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Scripture Reading: Eph. 2:15; 3:8, 16-17a, 19b; 4:23-24; 2 Cor. 3:18
During the Chinese War of Resistance against the Japanese, I traveled to the northwestern provinces of China to visit the churches. In some of the places I had to ride on a large handcart that could cover only about fifty kilometers after traveling the whole day from dawn to evening. At night, upon arriving at an inn, it seemed like all my bones had been detached. All I could do was lie down and go to sleep. Traveling in those days was truly a hardship. Today, however, both Taiwan and the United States have well-built highways and excellent transportation systems. Therefore, traveling in these countries is efficient and comfortable. This is a very practical illustration of how the age changes. I have been a Christian for fifty years already. In the first few years it seemed as if I was riding on a large handcart. I tried so hard to pursue, yet I did not advance much, I did not learn many lessons, nor did I have much growth in life. Then, gradually, the Lord led us through many changes, and today we can see that we have covered a great distance. Our messages and hymns are much more advanced than what we formerly had. We are truly in a different age. Regrettably, the churches in the Far East have not stayed up-to-date with the flow of the age. I am deeply concerned that the messages being released in many localities may be short of revelation, not rich enough, and not up-to-date.
Some of the saints refuse to follow the flow of the age. They declare that they want to receive everything firsthand instead of learning from others. This kind of talk is deceptive. Only a few people, like Paul, received everything firsthand. Thus, everything that is taken from the Scriptures is no longer firsthand. Honestly, I do not care whether or not I receive something firsthand. All I care about is the object itself. If the object is a diamond, I do not care how many hands it has passed through. As long as it is in my hand, it is valuable to me. However, if the object were dung, I would not want it, even if I was the first to receive it. We all need to be humble, not thinking that we have seen something. Although we surely have seen some things, what we have seen may be worthless. We need to see the central vision, which is the vision that the Triune God became flesh, died for the accomplishment of redemption, and in resurrection became the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. Today He has entered into our spirit and lives in us. He not only gives His life to us but also puts Himself into us to be our person. He and we are joined together, having one life, one living, one walk, and one move, and we simply live by Him. This is the most important matter.
Some may say that they have learned a particular lesson, such as how to be holy. These kinds of lessons, however, are peripheral matters. It does not make much difference whether we learn them or not. Today God has a central purpose, a central vision, which we need to see. This is what the children of God lack today. This is lacking not only in Christianity but even among us. We all need to see this.
Ephesians is a book specifically on the church. Many people know that Ephesians 1 says that the church is the Body of Christ (v. 23). How many know, however, that the church is the new man? Ephesians 2:15 says that Christ, having solved all the problems on the cross, created the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers in Himself into one new man. This new man must be a corporate entity, because there is only one new man, not many new men. This new man was created by Christ in Himself. What material did Christ use to create the new man? He used Himself as the material. The Lord Jesus created all of us into one new man with Himself as the material. The Greek word for create implies to create something new. Previously there was no such thing as the new man in the universe. Now, however, Christ has created the new man in Himself with His resurrection life. Before His death and resurrection, our Lord had the eternal life of God, but He did not have the life that had passed through death and resurrection. The Lord Jesus created the new man not with the eternal life that had not passed through death but with the eternal life that had passed through death and resurrection. There is a great difference between the life that has passed through death and the life that has not passed through death. Before His crucifixion He already had the eternal life, but that life had not entered into death, passed through death, and come out of death again. After His resurrection He had the eternal life that had passed through death and entered into resurrection. It was with such an eternal life that the Lord Jesus created the one new man. Therefore, anyone who belongs to the new man has passed through death and is in resurrection.
After this, Ephesians 3 tells us that Paul was sent to announce to us the unsearchable riches of Christ (v. 8). The unsearchable riches of Christ are contained in His eternal life, a life that has passed through death and resurrection. All His riches are in this eternal life. We need someone to help us so that our eyes may be opened to see this. We need someone to unveil the contents of this life and to show us the vision of the riches of Christ, scene after scene. The elements of the new man within us are exceedingly rich! The unsearchable riches are right within us today!
How can we enjoy these riches? In the latter part of chapter 3 Paul prayed for us, asking the Father to grant us, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man (v. 16). God has glory, and His glory is rich. The riches of His glory are the unsearchable riches of Christ. Notice that Ephesians 3 refers to riches twice. First it speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ, and then it speaks of the riches of God’s glory. The riches spoken of in these two places are one. Paul prayed that the Father would grant us, according to such riches, to be strengthened into the inner man with power through His Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit. This means that within us there is something living, vital, and organic that continuously stirs us within, not in our mind but in our regenerated new man. As a result, Christ is able to make His home in our heart (v. 17a).
This matter of Christ making His home in our heart is not a small matter. It is not merely a parable or an illustration; it is a reality. Christ makes His home in our heart — not just in our spirit but in our heart, which surrounds our spirit. By reading the Scriptures we can see that our spirit is surrounded by our heart. First Peter 3 says that there is a hidden man of our heart (v. 4). That hidden man is our spirit. Our spirit is in the inner part of our heart, and our heart surrounds our spirit. If our spirit is strengthened, then Christ can make His home not only in our spirit but also in our heart. In other words, every part of our being may be occupied by Christ. This is not an ethical teaching, a religious teaching, or a philosophical teaching. This is a heavenly vision.
I am concerned that although many brothers and sisters have read Ephesians again and again, they may not have seen such a vision until now. They may not have seen that Christ is waiting in our spirit for an opportunity to saturate every part of our being with Himself so that He can make His home in our heart. Ephesians 3:19b says, “That you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.” What kind of philosophy or doctrine is this? This is higher than any philosophy or doctrine! The Chinese Confucianists say that the principle of the highest level of learning is to develop the bright virtue. This principle at the most helps to develop our bright virtue, which is our innate knowledge and ability. Today we have not only the bright virtue, the innate knowledge and ability; we have the all-inclusive Christ, the all-inclusive Spirit, and the Triune God in our spirit as the unsearchable riches in us. Wang Yang-ming, a Chinese philosopher, said that if a person only makes outward improvements but neglects to develop his innate knowledge and ability, he is like a tree without roots and a stream without a source. If the philosophers pay so much attention to the matter of our inner source, how much more should we! What they pay attention to is only the innate knowledge and ability — the bright virtue within man. We, however, should focus on the great Triune God, the all-inclusive Christ, and the all-inclusive Spirit who dwells in our spirit and is mingled with us as one spirit.
If you truly see this vision, you will be beside yourself for at least three days because this is a tremendously great matter! The Triune God is right within us. The all-inclusive Spirit is right within us and has become one spirit with us. He has become me that I also may become Him. He and I, I and He, have one life, one living, one walk, and one move! Anyone who has seen this will jump up and down. Eventually, we will be filled unto all the fullness of God. We will not be filled with only a little love or with a little humility; we will be filled unto all the fullness of God. This is the living of the new man, and this is the church life.
If we would all live in this vision, there would be no regulations in our meetings. It is possible that in a given meeting no one would ever choose a hymn, but instead everyone would pray. In addition, we do not need to pray according to a set pattern. It is all right to pray only two or three sentences. Set patterns originate from the mind. Whatever we want to pray, we should simply pray. We are too accustomed to being in religion, not realizing that a set pattern is like a rope with which we hang ourselves. Why do we need a set pattern? It is because our spirit does not rise up. We kill the meeting, yet we do not know why the meeting has been killed. I do not mean that it is wrong to pray after singing a hymn. However, it is not proper if it becomes a set pattern.
The Lord in us is living. Every one of us has the living Lord within us. When we come to the meeting, why do we not allow the living Lord to take action? If we wait for a certain brother to call a hymn and wait for another brother to lead the prayer, we are meeting according to a set pattern and not according to the spirit. We often condemn the denominations, but today our practice has become the same as the practice in the denominations. Each brother and sister is like a pew member. When we come to a meeting, we should be releasing our spirit and worshipping God. If we would all live in the spirit, then when we come to a meeting, we would be quiet in the Lord’s presence on the one hand and releasing our spirit on the other hand. Then there would be no fixed regulations. Instead, the riches would spontaneously flow out from every one of us. The aggregate of this flowing out would be our worship. This kind of meeting would be full of the expression of God, full of the presence of Christ, and full of the moving of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, all the saints would be fed. This is the church meeting. If our meetings were like this, then when people come into our midst, they would declare that God is among us (1 Cor. 14:25).
We always tend to stick to our old rules, and these old rules always kill us. Second Corinthians 3:18 tells us that a normal condition is one of having an unveiled face. Yet so many people today are veiled. What is a veil? A veil is something that prevents you from seeing. Our old habits, old regulations, old concepts, and old experiences are all veils. We need to have an unveiled face. All the veils, from within our spirit to our outward being, must be taken away. In 2 Corinthians 3 the veil refers to the law, to knowledge, and to the teachings of the Old Testament. It is the same today. Our veils are our biblical knowledge, our biblical doctrines, and our old experiences. We all need to receive mercy in order that God may remove the veils from our face layer by layer so that we may have an unveiled face. Our face should be like an open mirror. If you were a mirror, when you beheld me, you would reflect my image. However, if as a mirror you were veiled, then you would lose your function. We often say that we need to lift up our heads and behold the Lord. However, if our face has layers and layers of veils upon it, we will be unable to see the Lord. We need an unveiled face. Our whole being, from our spirit to our outward being, needs to be unveiled to be like an open mirror, beholding and reflecting our Lord. Then His image will be imprinted on us as the mirror, and we will reflect His image and will be transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.
It is good that the churches in Taiwan are all very steady. However, although our feet need to be steady, our spirit needs to be changeable. We need to change in our prayer, in our way of living, and in our coming together for fellowship. Everyone must change. Without change we will have no way! If we remain in our oldness, there will be no difference between the practices among us and the rituals in the denominations. We will know everything except the spirit, and we will have everything except the spirit. O Lord, remove our veils!
