Chapter 74 of 106

Bridegroom and His lovers as the bride in their bridal love, in the way

the desire for His second coming—"O you who dwell in the gardens, / My companions listen for your voice; / Let me hear it. / Make haste, my beloved, / And be like a gazelle or a young hart / Upon the mountains of spices":

A. In Song of Songs the loving seeker of Christ asks Him who dwells in the

believers as His gardens to let her hear His voice while her companions listen for His voice—8:13; cf. 4:13-16; 5:1; 6:2:

1. This indicates that in the work that we as the lovers of Christ do for Him as our Beloved, we need to maintain our fellowship with Him, always listening to Him—Luke 10:38-42. 2. Our lives depend on the Lord's words, and our work depends on His commands (Rev. 2:7; 1 Sam. 3:9-10; cf. Isa. 50:4-5; Exo. 21:6); without the Lord's words we will not have any revelation, light, or personal knowledge of Christ as our King (Isa. 6:1, 5), our Lord (2 Cor. 5:14-15), our Head (Col. 2:19), and our Husband (2 Cor. 11:2); the life of the believers hinges totally upon the Lord's speaking (Eph. 5:26-27). B. As the concluding prayer of this poetic book, the Song of Songs, the lover of

Christ prays that her Beloved would make haste to come back in the power of His resurrection (gazelle and young hart) to set up His sweet and beautiful kingdom (mountains of spices), which will fill the whole earth—8:14; Rev. 11:15; Dan. 2:35: 1. Such a prayer portrays the union and communion between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers as the bride in their bridal love, in the way that the prayer of John, a lover of Christ, as the concluding word of the Holy Scriptures, reveals God's eternal economy concerning Christ and the church in His divine love—Rev. 22:20. 2. "Come, Lord Jesus!" is the last prayer in the Bible (v. 20); the entire Bible concludes with the desire for the Lord's coming expressed as a prayer.

‹‹ Hymn

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‹‹ WEEK 4 — DAY 1 ››

Morning Nourishment

Eph. 5:25-27 ...[Christ] loved the church and gave Himself up for her that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 5:25 through 27 is actually one long sentence. In these verses Paul is saying that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. He did this that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of water in the word, in order that He might present the church to Himself glorious, without spot, wrinkle, or any such things. Christ's purpose in loving the church and in giving Himself up for the church was to sanctify her by the washing of the water in the word. Sanctifying is by cleansing, cleansing is by washing, washing is by water, and water is in the word. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 442)

Today's Reading

In the past, Christ as the Redeemer gave Himself up for the church for redemption and the impartation of life (John 19:34); in the present, He as the life-giving Spirit is sanctifying the church through separation, saturation, transformation, growth, and building up; and in the future, He as the Bridegroom will present the church to Himself as His counterpart for His satisfaction. Therefore, Christ's loving the church is to separate and sanctify her, and His separating and sanctifying the church are to present her to Himself.

Blood and water came out of the Lord's pierced side. The blood was for redemption, and the water was for the impartation of life so that the church might come into existence. In Ephesians 5:25 we have the church coming into existence through Christ's loving her and giving Himself up for her.

After the church has come into existence, the church needs the sanctifying. The process of sanctification includes saturation, transformation, growth, and building up...The church needs to be saturated with all that Christ is. Saturation is accompanied by transformation, growth, and building. Through such a process of sanctification with

all these aspects, the church becomes complete and perfect, the reality of what is typified by Eve in Genesis 2.

After Eve had been prepared for Adam by being built out of Adam's rib, she was presented to Adam, the source from which she came. In like manner, the church will be presented to Christ, who is her source...Ephesians 5:27 says that Christ will present the church to Himself glorious. Hence, He will be both the presenter and the receiver.

Without separation, saturation, transformation, growth, and building, the church cannot be perfected and grow into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Only through an all-inclusive process of sanctification can the church become complete and attain to the measure of the stature of Christ's fullness so that Christ can present a perfect church to Himself.

First, the church is brought into existence. Second, the church is sanctified and thereby perfected and completed. Finally, the church is presented to Christ as a glorious church without spot, wrinkle, or any such things. It is presented to Him holy and without blemish. We are presently in the second stage of the production of the church, the stage of sanctification. When this stage is complete, we will be presented to Christ as a glorious church.

[Transformation] comes through the nourishing and the cherishing. If you faithfully come to the meetings to be nourished and cherished, spontaneously you will be separated from the world and saturated with the riches of Christ. Then with you there will be growth, transformation, and building...Eventually, the bride will be complete, perfect, and grown to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Then the Lord Jesus will come and present this prepared bride to Himself. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 442-445)

Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 53

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‹‹ WEEK 4 — DAY 2 ››

Morning Nourishment

Isa. 28:5 In that day Jehovah of hosts will become a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people.

Psa. 27:4 One thing I have asked from Jehovah; that do I seek: To dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to inquire in His temple.

In Isaiah 28:5 Christ is revealed as a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty. We need to consider the difference between a crown and a diadem. We may think that these are the same, but these items are not in apposition in verse 5. There is a conjunction between them—a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty. This is Isaiah's marvelous writing. A crown is like a hat or turban, whereas the diadem is the most beautiful, glorious part of the crown. It is the headband. Generally speaking, a crown signifies glory, but its beauty is in its diadem, which may be full of jewels and precious stones. The diadem is the beauty of the glorious crown.

Christ will be a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of Israel, God's chosen people, in the age of restoration after all the dealings of God. He will be His chosen people's glorification. Glory and beauty are two distinct things. Something may be very glorious but not that beautiful. Christ will be both glory and beauty to His elect people. (Life-study of Isaiah, pp. 300-301)

Today's Reading

We need to remember that the age of grace is a miniature and a foretaste of the coming age of restoration. Today we enjoy a foretaste of Christ as our crown and diadem. Regretfully, many do not feel glorious to tell people that they are Christians. Some Christians may talk about other persons or things in a glorious way, but when they come to the subject of Christ, they may feel shameful. This is not right. When we talk about Christ and when we tell people that we are Christians, we should consider that Christ is our crown and diadem, our glory and beauty.

I experienced Christ in this way about fifty years ago when Japan invaded China and I was imprisoned by the Japanese army. On the one hand, they shamed me, judged me,

and tortured me. On the other hand, they respected and regarded me because I behaved as a Christian. Paul said in the book of Philippians, while he was imprisoned in Rome, that he had the earnest expectation and hope not to be put to shame but to magnify Christ (1:20). Paul magnified Christ to such an extent that even some in Caesar's household became believers in Christ (4:22). In Paul's experience, he had Christ as a crown with a diadem. We should feel glorious that we are Christians. When we are defeated, we feel ashamed, but when we repent and receive the dispensing Christ in a fresh way, we feel glorious. (Life-study of Isaiah, p. 301)

The spots and wrinkles do not affect the function of the church. However, they very much detract from the beauty of the church. What a man looks for in a bride is not first ability; it is beauty. The church as Christ's bride must also be beautiful...We may function properly and have an excellent daily living according to the spirit of the mind but still not be beautiful in the eyes of the Lord because of our spots and wrinkles. After saying so much about the church in Ephesians chapters 1 through 4, Paul goes on in chapter 5 to speak about the church as the bride. In this chapter he says nothing concerning the creation of the church, the growth of the church, or the daily living of the church. Instead, he speaks of the beauty of the church. When Christ presents the church to Himself, the church will not be a strong man; she will be a beautiful bride. Christ is the universal man. As this universal man, He needs the church to be His bride to match Him. In order to be the bride of Christ, the church must become beautiful and have all the spots and wrinkles removed. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 776-777)

Further Reading: Life-study of Isaiah, msg. 43; CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 5, "The Vital

Groups," ch. 8

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‹‹ WEEK 4 — DAY 3 ››

Morning Nourishment

Eph. 5:26 That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word.

Rev. 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.

Revelation 19 will be completely fulfilled. Furthermore, we believe that the process of fulfillment is taking place today. Since Jerusalem has been restored to the nation of Israel, the coming back of the Lord Jesus should not be far off. The bride, however, cannot be prepared quickly. This preparation is a gradual work that takes place over a period of time. Certainly the Lord must be doing a work on earth to prepare His bride...He is coming to present to Himself the bride who has already been prepared. This preparation, I believe, involves the work of building corporately. Those who make up the bride must not only be mature in life; they must also be built together as the one bride.

The work in the recovery is the Lord's genuine work to prepare His bride...The primary work of the Lord in His recovery is not to preach the gospel throughout the earth; it is to prepare His bride. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 780-781)

Today's Reading

According to Ephesians 5:26, Christ gave Himself up for the church so that "He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word." After the Lord Jesus gave Himself for us in the flesh, He was resurrected and in resurrection became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). As the life-giving Spirit, He is the speaking Spirit. Whatever He speaks is the word that washes us. The Greek word rendered "word" in Ephesians 5:26 is not logos, the constant word, but rhema, which denotes the instant word, the word the Lord presently speaks to us. As the life-giving Spirit, the Lord is not silent; He is constantly speaking. If you take Him as your person, you will discover how much He desires to speak within you...How can we know that Christ as our person is present with us? We know it by His speaking. If we do not have His speaking within us, we do not have His presence. But if we turn to Him to mean

business to take Christ as our life and our person, His speaking will begin again. His speaking is the living word, the living word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is our wonderful Christ Himself. How practical, subjective, intimate, and real He is as the speaking Spirit!

This Spirit is the water that washes us...Every time He speaks within us, we should experience cleansing.

This cleansing is a metabolic cleansing that removes what is old and replaces it with what is new...It is by the inward, metabolic cleansing that we have transformation. By the metabolic cleansing that comes from the speaking of Christ as the life-giving Spirit, we are truly changed, transformed.

God's way in His economy is not to change us outwardly. His way is for Christ to give Himself up for us and then to come into us as the life-giving Spirit. In a very practical sense, the Lord's presence is one with His speaking. Whenever He speaks, we realize His presence within us. This speaking of the life-giving Spirit within is the water that cleanses our inner being. This cleansing water deposits a new element into us to replace the old element in our nature and disposition. This metabolic cleansing causes a genuine change in life. This change is what we mean by transformation...What the church needs is the inward metabolic cleansing that comes from allowing Christ as the life-giving Spirit to be our life and our person.

The life-giving Spirit is the speaking Spirit. Christ's speaking is the Spirit; it is the very presence of the life-giving Spirit. If we honor the speaking of the Spirit within us, the Spirit's speaking will become the water that cleanses, purifies, sanctifies, and supplies us with the element of Christ. This element replaces and discharges our old element and brings about genuine transformation. In this way we are purified and sanctified; in this way we also experience the practicality of the church life. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 453-455)

Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 55—56

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‹‹ WEEK 4 — DAY 4 ››

Morning Nourishment

John 7:38-39 He who believes into Me,...out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit...

Rev. 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely.

In Ephesians 5:26 Paul says that Christ sanctifies the church by cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word. According to the divine concept, water here refers to the flowing life of God, which is typified by flowing water (...John 7:3839; Rev. 21:6; 22:1, 17). The washing of the water here is different from the washing of the redeeming blood of Christ. The redeeming blood washes away our sins (1 John 1:7; Rev. 7:14), whereas the water of life washes away the blemishes of the natural life of our old man, such as "spot or wrinkle or any such things" (Eph. 5:27). In separating and sanctifying the church, the Lord first washes away our sins with His blood (Heb. 13:12) and then washes away our natural blemishes with His life. We are now in such a washing process, that the church may be holy and without blemish. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 445)

Today's Reading

The cleansing is the sanctifying. The cleansing by the washing of the water of life is in the word. The Greek word for word in Ephesians 5:26 denotes an instant word. The indwelling Christ as the life-giving Spirit is always speaking an instant, present, living word to metabolically cleanse away the old and replace it with the new, causing an inward transformation. This indicates that in the word there is the water of life, which is typified by the laver between the altar and the tabernacle (Exo. 38:8; 40:7). In Greek the word rendered "washing" in Ephesians 5:26 means "laver." This Greek word is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word for laver. In the Old Testament, the priests washed themselves from earthly defilement in the laver (Exo. 30:18-21). Now the laver, the washing of the water, washes us from defilement.

In a very real sense, the word of God is a laver. According to the Old Testament, the priests who served God in the tabernacle had to have their sins dealt with by the blood

on the altar, and they had to have their defilement dealt with by washing in the laver. I believe that Paul's concept here is that the church is cleansed by the laver of the water in the word. Hallelujah, we have the real laver! (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 446)

In the New Testament two Greek words are used to denote word. One is logos, referring to the word in a general sense; the other is rhema, which although translated as word in Scripture, means something quite different from logos. Logos refers both to things which have been eternally determined and to things used in an objective way...But rhema refers to words which are spoken...Both logos and rhema are the Word of God, but the former is God's Word objectively recorded in the Bible, while the latter is the word of God spoken to us at a specific occasion.

The rhema reveals something to us personally and directly; it shows us what we need to deal with and what we need to be cleansed from. We must specifically seek after this very matter, because our Christian life is based on this rhema. What word has God really spoken to us, and how has He spoken to us?...The important thing is this: Is God speaking that very word to us today?

True growth depends upon our receiving the word directly from God. God is using His rhema to do His work, and He desires to speak to us...If we desire to be useful in the Lord's hands, we must be spoken to by the Lord...When God speaks to us through His word, we are enlightened; through His word we are sanctified; and through His word we are made to grow...If we have rhema, the living word of God, we can be cleansed and sanctified. (CWWN, vol. 34, "The Glorious Church," pp. 51-54, 57-58)

Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 54, 57, 59; CWWN, vol. 34, "The

Glorious Church," ch. 3

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‹‹ WEEK 4 — DAY 5 ››

Morning Nourishment

Rev. 19:8-9 And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints. And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God.

Christ is now preparing us to be His bride. The time is coming when He will present the bride to Himself...In His bride Christ will behold nothing but beauty. This beauty will be the reflection of what He is...The beauty of the bride...comes from the very Christ who is wrought into the church and who is then expressed through the church. Our beauty is not our behavior. Our only beauty is the reflection of Christ, the shining out of Christ from within us. What Christ appreciates in us is the expression of Himself in us. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 778)

Today's Reading

First, Christ must come into us and then be assimilated by us. Then He will be able to shine out of us. This shining is the glory of the bride, the manifestation of divinity through humanity. Real beauty is the expression of the divine attributes through humanity. Nothing in the universe is as beautiful as this expression. Therefore, the beauty of the bride is Christ shining out of us. It is a matter of divinity expressed through humanity.

On the day of his wedding, a bridegroom cares much more for the beauty of his bride than for her ability. In like manner, in the church life our beauty will eventually be much more important to the Lord than our function. At the beginning of the church life, we may emphasize ability and function. But eventually, we will place more emphasis on beauty...Do not pay that much attention to becoming capable, qualified, and gifted in function. At first, this may count for something in the church life. But eventually, the Lord will show us that what He cares for is not our ability; He cares for the beauty of Himself expressed through our humanity. Christ does not intend to present a capable church to Himself. The church that will be presented to Him will be glorious and beautiful, a church without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. If our blemishes and imperfections are to be removed, we need to take in more and more of Christ. He

should not simply energize us for our function but also beautify us that we may be His bride.

The church is being beautified by partaking of Christ, by digesting Christ, and by assimilating Christ! The more we experience the indwelling Christ in this way, the more He will replace our spots and wrinkles with His element, and the more His riches with the divine attributes will become our beauty. Then we will be prepared to be presented to Christ as His lovely bride.

The experience of Ephesians 5 is necessary for the fulfillment of Revelation 19. Ephesians shows how Christ prepares the bride by sanctifying, cleansing, nourishing, and cherishing us with Himself. In this way we are metabolically transformed, and we become beautiful and glorious, ready to be presented to Christ according to Revelation 19. Because the bride is clothed ["in fine linen, bright and clean" (Rev. 19:8)], the declaration can be made that she "has made herself ready" (v. 7). This indicates that by the time of Revelation 19 the bride will have been prepared. For the bride to be prepared means that she has the "fine linen, bright and clean." Clean refers to nature, whereas bright refers to expression. This fine linen is "the righteousnesses of the saints."...The righteousnesses of the bride here denote the subjective righteousness (Phil. 3:9), Christ as the righteousness which has been constituted into our being. The more this subjective righteousness is wrought into the church, the more she is prepared to become the bride. Those who compose the bride have been redeemed and regenerated. But they need to have the subjective righteousness interwoven into their very being in order to have the fine linen, bright and clean. Actually, it is this linen that is the beauty of the bride. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 778-780)

Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 95, 58

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‹‹ WEEK 4 — DAY 6 ››

Morning Nourishment

S.S. 8:13-14 O you who dwell in the gardens, my companions listen for your voice; let me hear it. Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

The lover of her Beloved asks Him who dwells in the believers as His gardens to let her hear His voice as her companions listen for His voice [S.S. 8:13]. This indicates that in the work, which we as the lovers of Christ who express Him as our living outwardly do for Him as our Beloved who indwells us as our life inwardly, we should fellowship with Him in His speaking. As we are working with Him, we need to maintain our fellowship with Him, always listening to Him.

The lover of her Beloved prays that He would make haste [v. 14] to come back in the power of His resurrection to set up His sweet and beautiful kingdom which will fill the whole earth (Rev. 11:15; Dan. 2:35). Here we should note that the prayer of this lover of her Beloved is the concluding word of this poetic book, portraying the union and communion between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers as the bride in their bridal love, as the prayer of John, a lover of Christ, is the concluding word of the Holy Scripture, revealing God's eternal economy concerning Christ and the church in His divine love (Rev. 22:20). (Life-study of Song of Songs, p. 68)

Today's Reading

In Song of Songs 8:13..."You" refers to the Lord. "The gardens" are plural in number. He is not only dwelling in the garden of the maiden (6:2) but dwelling in many other gardens as well. He is the Lord who dwells in the hearts of men. He is not only dwelling in the heart of one who follows Him absolutely, but He is dwelling in the hearts of all those whom He delights in. The maiden addresses Him according to this relationship. She says to Him, "My companions listen for your voice" [8:13]. The word "listen" means that everyone is listening. All those who are seeking the Lord together with her adopt the same attitude. They have been dealt with, and they know the futility of speaking and the profit of listening. They know that they have to be slow to speak in order to be quick to hear...They no longer insist on speaking like others do, and they no

longer speak for the sake of speaking. Those who cannot stop talking about trivial things still have the earthly life reigning within them. But these are listening; they adopt the attitude of a hearer. They know that their lives depend on the Lord's words and their work depends on the Lord's commands. They will only listen, because they cannot and will not move by themselves any longer. Without the Lord's words, they will not have any revelation, light, or knowledge. The life of the believers hinges totally upon the Lord's speaking.

"O Lord, while we are waiting to listen, make us hear. If those who seek find, and if those who knock have the door opened to them, make us hear, and make us able to hear. If Jehovah will not speak to us, we will be like those who are dead...Please allow us to hear Your voice, because only this can guide us until Your return." She has learned her lessons by now; therefore, she offers up such a profound prayer toward the end.

Verse 14...describes the condition of the Lord's coming and His kingdom. At that time, it will be a marvelous world, one like the mountains of spices.

Then the maiden's experience will be like a drop of water that has disappeared into the ocean; there will be no more room for advancement, though the tide can always go deeper. All that is left in the world is just her body. Everything else has gone to another world. Therefore, she cannot help but cry, "Make haste, my beloved." "Come as quickly as the gazelle or a young hart. Just as a gazelle or a young hart appears on the mountains of spices, may You come in Your kingdom." Although the love is perfect, something is still lacking. When He comes, faith will be turned to facts, and praise will replace prayer. Love will consummate in a shadowless perfection, and we will serve Him in the sinless domain. What a day that will be! Lord Jesus, come quickly! (CWWN, vol. 23, "The Song of Songs," pp. 124-126)

Further Reading: Life-study of Song of Songs, msg. 9; CWWN, vol. 23, "The Song of

Songs," pp. 116-121, 124-126

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‹‹ WEEK 4 — HYMN

Hymns, #1159

1 Jesus Lord, I'm captured by Thy beauty,

All my heart to Thee I open wide; Now set free from all religious duty,

Only let me in Thyself abide. As I'm gazing here upon Thy glory,

Fill my heart with radiancy divine; Saturate me, Lord, I now implore Thee,

Mingle now Thy Spirit, Lord, with mine.

2 Shining One—how clear the sky above me!

Son of Man, I see Thee on the throne! Holy One, the flames of God consume me,

Till my being glows with Thee alone. Lord, when first I saw Thee in Thy splendor,

All self-love and glory sank in shame; Now my heart its love and praises render,

Tasting all the sweetness of Thy name.

3 Precious Lord, my flask of alabaster

Gladly now I break in love for Thee; I anoint Thy head, Beloved Master;

Lord, behold, I've saved the best for Thee. Dearest Lord, I waste myself upon Thee;

Loving Thee, I'm deeply satisfied. Love outpoured from hidden depths within me,

Costly oil, dear Lord, I would provide.

4 My Beloved, come on spices' mountain;

How I yearn to see Thee face to face. Drink, dear Lord, from my heart's flowing fountain,

Till I rest fore'er in Thine embrace. Not alone, O Lord, do I adore Thee,

But with all the saints as Thy dear bride; Quickly come, our love is waiting for Thee;

Jesus Lord, Thou wilt be satisfied.

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