9 ๐ด๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐กโ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ , ๐คโ๐๐โ ๐กโ๐๐๐ข๐โ๐๐ข๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐, ๐คโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ ,
10 ๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐กโ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ โ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐ ๐๐๐โ๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐ข๐โ ๐กโ๐ ๐โ๐ข๐๐โโฆ (๐ธ๐โ. 3:9-10)
In the book of Ephesians, Paul gives us a very high revelation of the church. But in chapter three, there is an important perspective regarding the mystery that is given as a backdrop to this revelation. There are two specific words that Paul uses, repeated throughout the chapter: โ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฒโ ๐๐ง๐ โ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐งโ (or โhidingโ). Something in Ephesians is so mysterious, so hidden. The words โmysteryโ and โhiddenโ also bring to our attention another phrase in this chapter, which is โ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ฆ.โ All these words spoken by Paul are instruments to usher in the revelation of the church, the main burden of this chapter and book.
So why does Paul specifically use these phrases to convey his understanding? Answering this question is fundamental for every believer in the church life today because there is a struggle that keeps us from reaching the very high revelation of the church: while we all want to mature, to be useful, and to serve, how can we truly come out of our iniquity and be transformed? The answer lies in Godโs disposition and how He communicates with His people. ๐๐ฌ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐๐:๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐: โ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐บ๐๐ ๐คโ๐ โ๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐ ๐บ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐.โ In the Bible, whenever God interacts with people, especially with His chosen race, He likes to hide Himself. In other words, ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญโ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง: ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐.
When you look at Godโs creationโthe trees, the beautiful mountains and rivers, the animals and flowersโyou see that God likes to hide behind those things. After creating heaven and the earth, He hid Himself. The New Testament also records that after He became Jesus, He hid Himself repeatedly from men (Luke 24: 13-16). In all these interactions, including in the early days of the church life, God was hiding Himself. Until today, this very God chooses to hide Himself in humble human beings. Sometimes, we may be frustrated at His hiding, saying, โGod, why donโt You come out to administer justice?โ Yet God still remains hidden. Sometimes, we may ask, โWhere is God?โ We try so hard to figure out who God is. Yet God still remains hidden. In our failures, in the experience of being broken, we pray, โGod, show Yourself to me to make my life easier.โ Yet through all these experiences, God still upholds His temperament to remain hidden. Why?
In Ephesians chapter three, we see Paulโs understanding: God hides Himself behind His multifarious wisdomโthat is His temperament, or His disposition. When we come to this matter of the Lordโs intrinsic arrangement, or His multifarious wisdom, God often allows very sinful things to happen among us. He allows failures to happen in our life, and He even allows Satan to be among us, instigating all kinds of sins, fornication and division in the church life, just like we see Paul dealing with in 1 Corinthians. The Lord allows that to happen because it is a necessary process to exhibit all the facets of His wisdomโwhich is all that Christ isโthrough the church. Out of our fallen nature, the Lord touches us to lead us to that hidden placeโto the spirit, to the place where He hides.
When we deal with sin, the first reaction occurs in our conscience. The conscience has a purpose, and can be very useful when used in the proper way. When we preach the gospel to someone, we might try to prick their conscience, or when we discipline our children, we might try to revive their conscience. When we ourselves realize that something is right or wrong, then our conscience is active. But even after we have recognized our wrongdoings and want wholeheartedly to be right before God, why do we still fall again and again into our sinful life? Because touching the conscience isnโt equal to being saved. While many people mix the conscience and the spirit together, actually, they are distinct. ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐๐, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐: ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ. There is a difference between our conscience starting to work and our inner person starting to liveโbetween knowing in our conscience and having the subjective reality of living in the spirit.
Some people think being a spiritual man is something extraordinaryโovercoming, victorious, otherworldly. But ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐. When God made Adam, Adam didnโt need a conscience because he had a spirit. God loves to mingle with man in his spirit. After the first fall of man, God allowed the function of the conscience to become active in human soulsโin between soul and spiritโin the hope that it could bring human beings back to their spirit. That is how human beings were made to existโin our spirit! A human being is meant to be saved, and to be saved is simply to be in the spirit. Dwelling in our good conscience is not enough; we can only be changed and transformed by knowing the Spirit and being in the Spirit.
God likes to hide Himself in us. He likes to hide Himself deeper than our conscienceโin our spirit. When we see Godโs creation, how can we not think it is beautiful? It is. But even that kind of appreciation can be only soulishโonly from our conscience. That does not necessarily help you to be saved. God gives us all the signs and wonders, yet He still wants us to know that we have an inner personโa spirit! We cannot know God without reaching into the depths of our being to our spirit. There is no shortcut. In the spirit, we can be truly transformed from someone to whom God is hidden to someone who has been initiated into the mystery of Christ and the Church.
1 Peter 1:8 says:
1:8 ๐โ๐๐ โ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐, ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐ฃ๐; ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐คโ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ข๐โ ๐๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก, ๐ฆ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐, ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ก ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ…
Peter himself saw the Lord as a human being in the flesh, but in this epistle he was talking to believers who lived after the era of the Lordโs time on earth; they had not seen Him. But to have the Lord, to love the Lord, to exult with joy unspeakable and full of gloryโit doesnโt require seeing Him with our physical eyes. When we go beyond our conscience to our spirit, there is simply an unspeakable, overcoming condition through our inner manโthrough our spirit.
And there are many other believers throughout history just like those whom Peter was addressing. If we look at our own spiritual genealogy, many saints have given their lives to the Lord. ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐ฐ ๐๐จ๐, ๐ฒ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐๐, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐๐. Have you ever wondered why these people can live lives in such an exulting, joyful, unspeakable, and full-of-glory condition? Actually, there are millions of unknown believers living in this same mystery. ๐๐ฐ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ก ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ซ๐ซ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐, ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐, ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ฅ๐ฒ. Why is today’s church life so sinful? Because people are fleshly. People never experience something at the level of the spirit. We like to see physical evidence, not something hidden. This mystery is hidden not only from us personally when we are fleshly, but โthroughout the ages.โ
Today, the pandemic and the current, chaotic world situation are full of Godโs hidden fingerprints. Actually, the Lord is speaking to usโnot in a superstitious way, but in a hidden way. For 6,000 years, the Lord has been executing His will on the earth in His own disposition, His own temperament. Thatโs who He is. He is all over, hidden from the ages yet so intimately near to His believers. ๐๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ. ๐๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ. ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ. No matter where we go, we see God. Even when we breathe, the air is Him, is this very pneumatic Christ. We open our eyes and He is there; we sing something and He is there; even when we are sinful, He is there. He is hidden, yet so available. It only requires us to know and live in our spirit.
Isaiah 45:15 begins with โsurely.โ Amen, surely. โSurelyโ is โAmen.โ We can say โAmen. You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. Amen. Lord, thank You for You hiding in me. Today, I can see You, my hiding God, hiding in me, hiding in my spirit. Amen.โ
(Above is part 1 of a series compiled from notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 11/20/2020, not reviewed by the speaker. Read part 2ย here.)