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Scripture Reading: Eph. 3:16-21
In Ephesians 1 Paul prayed that the Father would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation (v. 17). If we are fresh and strong in our spirit, we will be enlightened and receive revelation. With revelation we will be able to understand. This understanding, this wisdom, however, is not related to comprehending mere human knowledge but to knowing the church. The center of Paul’s prayer is the church. He prayed that the Father would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we would know the church. When we have a spirit of wisdom and revelation, we will also know the great power that can operate in us, which is the same power that God caused to operate in Christ.
This great power raised Christ from the dead (v. 20). Christ was crucified, buried, and even entombed behind a large stone. In death Christ was completely enclosed. However, the power of God operated in Him to raise Him from the dead, resurrecting and delivering Him out of the condition and realm of death. This great power also caused Christ to be seated in ascension at the right hand of God, far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come (vv. 20-21). This great power also subjected all things under Christ’s feet (v. 22). Lastly, this great power operated in Christ to make Him Head over all things to the church (v. 22). This fourfold power which operated in Christ is available to us today as resurrecting, transcending, subduing, and ruling power. When we experience this power operating in us, we are delivered from death, oppression, and difficulty, we transcend every negative element, and we experience the subduing and ruling authority of Christ. The church is produced by the operation of this great power, and the church is manifested by this power.
If we are deadened and subdued by our environment, by people, by things, or by events, the church cannot be manifested. It is easy to be buried in the tomb of business deals or in the tomb of family relationships. Some wives are tombs for their husbands, and some husbands are tombs for their wives. Some parents are tombs for their children, and some children are tombs for their parents. If we are in a tomb of any kind, the church will not be produced and manifested.
The church is produced through the saints’ experience of this great power. If a sister has a problem in her home, the resurrection power of Christ can overcome the problem. If a brother is excessively burdened beyond his power, the transcendent power of Christ can lift him up. Today people are trying to go to the moon, but we are going to the third heaven. Those who go to the moon must depend upon rockets, but we can reach the third heaven with the resurrection power of Christ. With this power every difficulty is under our feet, and we are seated as kings above every stormy wave.
The church is produced by Christ. If we touch Christ in the morning, we will be in the meetings in the evening. Touching and enjoying Christ in the morning removes any lack of desire to attend the meetings. However, if we do not experience the Lord throughout the day, we will be deflated and have no desire to do anything in the evening other than to watch television. In this condition television becomes a “tomb” for us. However, if we touch and enjoy the Lord in the morning and throughout the day, even ten thousand televisions could not keep us from the meeting. When we experience Christ, we transcend television, and television becomes our footstool. When we transcend television and reign over it, we long to be in the meetings and to enjoy the church life. This shows that the church is produced out of the power of Christ.
However, if Christ’s power is merely a doctrine, it will be useless; it must be experiential in order to be useful. We must experience the resurrecting, transcending, subduing, and ruling power of Christ. As soon as we experience the power of Christ, we become transcendent, and the church is brought forth.
If we do not experience the resurrection power of Christ, the church will not be expressed through us, even if we come to the meetings. If we are not transcendent, subduing, and reigning, the church cannot be expressed through us. On the one hand, we may say Amen in the meeting, but on the other hand, we may be thinking about a television program. In the end, our Amen is a subdued Amen, not a subduing Amen. A sister may come to the meeting but still be thinking about a fashionable dress that she saw in a department store. If we are occupied with thoughts of such things, it is not possible for the church to be expressed through us. If we have been subdued by a television program or a fashionable dress, these things are “tombs” to us. Even if we say Amen in the meeting, our Amen will have the flavor of death. However, if we are in resurrection, if we are transcendent, if we are subduing, and if we are reigning, our Amen will have a fresh taste, and it will transport others into heaven. The church is produced through the experience of the power of Christ. This is the reason that Paul’s first prayer ends with the church as the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all (vv. 22-23).
It is one thing to enter into the church, but it is another thing to have the living of the church. Not only do we need to enter into the church; we also need to have the church life. Knowing the church enables us to enter into the church, but we need to advance to living the church life. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 is related to our need to be in the church life. Paul’s second prayer is related to having the church life. God desires to be glorified in the church, and being glorified is a matter of expression. When we all have the living of the church, God will be expressed through us. This is what it means for God to be glorified in the church.
Having the living of the church is higher and deeper than entering into the church. In Paul’s first prayer we see our need for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in order to enter into the church and to know the church (1:17). Our spirit is the organ for us to know and enter into the church. However, the prayer for us to remain in the church and have the living of the church involves a further step in which our spirit becomes our inner man. Thus, our spirit must become our person, rather than just an organ.
We must differentiate between an organ and a person. The Bible tells us clearly that man is of three parts: spirit and soul and body (1 Thes. 5:23). Our body is on the outside, our soul is in between, and our spirit is our innermost part. Our body enables us to contact the physical world, and our soul enables us to contact the psychological world, but our spirit enables us to contact God. God created our spirit as an organ for us to contact Him, but is our person related to our body, our soul, or our spirit? When a person dies, we often say that he has gone, even though his body is still present. This indicates that our person is not defined by our body; our body is but an organ. In contrast, the Bible speaks of our soul when it speaks of persons. For example, Exodus 1:5 says, “All the persons who came forth from the loins of Jacob were seventy persons.” Persons in Hebrew literally means “souls.” Thus, our soul is equivalent to our person. Genesis 2:7 says, “Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” Hence, every man is a soul with a body and a spirit as organs. The soul is the person of every man. However, when a man believes in the Lord and receives Him, the Lord becomes life to him in his spirit. Before believing, man’s spirit did not have life; it was merely an organ. However, once the Lord Jesus enters into a man’s spirit as life, his spirit is no longer merely an organ but also an inner man.
Hence, there are two persons in every believer. Before a believer is saved, his person is in his soul, but after being saved, there is another person in his spirit. Hence, there are two persons in every believer. We need to ask if it is good to have two persons in us. When we are a guest in someone’s home, we all prefer to be in a room alone rather than to share it with another person. We do not like to share a room with another person, because when there are two persons, there will be two opinions. Even in small matters such as opening or closing a window, it is not easy for two people to be in agreement with each other.
When we receive the Lord, it is a blessing, but it is also troublesome. For example, before we received the Lord Jesus, we could go to a movie whenever we wanted; there was no one in us expressing a different opinion. However, now that the Lord Jesus is in us, He does not always agree with our choices. While we are watching a movie, He will trouble us inwardly and give us no peace.
According to the Bible, one of the persons within us has been crucified and must be denied. Romans 6:6 says that our old man, that is, the person in our soul, has been crucified with Christ. The old man with his life in our soul has been crucified, and we should not allow him to live. If he lives, he will do great harm to us and be quite troublesome. Even though the person of our soul has been crucified and must be denied, the function of our soul has been preserved. This means that the life of the soul needs to be killed, but the faculties of our soul—the mind, emotion, and will—have to be renewed. Being crucified with Christ does not mean that we no longer use our mind or that we no longer express any emotion. Rather, it means that the corrupted life in our soul, our old man, has been crucified in order for the faculties of the soul to be renewed.
Formerly, our soul was our person, and our spirit was an organ. Now our spirit must become our person, and our soul must become an organ. When we call, “O Lord,” we can deny our soul-life and utilize it as an organ to express our renewed mind, emotion, and will.
Husbands and wives often argue with each other. These arguments come from the soul. Hence, we must call, “O Lord.” Calling on the name of the Lord keeps our old man in the tomb so that it cannot come out. When we call on the Lord, we do not have to listen to or live by our soul. Rather, we can live by our spirit through our continual denial of our old man.
The Chinese word for soul is composed of two radicals. The first radical means “devil,” and the second radical means “speak.” Thus, the Chinese word for soul literally means “devil speaking.” We should not listen to the opinions of our soul. As soon as an opinion rises up in our soul, we should say, “Devil, stop talking!” This is not a laughing matter. Our fallen soul is actually linked to the devil. When we deny our soul, we are denying the devil.
We must be clear concerning this matter. Formerly, our soul was our person, but today our spirit is our person. Formerly, the spirit was an organ, but now the soul is an organ. We should not let our soul voice its opinions or take the lead. This is to deny the expression of our soul as our person. However, when we need to remember certain things, we can utilize the faculty of our mind as an organ related to memory. Thus, our soul is no longer our person but merely an organ. Our spirit is our person today.
Our spirit is our inner man, and this inner man is a person—the Lord Himself. Formerly, the person in our soul was ourselves. Now the person in our spirit is the Lord Jesus.
In Ephesians 1 Paul prays that we would experience the power of Christ, and in chapter 3 he prays that we would experience the person of Christ. The power of Christ is one thing, whereas the person of Christ is another thing. Many brothers and sisters experience only the Lord’s power. For example, a sister may pray, “Lord, my husband is harsh, and I cannot bear it anymore. I need Your resurrection power.” After the Lord’s resurrection operates in her, however, she may quickly forget about the Lord and even put Him aside. When she enjoyed the Lord’s resurrection power, she was full of joy and testified in the meetings, but when she puts the Lord aside, she is outside of the church experientially and cannot live the church life. Those who experience only the Lord’s power may see and know the church according to Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1, but they do not have the church life according to his prayer in Ephesians 3. Only when we experience the Lord as our person will we live the church life.
If we would take Christ as our person, we must see that our spirit is not merely an organ for us to contact God; we must see that our spirit is our person. Thus, we must deny our soul-life, our own person, and live by our spirit, our new person. The Lord Jesus is this new person. In Ephesians 1 our spirit is an organ; in chapter 3 our spirit is our inner man. In chapter 1 our spirit is an organ for us to experience the power of Christ; in chapter 3 our spirit is our inner man for us to take Christ as our person.
Ephesians 3:17 says, “That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith.” Here the word hearts is crucial. Our soul has three parts: mind, emotion, and will. The heart also includes the conscience. Hence, the heart consists of the mind, emotion, will, and conscience. This shows that the heart is linked with both the spirit and the soul because the conscience is one of the three parts of the spirit. The other two parts of the spirit are intuition and fellowship.
In order for Christ to make His home in our hearts, He has to enter into our conscience, mind, emotion, and will. Many people leave Christ outside their conscience. We need to allow the Lord Jesus to touch us in our conscience. Sometimes, when He touches us in our conscience, we say, “Lord, please stop. You are in my spirit, but do not touch my conscience.” Hence, our conscience is neither good nor pure (1 Tim. 1:5, 19; 3:9). With regard to our heart, we may treat the Lord as a guest rather than the host because we do not want Him to touch our conscience or our mind, emotion, and will. Thus, the Lord Jesus cannot make His home in our hearts.
In my travels I often stay in the saints’ homes as a guest. I know the blessing as well as the restriction of being a guest. Staying in the saints’ homes is a blessing because when I am a guest, I am treated very well. Nevertheless, as a guest, I am restricted because I cannot make their house my home. In the United States when I am received into the homes of the saints, they often say, “Please make yourself at home.” Even though I politely reply, “Thank you,” I am clear that I am only a guest and not the host. Consequently, I am more restricted than I am in my own home.
Although the Lord being a guest is not as good as the Lord being the host in our hearts, it is better than His being a “prisoner,” who has no freedom whatsoever. Some people put the Lord Jesus into a “prison” so that He has no ground to touch them. It is as if they confine Him to a small corner in their living room, saying, “Lord, I have prepared this place for You. Do not step outside of this area, and do not interfere with my affairs. My affairs are my affairs, and I do not want to talk to anyone about them, including You.”
This situation occurs because our inner man is weak. Therefore, Paul prayed that the Father would strengthen us with power through His Spirit into the inner man (Eph. 3:16). When our inner man is strengthened, the Lord Jesus will be released. We can be strengthened into the inner man simply by calling, “O Lord.” When we call, “O Lord,” the Lord Jesus gains ground in us and spreads in us. He will spread into our conscience, and from our conscience into our mind, emotion, and will. He can have a home in our hearts only when He occupies every part of our heart.
When Christ makes His home in our hearts, we will be rooted and grounded in love and be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints the breadth and length and height and depth (vv. 17-18). These four dimensions are the dimensions of Christ. How broad is the breadth? How long is the length? How high is the height? And how deep is the depth? They are all limitless. Christ is the breadth, Christ is the length, Christ is the height, and Christ is the depth. When we let Christ make His home in our hearts, we will be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints the limitless dimensions of Christ. Our Christ is unlimited in His breadth, in His length, in His height, and in His depth.
When we comprehend our unlimited Christ, we also will know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ and will be filled unto all the fullness of God (v. 19). Then we will have a church life that glorifies and expresses God in the church and in Christ Jesus (v. 21).
We all must learn to not only experience Christ’s power but also to take Him as our person. Our former person, our old man, has been crucified. Now our spirit is our person so that we can take Christ as our person.
If we want to live the church life but do not take Christ as our person, we can never be blended together with others, because we are all different according to our nature. Each of us has our own tastes and preferences. We may experience the resurrection power of Christ when we are by ourselves, but when we come to the meeting hall, our tastes and preferences can easily rise up within us. We may experience the resurrection power before coming to the meeting hall, but when we are asked to clean chairs in a specific way, we can easily be bothered. For example, when a brother says to another brother, “Please do not wipe the chairs with a wet cloth,” he may become angry and say, “I have many servants at home, and I never have to clean any of my chairs. I am doing you an honor by cleaning the chairs, yet you are not grateful. In the future I will not serve with you.” It is not possible to have the church life when our old man is allowed to be our person. Those who want to have the church life must deny their soul-life, their self, their old man. We should all cover our heads and take Christ as our person. Those from northern China should take Christ as their person, and those from southern China should also take Christ as their person. Eventually, in the church there will be no northern or southern Chinese; there will be only Christ. Although we are many, we are one because there is only one person in us.
The church is a man. The person of the church is neither a southerner nor a northerner and neither a Chinese nor an American. In the church there is only Christ as our person. When Christ is our person, the church will be one, and there will not be any problem for us to live the church life. We should not only experience the power of Christ so that we may know the church and enter into the church; we should also experience the person of Christ so that we may have the church life for God to be glorified in the church.
