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Scripture Reading: Eph. 5:26-27, 29
In this chapter we come to Ephesians 5. The key to experiencing chapter 5 is the phrase the washing of the water in the word (v. 26). This extraordinary phrase contains three items: washing, water, and the word. The natural human mind cannot understand these items, but they are crucial in the church life. In order to have a proper church life, we must have the washing of the water in the word.
The washing of the water in the word is not the same as the cleansing of the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ cleanses us from our sins. The blood washes away our sinful deeds, our uncleanness, but the washing of the water in the word deals with our spots and wrinkles. Spots are scars from wounds, and wrinkles are signs of aging. In the beginning of the church life in a locality, the church is fresh and young; there are no spots or wrinkles. However, after a period of time wrinkles appear because the church gradually “ages,” and spots appear because the church has been wounded and has scars.
The blood washes away our sins, but the water in the word washes away our spots and wrinkles. The washing of the water in the word is not outward but inward. If my face is dirty, I just need to wash my face, and it will be clean. However, if there are wrinkles on my face, the wrinkles will remain even if I wash my face with the best soap. The best way to remove wrinkles is to become young. We have wrinkles because we are old. If we could make ourselves young, the wrinkles would spontaneously disappear.
If we want to be young, we need good metabolism. Our metabolism depends on our eating and drinking. If we eat nutritious food, we will receive more nutrients, and these nutrients will wash away our oldness. If we do not eat for three days, we will begin to wilt and decline, but if we eat nutritious food, the nutrients in the food will replace our oldness. The nutrients in the food that we eat cause a metabolic washing within us.
Similarly, in order for a Christian to grow, he must daily eat spiritual food, that is, the word of God. The words of the Bible are our spiritual food. In Matthew 4:4 the Lord Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” The word of God, that is, the word that proceeds out through the mouth of God, is our spiritual food. We should eat the words of the Bible not just once a day but many times a day. We eat physical food more than once a day. Similarly, the more times we eat spiritual food, the better. Some believers read the Bible once a day. This is better than not reading the Bible, but it is not sufficient. It is better to read, to eat, five times a day — in the morning, at noon, in the afternoon, in the evening, and at night. Some may say that they do not have time to read the Bible so often; however, if they are willing to set aside certain times, they will be able to read the Bible in this way. It takes me three and a half minutes to eat a snack in the afternoon. When I eat some fruit and drink a cup of water, I am revitalized and my strength is restored. If we are willing to spend three and a half minutes enjoying the Lord’s Word, our strength will be renewed.
Some want to enjoy the Lord’s Word, but they do not remember any verses. Hence, it is best to have a pocket-sized Bible. When I was around twenty years old, I took a Bible apart according to its books and made each book into a booklet. I carried these Bible booklets with me to work and read a few verses from them during my break. I spent less than five minutes to “snack” on the Word. We can all practice this. Since then I have memorized many verses. I have memorized almost the whole book of Ephesians, and I know the content and crucial points of each chapter.
Sometimes when I close my eyes in the afternoon, the water in the Lord’s word washes me, sanctifies me, nourishes me, and cherishes me. Sometimes I spend a few minutes not to read the Lord’s Word but to pray. Other times I muse upon a section of the Lord’s Word while I take a walk. This is a “snack.” If I wake up very early in the morning and cannot fall back to sleep, I snack on a portion of the Lord’s Word. This message is the issue of eating Ephesians 5 in the morning. In other words, I am speaking what I have eaten. I cannot count how many times I eat the Lord’s Word in one day. Sometimes I eat the Lord’s Word more than ten times. We should all be the same and daily eat the Lord’s Word sufficiently in order to be supplied and washed by the Lord.
There is water in the Lord’s word. This water refers to the life supply, the flowing of the divine life. When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they were supplied by water that flowed out of a smitten rock (Exo. 17:6). This water signifies the divine life. In John 4 the Lord Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “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” (vv. 13-14). In 7:37-38 the Lord Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “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.” The next verse says, “This He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive” (v. 39). These verses indicate that the living water is the Spirit. In Revelation 22:1 John says, “He [the angel] 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 in the New Jerusalem signifies the flowing life of God. Today this living water is in the Bible. The words in the Bible contain the life supply. This living water is in the words of the Bible.
If we merely read the Bible with our eyes and understand it with our mind, we will gain knowledge but not living water. The living water is mysterious and spiritual. This water is not black and white letters; the letter can impart only knowledge. Deep in the words of the Bible is the life supply. This supply is the spiritual and mysterious water of life.
In order to touch the water of life, we must exercise our spirit through prayer. Man is tripartite. Our body is our outer part; our soul, including our mind, is in our body; and our spirit is even deeper than our soul. If we read the Bible with our eyes and our mind only, we are using just two parts of our being: our body and our mind. As a result, we will gain only knowledge. We must use our third part, that is, our spirit, when we read the Word. Then the living water of life in the Word will be transfused into us, and we will receive the life supply. This is why we must pray-read the Word. Praying enables us to exercise our spirit. Reading with our eyes and understanding with our mind will not give us life. We must pray the Lord’s words and enter the depths in order for the living water to flow into our spirit, quench our thirst, and refresh, nourish, and strengthen us.
We must learn to exercise our spirit and pray-read the Lord’s Word so that the life supply in the Word will become washing water. In the physical realm the metabolism that is triggered by eating food is a kind of washing. The same applies to our spiritual life. If we eat the Lord’s Word, we will receive the life supply. This supply will trigger a metabolic washing that washes away the negative things within us; the spots and wrinkles will disappear. Then the church will become holy and be without blemish, defect, spot, wrinkle, or any such things in order to be presented as a glorious church to the Lord (Eph. 5:27).
Ephesians 3 speaks of Christ making His home in our hearts. In order to experience Christ, He must make His home in our hearts. We must give Him the freedom to make His home in our hearts, that is, to settle down in us. Then we will experience and enjoy Him.
There are three crucial items in chapter 4: being mingled with the Triune God, growing with the growth of Christ, and being renewed by accepting Christ as our person. Every saint in the Lord’s recovery should arrive at a full-grown man by being mingled with the Triune God, grow up into Christ the Head in all things, and grow unto the building up of the Body (vv. 4-6, 13, 15-16). When we have these experiences, we will be renewed and transformed, and we will put off the old man and put on the new man, which is the church. We also will experience Christ as our person and live by Him, not by ourselves. Formerly, our self was our person, but our person will change. When we accept Christ as our person, we become the one new man.
These four items — Christ’s making His home in our hearts and our being mingled with the Triune God, growing with the growth of Christ, and being renewed by accepting Christ as our person — are crucial. However, they have been neglected and lost in Christianity. These items are not taught in Christianity, nor can they be found in any Christian publication. Even though these four items are subjective and deep, we need to know and experience them in order to have the proper church life.
Paul knew the secret of experiencing these four items. If we want to experience Christ making His home in our hearts and our being mingled with the Triune God, growing in life, and being renewed by taking Christ as our person, we must receive the Lord’s word. If we do not eat His Word daily by pray-reading with our spirit, these items will not be our experience. The Christ who is making His home in our hearts, who gives us the growth in life, and who is our person is in the Word, and the Triune God is in the Word. Therefore, we must receive the Lord’s Word.
Dietitians say that the human body needs many nutrients, such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and vitamins. These nutrients are in our food. Physical food signifies the Bible, the Word of God. The Bible contains various spiritual nutrients. If we do not eat the Word, we will be malnourished. Many Christians are malnourished. They have the Bible, but it is on a bookshelf or in a drawer. They have food in their hands, but they do not cook it, nor do they eat it. As a result, they are malnourished.
Many young people in the United States are lazy and loose; they like to wake up late in the morning. They have to be at work by eight o’clock, but they sleep until a quarter to eight. Hence, they do not have time to prepare breakfast; instead, they rush to work and buy a doughnut on their way. Furthermore, they do not take the time to eat a proper lunch; they buy a hamburger. As a result of such a poor diet, many young people are malnourished and weak and lack energy.
We must take the time to eat the Lord’s Word daily. If we eat properly, we will be nourished. This spiritual nourishment contains living water that washes us and removes negative things from our spiritual life, just as the food we eat washes and nourishes us. I am healthy because I eat properly. Proper food strengthens us, cleanses our blood, and unclogs our blood vessels. Food nourishes us, washes us, and protects us from germs. This also applies to spiritual food — the Word of God. We need to pray-read God’s Word with our spirit so that we may be nourished and washed.
There are two additional precious words in chapter 5: nourishes and cherishes (v. 29). To nourish is to supply a person with food so that he receives nourishment. When we pray-read the Lord’s Word, we receive spiritual food, which not only washes us but also nourishes us. The Lord’s Word also supplies and cherishes us. To cherish is to nurse a child just as a mother holds and feeds her child in her bosom. A child in his mother’s bosom is nourished and protected and also enjoys rest, warmth, and comfort. This is to cherish.
When we pray-read the Word, we have the sense within that we are in the Lord’s bosom; we are filled with a gentle and intimate sense. Here we are enjoying the Lord’s protection, comfort, and warmth while being nourished and cherished in His bosom. If we enjoy Christ in such a way, we will not grow old. Rather, we will be renewed daily; we will be rejuvenated, fresh, green, and tender. Then the church will not have spots, wrinkles, or blemishes but will be holy and glorious. This is the church that the Lord desires.
