In the previous three chapters, we covered the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the producing, the building up, and the existence of the church. We also saw how all the saints, all the constituents of the church, should be in a condition that permits Christ to make His home in their hearts. For this Paul prayed purposely, bowing to the Father and asking Him to strengthen all the saints into their inner man through the Holy Spirit with power according to the riches of God's glory (Eph. 3:14-16). Our inner man is our regenerated spirit. When we return from all the distracting things to our spirit, Christ will have the opportunity to settle Himself in our heart. By this the Lord will saturate us through the divine dispensing from our spirit into our mind, emotion, will, and conscience, until our entire being will become a wonderful home to the Lord.
We have also seen from the previous chapter that the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—is mingled with the church as the Body of Christ. In the Old Testament there is the type of the meal offering, in which fine flour is mingled with oil (Lev. 2:4). Oil signifies God the Spirit, and fine flour signifies humanity. The mingling of these two elements signifies that the Triune God is mingled with His redeemed people. The result of this mingling is the Body of Christ, in which, out of Christ the Head, the entire Body grows through the joints of the rich supply and through each functioning member unto the building up of itself in love (Eph. 4:16).
Although this revelation is wonderful, the book of Ephesians does not stop here. In 4:17-32 it shows us in a very detailed way the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the believers' living. This living is related to matters such as not stealing from others and not letting the sun go down on our anger (vv. 28, 26). Although we are a group of people who have been mingled and blended with God, there is still the need for this kind of exhortation concerning our living. It is not easy to have a kind of living that matches, backs, supports, and affords all the needed elements, factors, and essences for the building up of the organic Body of Christ. Merely to have wonderful and exciting conferences is not enough. There is the need to take care of our living in a proper way.