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Scripture Reading: 1:13, Eph. 1:17-18; 2:8, 2:14-15; 4:14, 17, 4:23, 30; 6:11-12, 6:17-18; 3:15-19; 5:18-20, 26
Before we were saved, we were subject to certain negative things. According to Ephesians 2:2 and 3, these negative things include the age of this world, the ruler of the authority of the air, and the lusts of the flesh. But after we were saved, as those in Christ, as members of the church, we began to be bothered by other kinds of negative things.
According to Ephesians, the first negative thing that hinders believers is blindness. Although the word blindness is not used in the book of Ephesians, it is implied in 1:17 and 18, where Paul prays that the Father of glory would give to us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him, the eyes of our heart having been enlightened. Today millions of Christians suffer from spiritual blindness. They are blind in the eyes of their heart. This was also our situation before we came into the church life. Because we were blind, we did not know the hope of God’s calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. Furthermore, we did not know God’s eternal purpose or His economy. We did not know what is meant by the all-inclusiveness of Christ, nor did we realize that the church comes into being as the fullness of the One who fills all in all through our enjoyment of the riches of Christ and participation in those riches. For the most part, we knew only that we were sinners destined for hell but that God loved the world and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins so that one day we might go to heaven. We did not know the profound truths revealed in the book of Ephesians.
Preachers like to quote Paul’s word in Ephesians 2:5 and 8, telling us that we are saved by grace through faith. There is even a well-known gospel song entitled “Only a Sinner Saved by Grace.” According to the concept of many gospel preachers today, to be saved by grace is simply to be saved from hell. But although Ephesians 2 does speak of being saved by grace, there is no mention of hell. Rather, according to the context of this chapter, we are saved from sin, from the ruler of the authority of the air, from the course of this age, from the lustful desires of the flesh, and from death. Such a salvation makes us God’s masterpiece, His workmanship (v. 10). Nevertheless, many Christians have no realization of the extent of this salvation, much less of the deeper truths concerning the Body as the fullness of Christ. In a very real sense, the eyes of many hearts have been blinded.
A second negative thing that we confront after being saved is ordinances (v. 15). The ordinances mentioned in Ephesians 2 refer to different ways of living and worship. As believers, we are part of the new man. However, ordinances are a hindrance to the formation of the new man. All the different nationalities have their particular ordinances, their own rituals, ways, and practices with respect to worship and daily life. The Jews have their ordinances, and the Muslims have their ways and practices. Those from the various countries in Europe have their ways, and the people in the Far East have theirs. Whenever those with different ordinances try to come together, there is friction, even enmity. How then is it possible for different peoples to become the constituents of the one new man? Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But in Ephesians 2 Paul declares that the ordinances have been nailed to the cross. This has made it possible for those of different nationalities to be one new man.
Even though the ordinances have been nailed to the cross, they may still be very prevailing among both believers and unbelievers. Do you have the assurance that you are no longer under the influence of ordinances? If you take the time to visit believers in other countries, you will no doubt be exposed as still having certain ordinances. However, although we cannot say that we are no longer influenced by ordinances, the situation among the saints in the churches is much better now than it was several years ago. Throughout the years in the church life, we have seen the gradual disappearance of ordinances among us. But there is still the need for more improvement. Ordinances certainly are contrary to the proper experience of the church life, the Body, Christ’s fullness.
A third negative thing in Ephesians is the winds of teaching, or the winds of doctrine (4:14). Doctrine has been a wind to blow believers away from Christ, the Head, and away from the church, the Body. Almost all Christians today are influenced by some wind of doctrine. When you meet another believer, often the first thing he will ask is what church you attend. Then he may go on to inquire about certain doctrines and teachings.
After I began the ministry in this country in 1962, I was invited to speak at different places. In almost every place I was asked questions about such doctrines as eternal security, absolute grace, baptism, and the rapture. In order not to offend those who asked, I answered very carefully. When asked about eternal security, I replied, “The best security is Christ.” Regarding absolute grace, I said, “To me, no grace is more absolute than Christ.” Likewise, concerning baptism, I answered, “The best way to be baptized is to be crucified with Christ on the cross.” With respect to the rapture, I replied, “If you love the Lord and wait for Him to come back, He will certainly rapture you.” These answers seemed to neutralize the doctrinal differences and to subdue the doctrinal winds.
The winds of doctrine have distracted Christians from the proper experience of Christ. Some who have been distracted by doctrine accuse us of confusing the doctrine of the Trinity. Actually, they themselves may not believe in the Trinity but in tritheism, in three Gods, regarding the Father as separate from the Son and the Son as separate from the Spirit. Thus, they believe in a kind of corporate God. What heresy! By contrast, we teach the genuine Trinity in keeping with the pure Word of God. According to the Bible, God is triune; this means that He is three-one. We may say that God is three-in-one, but it is more accurate to say that He is three-one. We are not able to figure this out. We were not created with the capacity to fathom the Triune God, but we were created with the ability to receive Him.
Shortly after we moved to Anaheim, some opposing ones distributed a mimeographed paper saying that the Father, Son, and Spirit are three distinct and separate persons. Later we put out writings saying that the three persons are distinct but not separate. To claim that the Father, Son, and Spirit are separate is heretical. According to the Bible, the Father and the Son cannot be separated. The Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. How could it be possible to separate Them? In the light of the Bible, we believe in the coinherence of the three of the Godhead. We believe that the three exist as one. Whereas we believe that the Father, Son, and Spirit coexist mutually for eternity, many Christians teach tritheism, especially those blown about by winds of doctrine. Praise the Lord that in the local churches we are saved from the distracting winds of doctrine!
The fourth negative thing in Ephesians is the vanity of the mind. In 4:17 Paul says, “This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind.” Not only do unbelievers walk in the vanity of the mind, but even millions of today’s Christians also walk in the vanity of the mind. This was the reason Paul gave the charge recorded in 4:17. In their mind unbelievers do not have God, Christ, or the Spirit; they have nothing except vanity. In the words of Solomon, apart from God everything under the sun is vanity (Eccl. 1:2). Only Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, is reality. We must take heed not to walk in the vanity of the mind. If we would experience Christ and the church, we must be delivered from the vanity of our mind.
Finally, as the fifth negative element in Ephesians, there are Satan, the devil, and his dark powers in the air. In no other book is there such an unveiling of Satan and his evil powers as in Ephesians 6. The church has a commission to fight against these powers of darkness.
Although the gospel has been preached for more than nineteen centuries, the church still has not been built up because of these five categories of negative things—blindness, ordinances, the winds of doctrine, the vanity of the mind, and the evil powers in the air. These negative things are more serious than those in the book of Galatians. Nevertheless, in Ephesians we are given the way to overcome each of them. To overcome blindness we need a spirit of wisdom and revelation to enlighten the eyes of our heart. To overcome ordinances we need to be strengthened with power through the Spirit into our inner man so that Christ may make His home in our hearts through faith. Then, having been rooted and grounded in love, we will be full of strength to apprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth and to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, that we may be filled unto all the fullness of God. To overcome the winds of doctrine and the vanity of the mind, we need to be renewed in the spirit of the mind. Furthermore, there is a way for us to wrestle against the evil powers of darkness.
Now we must consider the secret of overcoming these negative things and of experiencing Christ and the church according to Ephesians. The secret in Ephesians is a continuation of that found in Galatians. Ephesians 1:13 is a very important verse related to this secret: “In whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in Him also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise.” This verse speaks of hearing the word of the truth, of believing in Christ, and of being sealed with the Holy Spirit. Is this not a continuation of the matter of receiving the Spirit by the hearing of faith mentioned in Galatians? In Ephesians 2:8 we see that we are saved by grace through faith. Where does this faith come from? According to 1:13, faith comes from the hearing of the word. Hence, the first basic factor of the secret of experiencing Christ and the church is the word.
The word is related both to faith and to the Spirit. In our experience the word becomes faith and the Spirit. Through faith we have been saved. Moreover, according to 3:17, Christ makes His home in our hearts through faith. If we do not have this faith, there is no way for Christ to make His home in our hearts. The faith through which Christ makes His home in our hearts comes by hearing the word and receiving the word. As we hear the word and receive it, something is infused into us, and this infused element becomes living faith. Therefore, if Christ is to make His home in our hearts, we need to hear the word, deal with the word, and contact the Word. We also need to pray-read the Word, sing the Word, muse upon the Word, and dwell in the Word. The more we contact the Word in this way, the more Christ will spread into our inner being and make His home in our hearts.
Being renewed in the spirit of our mind also has much to do with the word. If the word does not enter into our mind, there is no way for the Spirit to get into our mind. But when our mind is saturated by the word, it will be full of the Spirit. In this way the Spirit becomes the renewing Spirit in our mind.
In 5:18 Paul charges us to “be filled in spirit,” no doubt with the Spirit of God. But how can the Spirit of God get into our spirit? The answer is that the Spirit comes into our spirit through the word. When our spirit is filled with the word, the word, having come into us, becomes the Spirit. This is proved by 5:26, which speaks of “the washing of the water in the word.” If the word did not get into us, how could it wash us inwardly? The washing in 5:26 is not an outward washing but a washing from within, a washing that removes spots and wrinkles, thereby accomplishing a work of transformation. If the word could not come into us, there would be no way for the water of the word to wash us inwardly. The fact that we are washed by the water in the word proves that it is possible for the word to get into us.
In 6:17-18 we see the way to take in the word: receive the word of God by means of all prayer and petition. When we receive the word by prayer and petition, the word gets into us and becomes the Spirit who fills our spirit and spreads into our mind, becoming the Spirit of our mind and renewing our mind. Furthermore, the word washes us inwardly and, by spreading into the inward parts of our being, makes a home for Christ within us. Therefore, this matter of the word is a line that goes from 1:13 to 6:17-18.
If we read and pray-read the Bible in a proper way, even musing upon the Word, singing it, and dwelling in it, our inner being will be filled. We may say that we are filled with the word, with the Spirit, or with faith. We may also say that we are filled with the anointing, with God, or with Christ. By this inward filling we have the power to defeat the darkness in the air. We also have the living water flowing within us to wash away the old elements, the wrinkles and the spots, and to renew us. When we are filled in this way, we sense that Christ is settling Himself in our being, making our inner chambers the rooms for His dwelling place. Also, when we enjoy such a filling, we love all believers, no matter what their nationality may be. Moreover, our inner eyes are enlightened, and our vision becomes clear.
Before we learned to take the word in this way, we were blind, empty, weak, and full of oldness. We had no way to deal with the evil powers in the air. But now by taking the word in the proper way, reading it, pray-reading it, and even singing and praising with it, we are filled inwardly and have the power to defeat Satan. Oh, there is nothing more refreshing and cleansing than to be inwardly washed by the water in the word! When we are filled with the word and washed by it, our entire being is renewed and transparent, and we have a foretaste of the New Jerusalem. At such a time we do not care for doctrine; we care only for Christ and His Body. Furthermore, the universal dimensions of Christ and His knowledge-surpassing love become our experience. We are saturated with Christ and one with Christ. As a result, we become Christ’s home, and we love all the saints in the church life, both the young and the old. If we all are filled inwardly by contacting the Word in a proper way, the young ones will love the older ones, and the older ones will love the young ones. When an older saint sees a teenager standing up to praise the Lord, his heart will leap for joy. In our experience we will know that all the ordinances have been abolished. From my experience I can testify that this truly is the secret of enjoying Christ and participating in the church life.
We need more prayer and petition to receive the word of God. According to 6:17 and 18, we need to pray at every time in spirit. When we pray, there is no need for us to compose our own prayers; we have the Bible as our prayer book. The best way to pray is to pray with the Word of God. As we pray the Word, we must exercise our spirit and thereby take the word by means of prayer. Then we will enjoy Christ and participate in the church life. We need to watch unto this prayer and persevere in it all day long. Although the powers of darkness may try to quench us and keep us from praying this way, we need to persevere and continue to pray with the Word by exercising our spirit. If we practice this, we will enjoy the secret revealed in Ephesians. Then we will have the proper experience of Christ and the church.
