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In this final chapter we want to look at the last chapter of Ephesians. Ephesians 6:10 says, “Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength.” The Greek word for empowered has the same root as the word for power in chapters 1 and 3. This power is a dynamo; it is an energizing power and an exploding power. Here the word is used in the verb form, which means “to be energized, to be made powerful.” Hence, the proper rendering of this word is “be empowered.”
Verse 11 says, “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil.” Furthermore, verses 13 and 14a say, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore...” Verses 17 and 18 continue, “And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.”
Ephesians 3 tells us that the great power is already in us. Then, before the close of the book, chapter 6 tells us that we need to be empowered. Actually, we have already been empowered. We already have the power, but now we need to be strengthened by that power. Hence, chapter 6 is no doubt a continuation of chapter 3. The power is not outside of us; it is in us. So now we need to be strengthened with this power.
My burden in this chapter is to fellowship with you about standing. If you have not seen the revelations in the first five chapters of Ephesians, I can assure you that you will not know where to stand. However, if you have seen what is in the first five chapters, from now on, you need to stand. Where do you stand? Of course, you need to stand in the revelations seen in the first five chapters. Suppose after reading these chapters, you begin to study other things. Once you do this, you may be pulled away by these things. Even without this, you may still fall away from the visions you have seen. Thus, you need to stand in the visions that you have seen.
You have seen the vision of God’s eternal purpose, so you need to stand in God’s eternal purpose. You have seen the vision of the all-inclusive Christ, so you need to stand in the all-inclusive Christ. You have seen the vision of the Spirit, so you need to stand in the Spirit. You have seen that the unsearchable riches of Christ and His great power are in you and that you do not need to use outward human effort to improve your behavior or to be broken. You have seen that what you need is to let Christ’s riches and power be expressed through you. Since you have seen these things, you need to stand in them.
Keep in mind that in chapter 1 Paul did not speak about standing. If at the outset in chapter 1, Paul had said, “You need to stand,” then I would ask him, “Brother Paul, where do you want me to stand? Should I stand on the elementary lessons of character cultivation in Confucianism? Should I stand on the lessons of the cross?” The reason we do not have to ask him where we should stand is that he tells us clearly in the first five chapters. We need to stand in the fullness of Christ, which is the church. We need to stand in the new man, who is also the church. We need to stand in the visions we have seen.
Today many Christian preachers preach from Ephesians with a very natural view, saying, “O brothers, make sure that you do not fall! As young people, you are often tempted to go to the movies. Some may even try to persuade you to go to dancing parties. However, you need to stand! Stand by the might of the Lord’s strength!” This is the kind of standing spoken of by Christians in general. It is a shame if we still speak of standing in this way. After all these messages, our eyes should be opened to see where we should stand. We should stand in our visions—in God’s eternal purpose, in the all-inclusive Christ, in the unsearchable riches of Christ, and in the great power.
If others in the church still like to hear good sermons or messages, you need to stand and not be dragged down by them. Two days ago I heard someone share that the church is a restaurant. When I heard this, I said Amen. Afterwards, however, I did not feel quite at ease inside. I would ask, “What do we eat in this restaurant?” If we eat a meal that is ordinary and plain, this is all right. However, if we eat sweet rice pudding every day, then soon we will be ready to be put in a coffin. When I went back to my room after hearing the sharing concerning the church being a restaurant, I could not sleep peacefully. Then last night someone said that since the church is a restaurant, it needs good cooks. I also felt uncomfortable when I heard this word. Finally, this morning when a sister was speaking lengthily on how we need good cooks, I was made clear by her speaking. I realized that all this speaking is trying to drag me back to religion. Eventually, it will cause me to change in nature. I, however, have no intention to be a cook in a restaurant. Therefore, immediately I said to myself, “I must stand.” We do not want restaurants! Down with restaurants! We do not want cooks! We do not want preachers! We do not want pastors preaching sermons! We do not want to eat at restaurants. We want to eat ordinary and plain meals at home. Who should cook? We all should cook for ourselves! Everyone has to do his own cooking. The church is not a restaurant. The church is a home. We eat ordinary and plain meals at home, and everyone cooks and eats for himself.
Our eyes must be opened. Do not let them become blurred. We must “be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength.” We need to see through the stratagems of the enemy. In Matthew 16 Peter first told the Lord, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This was revealed to him by the Father who is in the heavens (vv. 16-17). A short while later, however, he said, “God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You!” (v. 22). This was Satan! A moment earlier Peter was in the heavens; a moment later he had become the devil. We must beware of the stratagems of the devil. I am not saying that what fallen Christianity preaches concerning standing is not the truth. I am saying that it is too low. Today we must see that Ephesians is not talking about filthy things, such as dancing, playing cards, being seduced, and falling into temptations. What does Ephesians speak about? It speaks about the heavenly visions, such as the eternal purpose of God, the all-inclusive Christ, the unsearchable riches of Christ, the great power, and the abolishing of the ordinances through the cross. Ephesians does not speak only about the Lord’s crucifixion for the redemption of our sins. It says that on the cross the Lord created the two—the Jews and the Gentiles—in Himself into one new man. The Jews and the Gentiles have all been crucified. We should stand in this! There are neither Greeks nor Jews, Chinese or Japanese, in the church as the new man. In the church there is only the new man.
Let me test you again. From today onward, where will you stand? Suppose someone were to say to you, “We should stand on not losing our temper and on not playing mah-jongg.” If they were to say this, you should reply, “Go away! This is a low preaching! Today I am standing in the visions in Ephesians. I do not need the low preaching.” Suppose someone else were to say, “Our meetings have become lifeless, so we need to ask Brother So-and-so to come here.” What would you say to this? You should not say “Go away!” to this. Instead, you should say, “I am standing!” Does saying this mean that you are proud? It does not. We must see something eternal, something exceedingly great—the mystery of God and the mystery of Christ. We must see that the all-inclusive Christ is in us, and every one of us must say, “O Lord, I will stand today!”
At this point I would like to ask you another question. Suppose that after you have declared that you will stand, the saints in the meetings gradually revert to sitting comfortably, then to sitting silently, and then eventually to sitting “deadly.” If this happens, what will you do? At that time, the sisters should remind the brothers, saying, “Brothers, stand!” Someone else should rise and say, “Praise the Lord, I cannot sit anymore. I have a great power in me!”
I firmly believe that through these messages you have seen a vision and that something has entered into you. I absolutely believe that, even if you are willing to let yourself fall, and even if you were to jump into the lake of fire (needless to say this is impossible), you will bring with you what has been impressed into you, and no matter how much you try, you will not be able to get rid of it. Even if you regret what you have seen and want to get rid of it, it is too late. It is the Lord’s mercy that He not only has shown us the heavenly visions but has also caused the visions to be branded into us so that, regardless of how hard we may try, we cannot wash them away. I absolutely believe that we will not be able to forget the visions that we have seen. Now we need to stand! We must stand in every local church!
Now let us go further to see a supplementary point, a point concerning spiritual warfare. In spiritual warfare we need to put on the whole armor of God, and the last two items in the armor of God are the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. Ephesians 6 says that we need to receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit by means of all prayer and petition (vv. 17-18a). We must know that the helmet is for protection, and the sword is for slaying the enemy. These two items are very meaningful. On the one hand, we need protection, and on the other hand, we need to kill the enemy. In this chapter we will not say too much concerning the aspect of protection. When we are in our localities, we should say, “O Lord, put the helmet of salvation on us. Do not let Satan shoot the darts of natural concepts and of religious thoughts into our minds. O Lord, control our thoughts and our thinking. Preserve our minds.” Our focus in this chapter is on the sword of the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit is for slaying. Several Bible translations indicate that the sword refers to the word of God. However, according to the Greek grammatical construction, the sword here is not the word of God but the Spirit. The Spirit is the sword, and the Spirit is also the word of God. In John 6 the Lord said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (v. 63b). The word is the Spirit. Ephesians 6 reverses the order and says the Spirit is the word of God.
We must see that the word of God is the Spirit of God. You cannot separate the word of God from the Spirit of God. When I speak forth God’s word, what goes out from me is the word, but it is the Spirit who enters into you. When the word is spoken again by you, it is the word, but when it enters into others, it is the Spirit again. The word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the word. The two are one. What I speak here is the word, but what enters into you is the Spirit. The Spirit is the word, and the word is the Spirit. Thus, this word is not doctrine or knowledge. The Lord told us that His words are spirit. God’s Spirit comes forth, and when we touch Him, He is the word. The Spirit is God’s word.
In Ephesians 6 God’s word is not for supplying but for killing, because it is the sword. What then does it kill? It kills anything that is contrary to God’s vision. We are in a warfare. Anything that is contrary to the vision of God, the fullness of Christ, and the great power within us has to be slain. Do not tolerate it but slay it. You may have been trained and may have seen visions, but some of the other saints may still be in the old way. What shall you do? You need to kill. Do not kill the brothers and sisters, but kill the old way, kill the religious way, and kill the unwillingness to stand.
Perhaps two months after reading this, someone will come to you and speak some persuasive words, saying, “Look at your church here. There is neither speaking in tongues nor healing. What are you doing here?” Let me ask you, What shall you do? On the one hand, you need to stand, and on the other hand, you need to slay. Is this being too wild? It is not. Do you have to be polite to the enemy? We must stand and slay! As to ourselves, we need to stand, and as to the enemy, we need to slay.
Let us talk about our family affairs and consider our family. Generally speaking, the churches everywhere, including the church in Taipei and the churches in Southeast Asia, are about the same—they all have some older ones and some younger ones. Most of the older ones are over sixty years of age. Those whom we refer to as younger ones are actually not that young. In our family tradition, everyone is considered a child until he is thirty-five years of age. If our family tradition had been changed ten or more years ago, today many of you would already be the core members of our family, because many of you are over twenty-three years old. According to the law of this country, twenty years old is considered the legal adult age. In the past our family tradition neglected this matter, so today many who are over twenty-two still behave like children who have no sense of responsibility toward their own family and who roam around freely outside.
Therefore, let us consider our family affairs. Is the church in your locality your home? Since we all would say that it is, since the fathers and mothers here are rather old now, and since the times have also changed, what shall we do? We need to reform. We should not revolt, but we should reform. How do we do this? The responsibility to do this is upon the young people. Every one of you should stand and slay. However, you must be careful. Do not kill your fathers and mothers or anyone else. Kill religion, and kill the old things. This killing is not fleshly but spiritual. In Ephesians 6 the sword used for killing the enemy is not the sword of the flesh but the sword of the Spirit. Your spirit must be strong, your spirit must be praying, and your spirit must execute the heavenly authority. Sometimes the older brothers and sisters, out of a good heart and intention, may propose to invite a preacher. By doing this, they unconsciously bring in religion. You do not need to oppose, but you need to stand in spirit. Do not slay the old ones who are the parents, and do not kill their proposals. Kill the enemy. In the meetings you need to pray in spirit and stand in spirit. You also need to rise up and share something one after another, sharing something that is fresh and full of supply. This will be like dropping a great number of bombs to completely demolish the old religion. This is the way to reform the church. None of the older ones in our home are our enemies. They all are our lovely parents. They love us, but it is not easy for them to get rid of their old concepts. Do not argue with them, because the more you argue, the more you will give room to the devil. Do not argue, and do not make a sound. Simply wait for the right time and then strike. If everyone stands up to release Christ and minister His riches, the older ones will say, “This meeting is really fresh! No wonder Brother Lee keeps declaring that this is really wonderful!” This will show that they have seen something. I believe that if you do this for half a year, your reformation will be a success.
Young brothers and sisters, the Lord’s recovery is our big family, and you are its life pulse. These chapters have a relaxed and easy manner, but I tell you, on my heart I bear a very heavy burden. All the churches, from Taipei to Indonesia in Southeast Asia, are too old. On the one hand, we thank the Lord that the churches are solidly for the Lord’s recovery and for the Lord’s unique ground. They are truly stable with regard to these matters. On the other hand, they are indeed too old. What then shall we do? I have considered this matter very much. If I go and speak these things again to the older brothers, they will nod their heads and receive my words. Their hearts may be more than willing to turn to a new situation, but their strength is lacking. Let me give you an illustration. I lack musical talent. Although I can select and call out hymns, when it comes to singing, I am like a person who can say but cannot do. When I was young, I was able to learn a little by humming the melody of a song a few times, but today not only can I not sing the new hymns; I cannot even manage to sing the old hymns. I am not the only one who is like this. All the older saints are about the same. If you do not believe me, let me ask four older brothers to sing for you. You will see that their singing is too poor. In this matter of singing, we who are older are hopeless. Even if you threaten to break us, crush us, and make hamburgers out of us, we still will not be able to sing well. However, if I were to ask four young people to sing for you, you would see how good their singing is. We who are older cannot sing. Regardless of how hard you press us, we cannot produce any oil. This is a clear illustration showing that the older ones should yield to the able ones, the young people. The older ones can stand behind them to supervise. They are our next generation, so we should turn our home over to them and let them take care of it. We should just stand on the side to watch. The young people have the vitality and are aggressive, yet they are not experienced. The older ones are more experienced, so they can watch on the side and render some help.
Therefore, from now on, everyone must be clear that the housekeeping is the responsibility of the young people. Young people, you really need to go before the Lord and receive this burden from Him. I worship the Lord because your generation is made up of people who are in their twenties. Your generation is the cream of our family, and from now on, you are the core of this big family. The future of this family completely hinges on you. Today in our home we still have the old fathers, old mothers, big brothers, and big sisters, so we do not need you to be responsible for many of the regular chores. What we expect of you is that on the spiritual side and in the meetings you would receive the baton. In the meetings you should not be proud, but you also do not need to be polite. You need to stand in spirit and bear the responsibility.
Does the Lord have a way to prepare His bride in today’s Roman Catholic Church? The answer to this question is altogether a negative. It is impossible for Him to do this there. Can the Lord find a way to prepare His bride in today’s Protestant churches? This is also impossible. Can the Lord find a way to prepare His bride in today’s free groups? This is also impossible. Then where can the Lord go? By the Lord’s mercy, it seems that He has a way in the Lord’s recovery. If He still cannot find a way here, He will be forced to find another way. However, according to the situation today, and according to the prophecies, the time will not be delayed. Hence, I am convinced that today the Lord has a way in the church. He is preparing His bride here, and here He will usher in His coming again.
Therefore, young brothers and sisters, you must influence all the churches on the whole island of Taiwan and all those in Southeast Asia as well. This is not a light matter. I hope that you will take this matter seriously to the Lord and receive the burden from His hand. I cannot give you the commission. I can only fellowship frankly with you according to the real situation and according to what I sense and know. I believe that now you all are clear. May the Lord be gracious to you that every one of you will receive a sweet burden within. I would like to tell you that if I had one hundred lives, I feel it would be worthwhile to give them all for this way. I have been on this way for forty years, and I have never regretted it. Even up to this day I still feel glorious that I can be on this way. I repeat, if I had a hundred lives, I would lay every one of them on this way. May the Lord be merciful to us!
