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Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:4-6, 13-16, 22-24
The Lord has shown us a vision. This vision includes not only the revelation on the surface of the Bible but also the deep mystery in the Bible. The revelation on the surface of the Bible can be understood by anyone. In order to understand the mystery in the depth of the Bible, however, we must be enlightened by God, and we need much experience. Without light and experience, it is hard to see the mystery in the Bible.
The deep mystery in the Bible is related to God, because God is a mystery. The universe that He created also is a mystery. Throughout the ages questions related to the meaning of the universe and the purpose of man’s existence have been unresolved. The Bible reveals that the Lord Jesus was the most excellent person in human history. No historian can understand the Lord Jesus or describe Him thoroughly. Thus, the Lord Jesus is a mystery. The Bible speaks of an additional matter that is related to the meaning of the universe and to the meaning of human existence. This matter is the church.
The meaning of the word church is the “assembly of the called-out ones.” There are millions of people in the world, but only a small number believe in the Lord Jesus, have been cleansed by His precious blood, and have been regenerated by the Spirit. These ones have been called and separated by God. When they gather together, they are the assembly of the called ones. Before Christianity came to China, the term called-out assembly was not used in ancient Chinese literature. The word church was translated in Chinese as “religious assembly.” The word religious is not appropriate. The phrase called-out assembly is much better than religious assembly. We are the called-out assembly. However, the term called-out assembly cannot fully explain the meaning of this mystery. The church is a true mystery.
God is a mystery, the universe is a mystery, Christ is a mystery, and the church is a mystery. Those who want to know these mysteries must read the Bible. Regrettably, people do not see these mysteries even after reading the Bible many times. Those who read the Bible know that God created the heavens and the earth and that man sinned. They also know that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to accomplish redemption for man. It is easy to see these things in the Bible, but it is not easy to see the mystery of God, the mystery of the universe, or the mystery of Christ. People see the Christ who is on the surface of the Bible, but they do not see the mystery of Christ; they do not see the church as a mystery. They can see what is on the surface but not the deep things. They can see the revelation on the surface, but they do not have a vision of the mystery. In the past decades God has opened the Bible and given us a vision of this mystery.
The mystery of God is Christ; Christ is the mystery of God. If we want to know God, we must come to Christ. When we find Christ, we find God. When we know Christ, we know God. Who is God? If we want to know God, we must look at Christ, because Christ is the definition, explanation, meaning, and expression of God. All that God is, all that He does, and all that He has dwell in Christ. Everything related to God dwells in Christ. Christ is the embodiment of God; hence, to know Christ is to know God. Christ was born a man, He lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years, was crucified, and rose from the dead. Now He is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). After passing through such a process, Christ has been manifested as the mystery of God. Now we know how to contact God. All that God is, has, and does are in Christ and expressed through Christ. Christ is the mystery of God.
God is a mystery, and Christ is also a mystery. The Bible reveals that the mystery of God is Christ and that the mystery of Christ is the church (Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4-6). The church is the mystery of Christ. In other words, the church is the image, expression, and explanation of Christ. We should not think that church refers to a chapel. The church is not a chapel. Furthermore, the church as a mystery does not refer merely to a gathering of a group of people who have been saved and called out by God. Even though we may know the outward appearance of a person’s physical body, we do not know his thoughts, ideas, emotions, moods, or intents, nor do we know his spiritual constitution. We do not know his inner person, because his real person cannot be fully expressed or represented by the members of his body. Every believer is a part of the church; hence, the believers collectively are the church. However, this is only an outward description of the church. The church has a deeper and more intrinsic aspect. The intrinsic aspect of the church is Christ.
When a brother is saved, others can see that he has believed in Jesus and that he is going to meetings, but they may not know what has happened within him. Even the brother himself may not be able to explain what has happened. Something has happened within him, but he cannot explain it. That he cannot explain it speaks of a mystery. Before he was saved, he easily lost his temper, went to movie theaters, played cards for relaxation, and even cursed or hit people. But one day he believed in the Lord, prayed, and called upon His name. Then something happened within him. When he wanted to lose his temper, a voice within him would say, “Do not lose your temper. Stop.” Before he was saved, he felt better when he lost his temper. But after his salvation he no longer felt good when he lost his temper, because Someone within him was bothering him. This Someone is the Lord Jesus Christ. Others may not understand, but we know that a living person is in us. This living person is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus is in us. Some people say that we can neither see Him nor feel Him. It is true that we cannot see Him, but it is inaccurate to say that we cannot feel Him. Sometimes we are not aware of Him, but at other times we sense that He is bothering us. Previously, no one could control us when we lost our temper. Now, however, when we lose our temper, He not only regulates us; He may even rebuke us, asking, “Why do you lose your temper when you are wrong?” Every believer has had such experiences.
Christ is the true and living Lord. He is the Spirit, who indwells us. Christians can be living, strong, and unafraid of persecution and can overcome sin and darkness because of the Lord. Before a person is saved, he might be easily tempted to sin, but after he is saved, he does not so easily waver when he is tempted. He can even overcome temptations, because there is power within him. This living power is Christ. Christ is the life-giving Spirit in us. This is the experience of Christ in us.
Before we believed in the Lord Jesus, we were alone, but now we are no longer alone; there is a person in us. This person is the Lord Jesus. He is so good that we often thank and praise Him. Sometimes, however, He bothers us and does not let us go. A sister may want to buy a dress, but the Lord does not want her to buy it. Therefore, He expresses His feeling and gives her the sense that He does not agree. If the sister insists on buying the dress, He will bother her. While she is talking with the salesperson, He may say, “Why are you bargaining with him? Go home. Do not buy it.” The sister is talking to the salesperson, but the Lord is talking to her. She may become unhappy or even angry, but the Lord does not get angry. If the sister continues to insist, she will not have peace, because the Lord will continue to tell her that He does not approve of her purchase. He may bother her so much that she is unable to eat well or sleep well for a few days. This is an experience of Christ living in us.
As Christians in the Lord’s recovery, we have been captivated by Christ; He has charmed us. We have many meetings every week, and we always go to the meeting hall. We go to the meeting hall after work, and we also go to the meeting hall on holidays. Our relatives and friends do not understand why we are more interested in going to the meeting hall than in traveling or sightseeing. In the meeting hall there are only Bibles, hymnals, and spiritual books. Our relatives and friends may even follow us to the meeting in order to find out what we are doing. In the meeting hall they only see people singing hymns, praying, and listening to the Lord’s word. Because they cannot understand what we are doing, the church is a mystery to them.
Even though I was young when I believed in the Lord Jesus, I went to the meetings frequently because I was touched by the Lord. As a result, my mother said to me, “I also believe in Jesus, but I only go on the Lord’s Day morning. Why do you go to three meetings on the Lord’s Day? You go to one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. Why do you also go to so many meetings during the week?” At that time I was about twenty-one years old. I did not enjoy anything other than going to the meetings. Even if it was pouring rain, I would not be happy unless I went to the meeting. As soon as I stepped into the meeting hall, I was happy. When I sat down, I forgot all my troubles. This is a mystery.
Christ is a mystery, and Christ in us is also a mystery. The Christ in you is not separate from the Christ in me. Christ in us can be likened to electricity. We can be likened to many light bulbs through which the electrical current flows.
Christ is flowing through all of us, and His flowing connects us. We are joined together as one entity because of Christ, through Christ, and in Christ; this one entity is the church. Strictly speaking, you are not the church, and I am not the church; we are not the church. The church is the Christ in you, in me, and in all of us. The church is Christ in His believers. If Christ had not entered into us, He would still be Christ but not the church. When He enters into us, He becomes the church.
The church is not Christ in heaven, nor is it Christ outside of us. Christ must enter into us in order to be the church. The church is a mystery because Christ in us is a mystery. The church is profound and mysterious. The church is not a chapel, nor is it merely a gathering of a group of people who believe in Jesus. The church is Christ in all the saints.
We are God’s called ones, and we have Christ in us. If we are full of criticism and arguments when we come together, we are not the church. The church is Christ being expressed through us. When we gather together and exhibit Christ, we are the church. The church is not merely a gathering together of a group of people. The church is Christ in us and Christ being lived out from us.
The church is the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is corporate. We are not the church if we are separated from one another. Therefore, the Bible reveals that the church is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23). The Lord Jesus Christ was incarnated to be a man with a physical body. However, the Body of Christ in Ephesians does not refer to a physical body with flesh and blood but to the mystical Body that is composed of millions of believers. The church is the Body of Christ; hence, the church possesses Christ and is the mystery of Christ.
It is impossible for a normal person to have a head without a body. This also applies to Christ. Christ is the Head; He has a Body, and He is the Body. It is difficult for Bible expositors to thoroughly expound this matter, because the Body of Christ is a mystery.
Ephesians 4:4 says, “One Body and one Spirit.” Paul associates one Body with one Spirit, because the Spirit is the reality and essence of the church as the Body of Christ, just as wood is the reality and essence of a wooden table. The church is the Body of Christ, and the church is the Spirit, because the Spirit is the essence of the Body of Christ.
The Spirit is the Body, because the Spirit is the reality of the Body and the essence of the Body. The indwelling Christ is our life. However, if we live by the self or by the flesh, we are not the Body of Christ, because the Body of Christ is the Spirit. Only when we live by the Spirit can we be the Body of Christ.
If we know that the church is the mystery of Christ and the Body of Christ, we will realize that the church is not simply a gathering together of the believers. Only when we live in the Spirit are we the church. If we do not live in the Spirit, we are not the church. Consider two brothers who love the Lord, read the Bible often, and serve much. Both are captivated by the Lord Jesus, and they do not love the world, nor do they care about their future; they have abandoned everything for Jesus. Nevertheless, this does not make them the church. If they live in the flesh, murmur, criticize, or lose their temper, they are not the church. Brother A may say to Brother B, “Why do you always speak from the podium? You should give others a chance.” And Brother B may reply, “Go ahead and speak!” Is this the church? When we are not in the Spirit, we are not the church.
Suppose both brothers live in the mind or in culture. They may be very courteous and polite, but they are actually hypocritical. This is not the church. Because Brother A does not know what to say, he may ask, “How have you been the past couple of days? How is your wife? How are the children?” Even though Brother B is troubled, he may reply, “Very good. Thank you.” This is formality. Brother A is hypocritical because his question is a formality, and Brother B is also hypocritical because he is pretending that he is not suffering. Both brothers are not in the Spirit, and thus, they are not the church. If we do not live by the Spirit, we are not the church.
Today the church is weak. It is not advancing, it is not rich, it is not living, it is not high, and it is not released, because we do not live the church. The church is uniquely one, but there are many things that are not the church. We can be many things but not be the church. We can be meek not irritable, genteel not coarse, and prudent not foolish and still not be the church, because we are not in the Spirit. When we are not in the Spirit, we are not the church.
Being the church is not a simple matter. The church must be in the Spirit, and it must be the Spirit. It is easy for people to not be in the Spirit. For example, there is only one bull’s eye on a target, and it is not easy to hit the bull’s eye. If we do not hit the bull’s eye, we have not hit the target.
The phrase one Body and one Spirit indicates that the Body is the Spirit and that the Spirit is the Body. Some Christians think that it is heresy to say that the church is the Spirit. They say, “The Spirit is the Holy Spirit; how can you say that the Spirit is the church?” They do not understand, because they lack light and experience. The Bible says, “One Body and one Spirit.” The Body is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the Body. However, there is a distinction: the Spirit outside of us is not the Body; only the Spirit dwelling in us is the Body. According to this principle, we are the Body because the Spirit is in us. When we are in the Spirit, we are the Body, but when we are not in the Spirit, we are not the Body.
Ephesians 4:4 continues, “Even as also you were called in one hope of your calling.” The word hope refers to the transfiguration of our body, that is, to our entering into glory, our hope of glory. Verse 5 says, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” We have a living Lord. Those who believe in Him, receive Him, and are baptized will be raised together with Him. Verse 6 says, “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
The church is a living entity, an organism; it is the mingling of the Triune God with man. Verses 4 through 6 speak of the Spirit, the Lord, and the Father. The Father is the first in the Trinity; the Lord, the Son, is the second in the Trinity; and the Spirit is the third in the Trinity. The Triune God is fully mingled with the church.
The Body is the mingling of the Triune God with the believers. The Body needs to be built up. The building up of the Body of Christ is different from the building of a house. The building of a house consists of attaching one piece of material to another. The building of the Body depends on growth. Verses 13 through 16 say, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we may be no longer little children...but holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.” This portion speaks of growth several times, because growth is building up. Growth does not depend on preachers; growth depends on every member of the Body, that is, every believer. When the element of God grows in every believer, the Body grows and builds itself up in love. Colossians 2:19 says, “Holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.” The growth of the Body is the result of the increase of God in the Body. This increase is growth.
It may sound strange to speak of God increasing in us, but those with experience know that this is a precious and enlightening word. When we were saved, we received God, but we need more of God in us. This means that the element of God must increase in us. Some people may say, “I was very spiritual a few months ago. I sang Hallelujahs every day and did not lose my temper, but now I am very low. I cannot rise up; I am no longer buoyant within. Therefore, I dare not say that the element of God has increased within me. Maybe I had more of the element of God a few months ago.” We need to see that once God enters a person, He will never leave. God increases, but He does not decrease. A brother may have been overcoming and then feel low a few months later, but the element of God within him has not decreased. Being low is only a matter of feeling; God remains unchanged in us. Once He comes in, He will not leave, and when He increases, He will not decrease. With God there is only entering; there is no exiting. There is only increase; there is no decrease.
Christians have the mistaken concept that they have more of the element of God when they are overcoming and high and that God is no longer in them when they are low or lose their temper. A person with such a concept lacks understanding and experience. According to the Bible and Christian experience, God can only enter into man; He does not leave. He will not leave in this age, in the coming age, or in eternity.
We are grateful to God for increasing in us. As a result of His increase, we may grow in life together with other believers. This growing together is the building. The members of our physical body are not joined and knit together in the way that a house is built and constructed. The members of our body grow together in life. If the life in our body dies, the members of our body will also die. All the members of our body are joined together to be one body by our growth in life. This also applies to the building up of the church. The more a person grows in life, the more he will grow together with others.
We can testify that when we were new believers, we were zealous for the Lord, and attending the meetings gave us great joy. However, we were not adequately joined to the saints. Sometimes we do not dare to touch the new believers, because we are fearful that they are fragile like glass and can break. After a few years, however, when they are joined together with others in the church, there is no fear that they will break when they are touched. This shows that the divine life is growing in them. When life grows, we spontaneously grow together and are joined together with all the saints. This is the building.
When all the members of the Body are built up together, the Body becomes the one new man. The church is not only the Body of Christ but also the one new man. A body needs life; it is not a body without life. A man, however, needs not only life but also a person. The church is the one Body of Christ and also the one new man. As the Body, the church takes Christ as her life; as the new man, the church takes Christ as her person. The manifestation of the new man depends on the believers taking Christ as their person.
Ephesians 4:22-24 says, “Put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.” The secret to putting off the old man and putting on the new man involves a change of persons. In the past we lived in our old man, but now we must live in the new man. Hence, there is not only growth but also a change of persons. In order to be renewed, we need to allow the element of God to increase in us daily, and we also need a daily change of persons. In the New Testament to be renewed is to be transformed. When we are renewed, we are transformed. This is not the outward adjustment of character but the transformation of our inner being until we are the same image as the Lord within and without.
Verse 22 says that the old man is “being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit.” In Greek the word deceit is a noun, not a verb. There is something called deceit. The old creation is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit. Verse 24 says that the new man “was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.” In Greek both deceit and reality are personified. Deceit refers to Satan; reality refers to God. Satan, who is called the deceit, is the person in our old man, and God, who is the reality, is the person in our new man. Satan is the deceit, but God is the reality. Whatever we do when we live in the old man is deceitful, because deceit is our person. But our person has changed. The Lord is our new person, and He is God. He is the reality, in which are righteousness and holiness. Righteousness is to be right with God and man in everything, not having anything unrighteous, unfair, or improper. Holiness is to be the same as God in nature and to be fully separated from everything common, that is, everything other than God. Hence, the church is not only the Body of Christ; the church is also the new man who takes Christ as her person.
There are three crucial points in Ephesians 4. First, the church is one Body mingled with the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Second, the Body is being built up by the growth in life, which depends upon the increase of God within the members. Third, the Body grows, is built up, and lives by another person to become the one new man, having the image of the Lord for His expression.
