Chapter one of Ephesians mentions the sealing of the Holy Spirit (v. 13). The Holy Spirit has been put into us as a seal. This is not something outward but something inward. Then in chapter two, there is the new man created by Christ and in Christ (v. 15). Christ created in Himself one new man of the Jews and the Gentiles. The church is an entity which comes entirely out of Christ, just as Eve came out of Adam. She was a part of Adam and was taken out of Adam. The new man, which is the church, is a part of Christ and is taken out of Him. Chapter three tells us of the riches of the Christ who would make His home in our hearts. Then chapter four shows us how to grow on the basis of the experiences of the unsearchable riches of Christ mentioned in chapter three. By these experiences, we will arrive at the full stature of Christ. In this way we will not be carried away by the winds of doctrines or teachings. Please note that Paul does not say the wind of heresy, but the wind of teaching. We will not be carried away by the winds of different teachings, but we will grow into Christ in all things. Then we will receive something from Christ as the Head to share with others, and the church will be built up.

After I was saved, like so many other young Christians, I was hungry for scriptural knowledge. At that time I met a certain group of believers who stressed the knowledge of the Bible, so I spent a lot of time with them seeking the knowledge of the Scriptures. About six or seven years after this, in North China there was a movement called the Spiritual Grace movement. It was so prevailing that in just a few years it shook all of North China. Thousands of people were saved, and there were many tongues, miracles, and signs. I went to them and studied the situation, but eventually I was made clear by the Lord that they could never build up the Body of Christ in that way. Therefore, the Body of Christ cannot be built up by knowledge; neither can it be built up by the gifts, or the so-called supernatural manifestations. I was not clear at that time about the book of Ephesians, but through experience I was made clear by the Lord that the church could be built only by Christ as our life. The church can be built up only by experiencing Christ, not by knowledge or gifts. Knowledge and gifts help somewhat, but the church can never be built up by these things. It has to be built by Christ.

In this book about the church, there is no mention of gifts or knowledge, but only of the unsearchable riches of Christ, who would make His home in our hearts. In the New Testament, there is some ground for gifts and knowledge, miracles and signs, but the main way for the Body of Christ to be built up is by Christ Himself as our life. In a certain sense, I will admit the need of the knowledge and the gifts, but so many Christians will not admit their need of the inner experience of Christ. This is the problem. I know they may need some medicine, but they will not admit that they need some solid food. How many messages about the inner experiences of Christ have you heard since you have been a Christian? Yet nearly every chapter in the book of Ephesians deals with this matter.

Today, so many Christians say that the book of Ephesians is the book for the church, yet they neglect the key, which is the inner experience of Christ. If we do not have the inner experience of Christ, we cannot have the reality of the church.

The book of Ephesians is the heart of the Scriptures, and the heart of this book is in chapter three, verses 16-19. Let us look into these verses again, beginning from verse 14 in order that we may have a clearer vision. The apostle begins by saying, "For this cause..." What is the "cause"? Of course, it is the very cause which he has already mentioned in the previous verses and chapters—that God planned and predestinated the church to have the sonship in order to have God expressed, to make God's wisdom known to the enemy, and to head up all things in Christ. Paul says that it is "for this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man" (KJV). Paul bows his knees for the cause of God's eternal purpose that God would grant the saints to be strengthened in the inner man. The inner man, our human spirit which has been regenerated and indwelt by Christ, must be strengthened.

We know that God has created man with three parts—the spirit, the soul, and the body. If I were to ask, "According to your own understanding, which part is the strongest?" I believe that everyone who is honest would say that the soul is the strongest, because the soul is the very self. The soul also is of three parts—the mind, the emotion, and the will. Now of the three parts of the soul, which is the strongest? I think we all would agree that the strongest part is the mind. We are very strong in the mind, and our spirit is very, very weak. It is easy to prove this. If we were to have a time of discussion, everyone would talk, because our minds are so strong and active. But if someone says, "Let us pray," everyone will be silent. Immediately the room will become as silent as a cemetery. The reason for our silence is that we are weak in the inner man—that is, we are weak in the spirit.