Most of the truths in the book of Matthew were sown there as seeds with their growth taking place in the Epistles. In the last chapter we considered the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. Now we will see the growth of this parable in the book of Ephesians. In the parable of the ten virgins, we saw that the human spirit as God's lamp is burning with the Triune God as the oil. We saw also that the human soul is the vessel to contain an extra portion of the Triune God as the oil. In Ephesians both the spirit and the vessel have further growth and development.
Ephesians 1:13 tells us that when we believed in the Lord Jesus, we received the Holy Spirit within us as the seal. This is very clear. The Holy Spirit is God Himself coming into us as the seal because, after believing in the Lord Jesus, we became God's possession. This seal is nothing less than the Triune God as the Spirit coming into us to seal us as His possession. This means that we have received the Holy Spirit into our spirit. Ephesians 2:1 and 5 tell us that before we were saved we were dead. We were not dead in our body or in our soul, because both our body and our soul were very active before we believed in the Lord Jesus, but we were dead in our spirit. When the Holy Spirit came into us, our deadened spirit was made alive (Eph. 2:5). Our deadened and darkened spirit was made alive and was enlightened. Thus, our spirit was regenerated and is now burning with the oil of the Triune God. Now our spirit is alive and shining.
In Ephesians 1 Paul had the assurance that the Ephesian believers were already sealed with the Holy Spirit and that this Spirit was the earnest, the down payment, the foretaste, and the firstfruit of their coming inheritance. The sealing Spirit within us is the guarantee of our inheritance. Paul knew that the Holy Spirit had regenerated their spirit to make them living and shining in spirit. But this did not mean that everything was all right. What about their soul? So Paul prayed for those who already had the Spirit of God in their human spirit because they did not yet have the extra oil, the all-inclusive Spirit, in their soul—in their mind, emotion, and will. He prayed that their inner man, their regenerated spirit, might be strengthened.
Because our spirit now has God's life in it, it has become a person. Our spirit is no longer simply an organ. Before we were saved, our spirit was just an organ without life; it was not a person. Our natural person or natural being was in the soul, and our spirit was an organ without a person. When Christ enters our spirit and gives life to our spirit, our spirit becomes the inner man. Therefore, the inner man is the regenerated human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Paul prayed that this inner man, this regenerated and quickened spirit, would be strengthened (Eph. 3:16). This means that our regenerated spirit has to be filled with the Holy Spirit. When our spirit is filled with the Holy Spirit, it will be strong. The result of this strengthening will be that Christ will spread Himself from our spirit into every part of our heart. Christ will take full possession of our heart, meaning that He will settle Himself and make His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:17). This is what it means to have the extra portion of oil in our vessel.