We have pointed out that 5:25-27 presents Christ in three stages. When Christ was in the first of these stages, the stage of the flesh, He went to the cross and there gave Himself up for the church. Then in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). In this second stage He is sanctifying and cleansing us. If we open to Him and tell Him that we are willing to take Him as our life and our person, He will work within us as the life-giving Spirit to add Himself to us and to carry away our oldness and our natural disposition. This is the work of the living Christ in sanctification and cleansing.
We proceed to the nourishing and the cherishing. When I was young, I spent a great deal of time studying the book of Ephesians. Nevertheless, I did not understand what it meant to be nourished and cherished. But through experience I have come to know what it is to be nourished and cherished by Christ. Whenever we open to the Lord Jesus and take Him as our life and our person, He sanctifies us and cleanses us. At the same time He gives us nourishment. We know this by the fact that we have a wonderful sense of satisfaction within. Satisfaction comes from nourishment.
Only by receiving the life supply can we endure the Lord’s cleansing of our disposition. Surgeons realize that for a patient to withstand surgery, he must have nourishment. For this reason, blood and glucose are transfused into the patient. The Lord’s cleansing is a kind of spiritual surgery, surgery on the depths of our inner being. The Lord’s cleansing is His operating. For such an operation we surely need His nourishing.
I know of a certain brother whose natural disposition was rude, mean, and even cruel. Sometimes he came to me in tears distraught over the kind of person he was. He admitted that no one could satisfy him. Regarding himself as the most loathsome person on earth, he was desperate to know what to do about his situation. I could not do anything to help him in an outward way. But I can testify that the Lord gradually cleansed and purified him thoroughly. He loved the Lord very much and was completely open to Him. Because he gave the Lord the ground within him, the Lord could come in to sanctify him and to cleanse him. The Lord operated on him and washed away the element of his natural disposition. In order to bear such extensive surgery, we need the supply of the Lord’s inward nourishment. This brother could testify of the nourishment and enjoyment the Lord gave to him as He was cleansing him. Be assured, whenever the Lord sanctifies and cleanses, He also nourishes.
Any sanctification or cleansing that is not accompanied by nourishment is not genuine. It is the product of self-effort. Whenever you try to sanctify yourself or cleanse yourself, you will have the sense of spiritual starvation. But if the Lord does the sanctifying and the cleansing, He will supply the nourishment, and you will enjoy sweet satisfaction. The more the Lord purifies you, the more of His nourishment you will receive. Instead of suffering under the process of purification, you will enjoy the Lord and His abundant life-supply.
As the Lord nourishes us, He also cherishes us. He is like a mother who cherishes her child even as she feeds him. How the little ones enjoy the warmth and comfort of their mothers! If you consider your experience, you will realize that when the Lord sanctifies, cleanses, and nourishes you, He cherishes you with His tender warmth. His cherishing comforts you, soothes you, and calms you. Hallelujah for the Lord’s sanctifying, cleansing, nourishing, and cherishing!
Only the living Christ can do all this. Doctrines cannot do it and not even the Bible can do it. If you want the sanctifying, the cleansing, the nourishing, and the cherishing, you must place all your trust in the living Christ. Tell Him, “Lord Jesus, nothing can replace You. Lord, I love You, I open my heart to You, and I give You all the ground in my being. Lord, possess me and be my life and my person. Lord, I don’t care about outward things, not even about the church life in an outward way. I care only that You, Lord, will be my life and my person.” If you contact the Lord in this way, you will discover how living, real, available, and present He is. He will sanctify you by adding Himself to you. He will cleanse you by washing away the old element of your natural disposition. He will also nourish you with His riches and cherish you with His warmth. As all this is taking place within you, you will have a marvelous enjoyment of the Lord. This is the way the Lord is preparing His Bride. In this way we are becoming the glorious church Christ will present to Himself at His coming back.