within us, God’s will is accomplished and HIs attributes are increased within us.

The inward anointing in this case is sufficient for us, for we are obedient, and the Lord can enlarge our capacity for us to be brought to maturity.

But so many times we disobey the Lord’s inner anointing and do not listen to His leading within us.

We are stubborn, we rebel time after time, and we do not obey the inner anointing; therefore, the Holy Spirit is compelled to raise up an environment to chasten and discipline us, thereby causing us to submit.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit within us is a sweet act of God’s love toward us and is His original desire. He wants to be so sweet, dear, and near to us, and He imparts Himself into us all the time.

However, if we do not obey the inner anointing, the Lord will operate through the discipline of the Holy Spirit as an act of God’s hand, which He is compelled to perform.

The result is the enlargement of our capacity so that we may be brought to maturity and have the fullness of life.

May we never seek to escape God’s arrangement, not even one time, for this will cause us to lose an opportunity to have our capacity enlarged.

As we pass through sufferings, may we learn to open to the Lord so that our capacity to receive and enjoy God may be increased.

What others may see in us is maturity in life, but what they don’t see is the accumulated discipline of the Holy Spirit we receive day by day throughout the years (Heb. 12:10).

Many situations, circumstances, persons, things, and situations are used by the Lord to enlarge our capacity to receive more of God; this is the discipline of the Holy Spirit.

He wants to renew and change our views, thoughts, opinions, preferences, choices, ideas, and decisions, for He wants to fill every part of our being with His life.

May we learn to open to the Lord day by day and allow Him to increase our capacity to receive and enjoy God so that we may arrive at maturity, the fullness of life!

Lord Jesus, we love You and we open to You. We want to follow the inner anointing and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit within us. Amen, Lord, move in us, operate in us, and lead us in all things. Add more of God to our being. May God’s attributes fill our virtues. Increase our capacity to receive God and enjoy God, even to express God. Oh Lord, we love You and we just open our whole being to You! Have Your way in our being by Your anointing and around us by the discipline of the Holy Spirit to bring us on to maturity for the enlargement of our capacity to have the fullness of life! May we open to Your sweet act of love toward us by Your anointing. May we not try to escape the discipline of the Holy Spirit through our environment. Oh Lord, have Your way to enlarge our capacity for us to be filled with the divine life to the uttermost! May there be an accumulation of the discipline of the Holy Spirit in us secretly leading to our growth unto maturity for the increase of our capacity to be filled with God as life!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brother Ray Mulligan in this conference, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953, vol. 3, “The Experience of Life,” pp. 429-430, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Maturity of the Bride (2025 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 3, The Building of the Bride – day 4.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – God’s dispensing, a portion from, Messages to the Trainees in Fall 1990, Chapter 19, by Witness Lee.
  – Being Safeguarded by the Discernment in the Body, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Being matured – the process of maturity (2), a portion from, Life-Study of Genesis, Chapter 93.
  – Is Your Spiritual Eating Advancing? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Transformation being a metabolic process, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, Chapter 26, by Witness Lee.
  – Christ Growing in Our Heart (2): Growth in Life in Genesis 1, via, Living to Him.
  – The need of maturity, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 39, by Witness Lee.
  – Colossians (Program #13) – Presenting Every Man Full-Grown In Christ, via, Bible study radio.
  – The goal of our growth by regulation, a portion from, Opening Word to the Full-Time Trainees Concerning Regulations and Opinions, An, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – Onward to Maturity for New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Usefulness and capacity, a portion from, The Experience and Growth in Life, Chapter 23, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Thy anointing Spirit / Me shall permeate, / All my soul and spirit / Thou wouldst saturate; / Every part transforming / Till conformed to Thee, / Till Thy life shall bring me / To maturity. (Hymns #841 stanza 3)
  – Minding just the spirit, we the cross will know, / And His resurrection pow’r thru us will flow; / Minding just the spirit, Christ will live thru me, / And His life within will reach maturity. (Hymns #593 stanza 6)
  – Time is short, oh, brothers, hear it, / Christ is longing for His Bride. / We can hasten His returning / Simply by the growth in life. / No more struggling, no more striving, / Simply turn to Christ within. / See the seed begin to blossom. / Growing fully into Him. (Hymns #1299 stanza 4)