Search
Scripture Reading: Eph. 5:26-27, 29
Ephesians 5:26-27 says, “That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.” The washing of the water in the word is a crucial matter for the church life. In order to have a proper church life, we need the washing of the water in the word.
The washing of the water in the word is different from the washing of the blood of Christ. The washing of the blood of Christ deals with our sins (1 John 1:7), but the washing of the water in the word deals with our spots and wrinkles. Spots are defects that come from wounds or from the natural life we received by birth; wrinkles come from oldness. When a church is young, it may not have any wounds or oldness. However, as the church goes on, it may become older, causing it to have wrinkles. The church also may be hurt by an event or certain persons. As a result, the church will have some spots. To wash away the spots and wrinkles, the church needs the washing of the water in the word.
The washing of the water in the word is not an outward washing but an inward washing. If we become dirty outwardly, we can easily wash off the dirt. However, wrinkles cannot be washed away outwardly, even with the strongest soap. To wash away wrinkles, we need to be renewed inwardly. Inward renewing requires metabolism, which comes mainly from eating and drinking. When we eat nourishing food, we have a healthy metabolism, and our oldness is washed away. However, if we do not eat for several days, we will begin to look old. Eating and drinking produce an inward, metabolic washing. The washing of the water in the word is this kind of washing.
As growing Christians, we must daily eat the word of God. In Matthew 4:4 the Lord said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” The word that comes out of the mouth of God, which is the word in the Bible, is our spiritual food. We need to eat the word of the Bible every day and even several times a day. If we eat physically only once a day, we will be hungry and eventually become old. We need at least three meals a day. To read the Bible once a day is good, but it is best to practice to eat the Bible several times a day — morning, noon, afternoon, and evening. The more regular times we have to eat the word of the Bible each day, the better.
Some may think that they do not have the time to eat the word several times a day. However, if we truly desire to find the time, it is always possible. It does not take a long time to eat a snack — less than five minutes. If we do not eat several times each day, we quickly become tired. By taking a few minutes to enjoy a few verses during the day, we will be refreshed and strengthened. This makes a big difference. This kind of eating keeps us young.
If we have not memorized many of the verses in the Bible, it is best to carry a pocket version. When I was a new believer, I carried a book of the Bible in my pocket all the time. Even when I was at work, I would occasionally read a few verses. The washing of the water in the word sanctifies, nourishes, and cherishes us. We need to spend time in the Word not only by reading but also by praying. Prayer is the way that we feed on the word. We need to eat the word several times a day.
The water in the word is the life supply from God, the flowing life of God. In the Old Testament time the children of Israel drank of the water that flowed out of the cleft rock, signifying the flowing life of God that was released when the Lord Jesus was smitten on the cross (Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4; John 19:34). When the Lord was on the earth, He told the Samaritan woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life” (4:13-14). Then at the Feast of Tabernacles the Lord cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water” (7:37-38). The living water is the Spirit of God. Finally, Revelation 22:1 says, “He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.” The river of water of life signifies the flowing life of God. Today this living water is in the Bible. The word of God in the Bible is our life supply.
We must come to the Bible in the proper way in order to receive the water in the word. The water in the word is mysterious and spiritual; it is not the letters in black and white. To touch the water of life, we must use our deepest part, our spirit. If we read the Bible only with our eyes and our mind, we are using only our body and our soul, and we will receive only knowledge. When we exercise our spirit in reading the Word, we touch the life supply, the water in the word.
The way to exercise our spirit is to pray. For this reason, we all need to learn how to pray-read. To pray-read is to repeat the words of the Bible as a simple prayer to the Lord. When we practice to pray-read in this way, we will sense the water of life flowing within our spirit to quench our thirst and to water, refresh, nourish, and strengthen us. The word conveys to us the spiritual life supply, which becomes a washing to us.
The food that we eat produces a kind of washing in our body, removing the waste from our blood and tissues. If we do not eat, we will not have this kind of washing. The more that we eat and the better the food is that we eat, the more we will experience this inward, metabolic washing of life. The same principle applies in the spiritual realm. If we eat the word by exercising our spirit to pray the Word, we receive life, which affords us a metabolic washing by removing all the negative things from our inner being. As a result, our wrinkles and our spots will be washed away. As the church, we will become beautiful — sanctified, without any blemish. Eventually, the Lord will present this glorious church to Himself as His bride (Eph. 5:27).
The most crucial point in Ephesians 3 is Christ making His home in our hearts. In order to experience and enjoy Christ to the uttermost, we need to give Him the freedom to make His home in our heart, to be fully settled in our entire being. In chapter 4 there are three crucial points: mingling with the Triune God, growing by the increase of Christ, and being renewed by taking Christ as our person. We all should realize the mingling with the Triune God and experience the growth in life by the increase of Christ in us, growing up into Christ in all things. Then we will be renewed, transformed. We will put off our old man and put on the new man, which is Christ as the church. To take Christ as our person is to live not by ourselves but by Him. When we take Christ as our new person, we become the new man.
These four crucial matters in Ephesians 3 and 4 are subjective and deep, but we need to experience them in order to have the proper church life. If we all have Christ making His home in our hearts, realize the mingling with the Triune God, grow in life by the increase of Christ, and are renewed by taking Christ as our person, we will have the proper church life. The secret of experiencing these four matters is taking in the word. We must eat the word daily by exercising our spirit and pray-reading in order to experience these four crucial matters.
The word in the Bible embodies the entire Triune God. Therefore, to fully experience Christ, we must take in the word. Just as the vitamins and minerals that our body needs are in the food we eat, the word of God in the Bible conveys the spiritual nourishment that we need. Many Christians today are undernourished because they do not read or pray over the Bible. Owning a Bible but not reading or praying over it may be compared to buying much food but not cooking or eating it. If we do not eat properly, we will be weak, undernourished, and prone to sickness. Eating properly requires a certain amount of time. Every day we need to spend time to eat physically, and we likewise need to spend time to eat the word of God. When we eat the word of God adequately and properly, we will be nourished.
In the nourishing word there is washing water, which carries away all the negative things from our inner being. Physical food not only nourishes us but also cleanses us, washing all the negative things from our body. A proper and adequate diet defeats the germs and cleanses our blood and tissues. The same is true of our spiritual food, the word of God. If we eat and drink the word by exercising our spirit to pray-read the Word, we will receive spiritual nourishment and washing.
Ephesians 5:29 says, “No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ also the church.” Nourishes and cherishes in verse 29 relate to the washing of the water in the word in verse 26. When we pray-read the Word, we receive the spiritual food. This food not only cleanses us but also nourishes and cherishes us. When a nursing mother feeds her child, the child receives the nourishment and at the same time enjoys tender care. When a baby is lying in his mother’s bosom, he receives protection, rest, warmth, and comfort; all fear and cares are gone. For a small child, to be in the mother’s bosom is the best thing, for there he enjoys nourishing and cherishing. When we pray-read the Word, we have a precious, tender, and dear feeling that we are in the bosom of the Lord. We enjoy His protection, comfort, and tender care — His nourishing and cherishing. This is to enjoy Christ in a very direct and intimate way.
By enjoying Christ’s nourishing and cherishing in the word, we will never become old but will be continually refreshed, and the church will become glorious, not having spot or wrinkle but sanctified and without blemish. This is the church that the Lord is after. Thus, we all need to practice pray-reading several times a day to receive Christ’s nourishing and cherishing.
