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Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:17-23; 3:16-21
In this book we will cover the two deepest prayers of the apostle Paul. These two prayers are found in the book of Ephesians, a deep, high, and profound book. This profound book covers mainly one matter—the church. The church is the deepest matter in the Bible. It is not something superficial, shallow, or easy to realize. Today the term the church has been used in a wrong way. When people refer to the church, what do they mean? To many the church is something common. Some may even consider that the church is a material building, but according to the Bible, the church is the deepest matter. We have to be in the deepest part of our being, our spirit, to know the church. All of us, especially the young brothers and sisters, have to know something that is not merely for our enjoyment, our salvation, or our building up. We have to know the church, the deepest matter in the Bible. Because the church is so deep, the apostle prayed for us to know this matter. We need the apostle’s prayer to see the church.
We need to consider what Paul covered in these two prayers. In the first prayer he prayed for a spirit of wisdom and revelation that we could see the church (1:17-23). This prayer is for a spirit that can see, a spirit of revelation, and even a revealing spirit. We need such a spirit to see the church. Many may have a common or superficial understanding concerning the church, but it is not a simple or superficial matter. We should not consider that we understand the matter of the church thoroughly. The church is the mystery of Christ (3:4), and we need a revelation to see it.
In Paul’s second prayer (vv. 16-21), he prayed for the strengthening of our inner man. This is related to our experience. His first prayer is for the seeing, the enlightening, the revealing, and the other is for strengthening. First, we need the revelation that we may see the things concerning this mystery. Then after seeing, we need to get into, to experience, what we have seen. In other words, the first prayer is a prayer for revelation, and the second is a prayer for experience. In the book of Ephesians, both the revelation and the experience are for the church.
In the first prayer Paul prays, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom” (1:17). This does not mean that God would give you the Holy Spirit. The word spirit in this verse is not capitalized, indicating that this is the human spirit. To see the mystery of Christ (3:4), the church, requires more than just a smart mind. A smart mind may be good for the university, but the mind alone can never realize the mystery of the church. To see the church, we need our human spirit.
God did not create us in a simple way. According to 1 Thessalonians 5:23, man is of three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body. Our human body is very complex. Medical doctors spend many years studying medicine, yet they still do not understand the human body thoroughly. The psychological part of our being is the soul, composed of the mind (Psa. 13:2; 139:14; Lam. 3:20), the emotion (S. S. 1:7; 2 Sam. 5:8; Isa. 61:10; 1 Sam. 30:6), and the will (Job 7:15; 6:7; 1 Chron. 22:19). These three organs are wonderful, but they can also be the cause of much trouble. Sometimes we cannot sleep well because we have such an active mind. If we could control our mind, we would sleep well. Our emotion can also be troublesome. If we were not so emotional, we would not be so concerned with how people treat us. Whether they would highly appraise us or scorn us, we would not be moved. Because we have such a troublesome emotion, sometimes we are so bothered that we cannot go to sleep. Our stubborn will is also the source of many problems. Not only do we have a body with so many parts and a soul with so many organs; we have another part of our being, a deeper part, our spirit. The wisest man is the man who lives in his spirit.
If I am a person living in the emotion, I will be easily affected by what others say about me. If you say something good about me, I will be happy. If you say something bad about me, I will be offended. If I live in the emotion, I am just a superficial person. Being in my spirit, however, insulates my emotion. When I am in my spirit, nothing can disturb me. Regardless of how much you praise me or rebuke me, I am not touched, because I retreat to my spirit and stay in my spirit. Sometimes we may not sleep well because we stay in our mind, thinking and reasoning. We worry so much because we are used to staying in our mind. We all have to exercise to retreat to our spirit. If we retreat to our spirit, we will be at peace (Rom. 8:6), and we will get the best sleep.
Furthermore, if we are not in the spirit, we cannot be clear about anything in our daily life. Many times, if we are not in the spirit, we are not fair or honest. Suppose a husband and wife begin to argue. The more they fight, the more they have something to fight about. Today there are so many divorces just because of this kind of endless fighting, but we Christians have a place to which we can retreat. While you are fighting with your spouse, you have to remember that you are a dear saint and that you have a regenerated spirit. Retreat to that spirit. Stop fighting; stop using your mouth. Retreat to your spirit, and stay in your spirit. If you practice this, you will be honest and fair. You will be clear; you will realize that you are wrong, not your spouse. The only place that we can see things clearly is in our spirit.
Suppose I hear something that is not so good. If I am in my mind or in my emotion, I cannot discern the matter clearly, fairly, or rightly. I may even immediately try to speak of this negative matter to another brother. If the brother listening to me has learned some lessons, he will not say a word to me from his mind, but will remain in his spirit. I may try to stir up his interest in this matter, but his staying in his spirit will stop my talking. Sometimes this will even help me to retreat to my spirit. Then in my spirit, I may have the deep sensation that I am wrong. The only place where we can see things clearly, fairly, honestly, faithfully, and accurately is in our spirit. If we are going to know any matter, if we are going to know ourselves, or if we are going to know the real situation of our family life, we have to be in our spirit (1 Cor. 2:11a).
In order to know the church or see something of the church, we must be in the spirit. We can never see the church, the mystery of Christ, merely by using our small mind to consider and try to understand it. The more we do this, the more we will be confused. We should not trust in our mind, but we have to cooperate with God by retreating to our spirit. Many of us may have seen something of the church, but we have to see more in order to stay in the church. We should pray, “Lord, save me. Deliver me from my mind, emotion, and will. Help me to stay in my spirit.” Some may not have seen the church. If you have not seen the church, do not argue with others about this matter or try to understand it on your own. Simply turn to your spirit. You must realize that the deepest part of your being is your human spirit. Your spirit is the very spot where God can reveal things to you. If you turn to your spirit and remain there, the church can be revealed to you.
We need a spirit of wisdom and revelation in order that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened (Eph. 1:18). These are not our physical eyes but our inner eyes, the eyes of our heart. Because we have a spirit, our inner eyes can be enlightened. Then we can not only understand but also see. We must realize that seeing is much better than understanding. Through all the years I have learned not to trust in my knowing or my understanding. Regardless of how much you tell me about the city of London, I do not trust in that. Eventually, I have to go and look at the city of London. When I go there, what I see will be different from what I understood. What we understand will never be as much as what we can see. It is not enough for us to understand the things concerning the church; we must see the church.
Paul prays for us to have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in order that our inner eyes may be enlightened to see three things: the hope of God’s calling (v. 18), the glory of God’s inheritance (v. 18), and the surpassing greatness of His power (v. 19). These three profound things are far beyond our human concept.
We all have been called by God, but what is the hope of God’s calling? Some may say that our hope is to go to heaven. But if you read the Bible, you will realize that God desires to come to earth. The heavens may be so precious to you, but the earth is more precious to God. In Matthew 6:10 the Lord Jesus prayed that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. To God the earth is more important than the heavens. We Christians are always thinking that this earth is hopeless and that we are going to another place. But the Lord prayed that God’s kingdom would come to earth and that His will would be done on earth as it is in the heavens. Even the New Jerusalem one day will come “down out of heaven” (Rev. 21:2). To God, the earth is much more precious than the heavens. Heaven is not the hope of our calling. God has not called us to die and go to heaven. In Psalm 8:1 the psalmist declares, “O Jehovah our Lord, / How excellent is Your name / In all the earth.” Our hope is related to our living on this earth.
This concept of always expecting to go to heaven is from the superstition of Catholicism. Catholicism is a mixture of the truth in the Bible and paganism. In Buddhism there is the teaching that after you die you will go to a good place as a reward, and this kind of thought has been adopted by Catholicism. Many Christians have been indoctrinated with this pagan superstition. Some may be bothered by this word and ask, “After we have been saved, where will we go when we die?” The Bible reveals that Hades, like Sheol in the Old Testament (Gen. 37:35; Psa. 6:5), is the place where the souls and spirits of the dead are kept (Luke 16:22-23; Acts 2:27). However, Hades is divided into two sections: the pleasant section, Paradise, where all the saved saints are, awaiting the resurrection (Luke 16:22-23, 25-26), and where the Lord Jesus went with the saved criminal after they died on the cross (23:43; Acts 2:24, 27, 31; Eph. 4:9; Matt. 12:40); and the section of torment, where all the perished sinners are (Luke 16:23, 28). As saved ones we can be at peace. There is a proper place for us, but this is not the hope of our calling.
The hope of God’s calling is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Christ realized by us, experienced by us, and gained by us to the fullest extent is the hope of our calling. God called us, He justified us, and He will glorify us, conforming us to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29-30). One day we will all be absolutely the same as Christ (1 John 3:2). Our hope is not just Christ as our Redeemer or as our life, but Christ as our ultimate manifestation and consummation, as our glory. We are waiting to be fully conformed to the very image of Christ. This is the ultimate consummation of the enjoyment of Christ, and this is the hope of God’s calling.
The second matter Paul prays for us to see is the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints (Eph. 1:18). We are always concerned about our own inheritance, but God wants us to care for His inheritance. God’s inheritance in the saints is Christ. The Christ who has been wrought into each one of us is God’s inheritance. Christ is everything. To us, Christ is our hope, and to God, Christ is His inheritance. There is nothing within us that is worth being God’s inheritance. Only the very Christ who has been wrought into us can be God’s inheritance. We need to ask how much of Christ has been wrought into us. There may not be much in us that is good for God to inherit because very little of Christ has been wrought into us. This is why we need to be transformed, to have a metabolic change (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), and to be conformed to the image of Christ. We all need more of Christ wrought into our being. The glory of God’s inheritance in the saints is the Christ of glory within us. When we are all transformed and transfigured, conformed to Christ to the uttermost, God will be happy. All the dear saints will be His inheritance, and this inheritance will be Christ Himself wrought into all His believers in full.
The third item that Paul prays for us to see is “the surpassing greatness of His power” (Eph. 1:19). This is the power which God has wrought into Christ to do four things: (1) to raise Him from among the dead (v. 20), (2) to seat Him at the right hand of God (v. 20), (3) to subject all things under His feet (v. 22), and (4) to make this Christ Head over all things to the church (v. 22). We all have to see the surpassing greatness of this power which God wrought into Christ. This is the power that overcame death, the grave, and Hades in raising Jesus from the dead, that seated Christ at God’s right hand in the heavenlies far above all, that subjected all things under His feet, and that gave Him to be Head over all things to the church. This great power is toward us who believe. We need to know this power because the result, the issue, the coming forth, of this power is the church.
It is not merely because we have been saved and meet together that we are the church. We cannot say that this is wrong, but it is a very superficial understanding. We need to see that the normal, genuine, proper, and real church comes out of this great power. If you have the power that raised Christ, that seated Him at God’s right hand, far above all, that subjected all things under His feet, and that gave Him the universal headship, you have the church. This church is the Body of Christ, “the fullness of the One who fills all in all” (v. 23). Christ, who is the infinite, unlimited God, is so great that He fills all things in all things. Such a great Christ needs the church to be His fullness for His complete expression. This church comes into being, not from teaching, not from gifts, not from forms, not from rituals, and not from organization, but from the power of the resurrected, ascended, and enthroned Christ, who is now the Head over all things to the church. Ephesians 1:22 does not say that Christ has been made Head over all things for the church, but to the church. Whatever He is, whatever He has attained and obtained, is to the church. To the church implies a kind of transmission. Whatever Christ, the Head, has attained and obtained is transmitted to the church, His Body. In this transmission the church shares with Christ in all His attainments: the resurrection from the dead, His being seated in His transcendency, the subjection of all things under His feet, and the headship over all things. Such a church is Christ’s Body, His fullness.
We all must realize that nothing of our natural life, nature, or makeup, nothing of our natural being, is a part of the church. Only the very portion of Christ that has been wrought into us is a part of the church. Today Christ is in the heavens, yet He is also here on earth. He is like electricity. At the same time, electricity is in a house at one end and far away in a generator at the other end. All the light and the functions of the appliances in the house come out of this electricity. Today Christ is the heavenly electricity. He is in the heavens, yet He is also within us as the source for us to have the church life. As the heavenly electricity Christ is being transmitted to the church. We have to realize that everything God has done for us, with us, and in us is for the church. Regardless of how many years you have been saved, how much you love the Lord, how spiritual you are, or how much growth in life you have, as long as you are not for the church, there is something wrong. God’s intention is not merely to save us, nor is it merely that we be spiritual or love Him. God’s intention is to work the resurrected, ascended, and enthroned Christ, who is Head over all things, into us to make us a part of the church. We all need to see the church in this way.
In our meetings we need to call on the name of the Lord. To call on the name of the Lord is to receive Him, to breathe Him in as the Spirit (Lam. 3:55-56; John 20:22). This will cause more of Christ to be wrought into us, yet the issue must be for the church. We all must realize that our calling on the name of the Lord, our eating, drinking, and breathing of the Lord, must be for the church. We have to be for the church and in the church. If you are not in a genuine local church, standing on the unique ground of the oneness of the Body of Christ, you cannot be fully satisfied; you cannot have the deep feeling that you are home. Without being in such a local church and living the local church life, you will feel unsettled, as a homeless wanderer. In the church we are home because the church is our destiny and also our destination (Eph. 2:19). This is because the church is also God’s destiny, even God’s destination.
We all need a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may see these three matters: (1) the hope of God’s calling, which is Christ; (2) the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints, which is also Christ; and (3) the surpassing greatness of the power that produces the church, the power that raised up Christ, that seated Him in the heavenlies, that put all things under His feet, and that gave Him to be Head over all things to the church.
