THE FACTORS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR BELIEVERS TO EXPERIENCE THE TRIUNE GOD
We have to see from this portion in Ephesians how to be filled by the Triune God more and more through His indwelling, that is, how to be filled by God, Christ, and the Spirit. Here it mentions the Divine Trinity and the two steps, two factors, or two requirements, for us to experience the Triune God: one is faith and the other is love. The first step is faith—that Christ may make His home in our hearts through faith; the second step is love—that we may be rooted and grounded in love. In order to experience Christ in full, we must have both faith and love.
Needing to Have Faith toward Him
We must have both faith and love toward the Triune God. To have faith is to believe in God’s word—to believe that Christ is making His home in our hearts. Many of us who are saved neglect this faith. We believe in a great many things, such as the kingdom of the heavens, the lake of fire, the existence of God, the Lord’s death for us, the forgiveness of sins, and the eternal life. Yet very few people can say, “We believe that Christ is making His home in our hearts and that God in Christ indwells us through the Spirit.” All spiritual experiences are based firstly on faith. Without faith, our spiritual experiences do not have any basis. If we do not believe that God dwells in us, we will have nothing to say because we will have no basis for our speaking.
We can say this and we can say that because we believe that God in Christ indwells us through the Spirit. We need to acknowledge this fact by faith. If we do not acknowledge such a fact, how can we experience God’s indwelling? Without such a faith, we cannot talk about any spiritual matter. To experience God’s riches in us that we may become His fullness, we must first have this faith. I hope that all of us who hear this word will kneel down before God and praise Him with assurance that the Triune God is living in us.
I have knelt down before the Lord many times, not to ask Him for anything or to confess my sins, but to praise Him specifically for this matter. This is too great a matter. Some have prayed for healing when they were seriously ill. After they were healed, they greatly praised the Lord. Others have asked the Lord for help when they encountered a difficulty. After the Lord answered their prayers, they also greatly praised the Lord. All these testify that what they experienced was “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). However, I hope we all know that the most delightful news, the real good news of great joy, is that the God of glory, the God who fills all things, is living in us. Please consider what a glorious miracle, what a glorious wonder this is.
In Philippians Paul told us that all things are refuse and that only Christ is the most excellent One (3:8). Today’s Christians, however, consider the refuse as something excellent, something most precious. Although we cannot say that they consider the most excellent One, the most precious One, as refuse, at least we can say that they are like children who treasure the box that holds the diamond more than the diamond itself. God is in us, but we do not care. What do we treasure? We treasure our tears and our sorrow. What do we treasure? We treasure our ability and our future. When we lose our job, we ask God to give us a job, and when we get a job, we are full of praise and thanksgiving to God. When someone in our family is sick, we pray to God with tears, and when he is healed, we praise God joyfully. We may have praised God innumerable times, but have we ever praised God concerning the indwelling of the God of glory?
D. L. Moody, a famous American preacher, once said that the greatest miracle that God does is that we who were dead in sins are made alive by receiving His life. Today we would say that the greatest miracle God does in us is much more than what Moody proclaimed. We who were dead are not only enlivened by God with His life but are also filled unto God’s fullness. God Himself is the fullness, and God Himself is glory. Such a One dwells in us. If we really have the light and have seen the vision, we will be beside ourselves. May the Lord have mercy on us. We all need to have a time to praise God specifically for His indwelling and not for any other thing.
(The Crucified Christ, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
