Christ as the Speaking Spirit Sanctifies us by His Living Word to make us His Bride

The divine, dispositional sanctification is carried out by Christ as the life-giving Spirit, who is the sanctifying and speaking Spirit; we are washed by the water in the Word to be sanctified in our disposition and be made holy, even as God is holy. Amen!

In Eph. 5:26-27 we are told that Christ sanctifies the church, His bride, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, so that He may present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.

We can cooperate with the Lord today by being under His washing day by day.

We need to take heed to the speaking Spirit in our daily life.

Christ went through death and resurrection and became a life-giving Spirit, and as such a One, He is the speaking Spirit; He is in us speaking to us all the time and He also speaks to us through His word.

The way we can cooperate with the Lord to bring HIm back is by taking heed to the speaking Spirit in our daily life.

In Rev. 2-3 we see that the Spirit is speaking to the churches; if we give heed to the speaking Spirit in our daily life, we will hasten the Lord’s return. Amen!

Christ loved us, both individually and also corporately as the church, and He gave Himself up for us.

He gave Himself up for us so that He may sanctify us, cleansing us by the washing of the water in the word.

We are now in the process of being sanctified by the Lord through the washing of the water in the word of God.

Just as in the Old Testament there was the laver in the Tabernacle, where the priests had to wash from any earthly defilement before entering into the Holy Place, so we today have the word of God, the laver of God’s word, to be washed, cleansed, and sanctified.

The more we are washed by the water in the word, the more we are prepared as the bride of Christ and we’re being beautified to be the Lord’s bride.

Our washing of the water in the word prepares us to be the bride of Christ and it also beautifies us to be His counterpart.

When we are washed, cleansed, and sanctified by the living water in the Word, we become the Lord’s pure, spotless, bride.

In the past, the Lord gave Himself up for the church.

In the present, He is preparing us to be His bride by the washing of the water in the word to sanctify us.

In the future, when He returns, He will present the church to Himself glorious, not having any spot or wrinkle or any such thing – a holy church, without any blemish. Praise the Lord.

May we remain under the Lord’s speaking, His washing, every day.

In Song of Songs 8:13-14, we see that the loving seeker of Christ wants to hear the Lord’s voice, even as she is with her companions.

We want to hear the Lord’s voice.

When we hear His voice, we are prepared to be His bride, we are sanctified, and the Lord has a way in our being.

Christ as the Speaking Spirit Sanctifies the Church by the Washing of the Water in the Word

The Lord Jesus came to the earth as God incarnated to be a man, and He spoke the word of God; He Himself was the embodiment of the word of God (John 1:1, 14).

Then, He went through death and resurrection and became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), and as such a One, He is a sanctifying, speaking Spirit.

Today Christ as the life-giving Spirit sanctifies the church by cleansing her according to the washing of the water in the word (Eph. 5:26).

According to the divine concept, the water in Eph. 5:26 is typified by the flowing water in Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4; John 7:37-39; Rev. 7:17; 21:6; 22:1, 17, and this living water sanctifies us by its washing.

We believers in Christ are now in such a washing process so that the church may be holy and without blemish.

The word that the Lord washes us in and with is not merely the logos, the written word, the word in black and white letters in the Bible, but rhema, the instant word, the word that the Lord speaks to us.

There is the objective word outside of us in the Bible; this word needs to become rhema, the living word.

On one hand, we have the word of God in our hands; on the other hand, we need the Lord’s present speaking, His washing as the speaking Spirit.

Daily, hour by hour, even moment by moment, we need to have the Lord’s speaking.

He is continually speaking, and we need to receive His speaking and be under His speaking.

The Greek word for washing in Eph. 5:26 is literally “laver”; in the Old Testament, the priests used to wash away their earthly defilement (Exo. 30:18-21) at the laver, before serving the Lord in the tabernacle.

Today we as believers in Christ need to come to the word of God day by day, morning and evening, to be cleansed by the laver of the water in the word.

We need to come to the Lord in His word and open our being to Him so that He as the speaking Spirit, the life-giving, sanctifying Spirit that speaks to us the word of life, would speak to us, wash us, sanctify us, and prepare us to be His bride.

Paul uses the Greek word “rhema” when he speaks of the word with its washing process.

Logos is God’s word objectively recorded in the Bible, while rhema is the word of God spoken to us on a specific occasion (Mark 14:72; Luke 1:35-38; 5:5; 24:1-8).

We thank the Lord for His word in the Bible; without His word, we would not know God.

But praise the Lord, we can and should have the Lord’s instant, living, personal speaking according to the specific occasion.

Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the speaking Spirit, and whatever He speaks is the word that washes us.

This speaking of Christ, according to the need, denotes not the logos, the constant word, but to rhema, which denotes an instant word, the word that the Lord presently speaks to us (Matt. 4:4; John 6:63; Rev. 2:7; 22:17a; cf. Isa. 6:9-10; Matt. 13:14-15; Acts 28:25-31).

It is by this word that we live; His word supplies us and causes us to go on with Him, sanctifying us and preparing us to be His bride.

We need the logos – the word of God in the Bible, but we need even more the Lord’s present speaking, His instant speaking.

What the Bible says is vitalized and made real to us within by the speaking Spirit.

We need to have a prayer and aspiration in us that the Lord would speak to us.

We need to listen to His voice, and we need to have His speaking.

May we come to the Lord daily to enjoy Him in the word and may we ask Him to speak to us so that, by His speaking as the life-giving, speaking Spirit, He would sanctify us and prepare us to be His bride.

Lord Jesus, thank You for being the life-giving, speaking Spirit to sanctify us by the washing of the water in the word. We open to You today. We come to You in Your word; speak to us today. Speak to us, wash us, cleanse us, and sanctify us. Oh Lord, may there be a rich flow of life in us by Your speaking. How much we need Your speaking. We come to You in Your word day by day, morning and evening, to the cleansed, washed, and sanctified. Thank You for being the life-giving Spirit in our spirit. Speak to us in Your word. Your speaking washes us. We want to have not only the logos – the written word of God, but even more, the rhema, the instant word of God, the word that God presently speaks to us. We fully open to You from deep within. Sanctify us dispositionally by Your speaking so that we may be the bride of Christ, holy and without blemish!

God’s Presence is one with His Speaking; we need God’s Speaking daily to be Sanctified and Prepared as His bride

Today Christ is the life-giving, speaking Spirit in our spirit; we need to have His speaking day by day.

We need to have His rhema word, the word that He speaks to us personally and directly.

The laver in the Old Testament was made of bronze, being like a mirror that could reflect and expose the one who needed to be cleansed (Exo. 38:8).

When we come to the Lord in His word, He speaks to us and shows us what we need to deal with and what we need to be cleansed from.

The important thing today is that each one of us would ask the Lord to speak to us.

Is God speaking His word to us today (Rev. 2:7; 1 Sam. 3:1, 21; Amos 3:7)? We need to ask the Lord to speak to us.

We need to have an ear to hear His speaking.

When Samuel was young, the Lord spoke to him, but he did not recognize the Lord’s voice; later Eli instructed him to tell Him, Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.

There are so many voices speaking today, but we need to have the Lord’s speaking.

The Lord’s speaking is what matters.

We need to recognize His voice and listen to His speaking.

May we even ask the Lord to cause us to hear His voice, to hear His speaking.

We should never be too busy to hear the Lord’s voice.

We may serve the Lord and do many things for Him and in His name, but what about our listening to His voice?

We need to come to the Lord daily in His word, especially in the morning, to enjoy and receive His riches for us every day.

Day by day He speaks to us as the speaking Spirit.

We need to have times in the morning with the Lord in which we open to Him and just listen to His voice.

Our Christian life depends on His speaking. We treasure His speaking.

We need to be like Mary, sitting at the Lord’s feet and absorbing His words.

Everything and everyone else might be busy and distracting, but we spend time with the Lord, enjoying Him, and listening to His word.

We should not stop our service or activities outwardly, but inwardly we should always be open to the Lord to receive His speaking.

Like Mary, we sit at His feet to listen to Him. God speaks in the Bible, but when He speaks to us, in a personal way directly, that is different.

Many times Lord’s speaking exposes us of our lack of love for Him or of our zeal for Him that burned others and caused them to close up to the Lord. Oh Lord Jesus!

Most times after hearing the Lord’s speaking, we repent and confess, agreeing with the Lord’s speaking.

It is important to ask ourselves, Did the Lord speak to me today? Is God speaking His word to me today?

He comes to us in the morning and throughout the day to speak to us, but do we listen to His word?

We need to stay with joy in His presence, and He will saturate and supply our soul with all His presence essence.

One thing that we always treasure is that the Lord still speaks to us personally and directly today (Heb. 3:7-11, 15; 4:7; Psa. 95:7-8).

True growth in life depends upon our receiving the word directly from God, for only His speaking in us has true spiritual value.

Today we need to hear His voice and not harden our hearts but rather, say Amen to His speaking.

We want to hear the Lord’s voice every day. We tell the Lord, Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening. I don’t want to be too busy for Your speaking.

The central point of our prayers should be our longing for the Lord’s speaking; this enables us to fulfil the goal of God’s eternal economy according to His heart’s desire to have His divine sonship (Luke 1:38; 10:38-42; Eph. 1:5).

We need to long for the Lord’s speaking, for His speaking enables us to fulfil God’s economy.

When we have His speaking, everything will be out from Him and unto Him.

Our life as believers totally hinges upon the Lord’s speaking.

In a very practical sense, the Lord’s presence is one with His speaking; when the Lord speaks to us as the speaking Spirit, we realize His presence within.

Christ’s speaking is the very presence of the life-giving Spirit (see Exo. 32:12-17; Heb. 11:8).

We need the Lord’s speaking. When He speaks to us, we sense His presence. When we have the Lord’s presence, we have His speaking.

The speaking of the indwelling Christ as the life-giving Spirit within us is the cleansing water that deposits a new element, the element of God, to replace the old element in our nature and disposition.

This metabolic cleansing causes a genuine and inward change in life, which is the reality of dispositional sanctification and transformation.

Lord Jesus, speak to us. We open to You. Our Christian life depends on Your speaking. We are never too busy for Your speaking: speak to us today. We want to have true growth in life by our receiving the word directly from You. Oh Lord, only Your speaking in us has true spiritual value. Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening! Amen, Lord, Your speaking enables us to fulfil the goal of Your economy according to Your heart’s desire to have the divine sonship. We want to have Your speaking so that we may have Your presence. Amen, Lord, when You speak to us, Your presence is with us. We cannot go on without Your speaking. May there be an addition of the divine element into our being and a discharge of our old element so that we may have an inward change in life to be dispositionally sanctified and prepared to be the bride of Christ!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 54-55, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living and Serving According to God’s Economy Concerning the Church (2023 fall ITERO), week 1, entitled, Living and Serving According to the Heavenly Vision of God’s Economy.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The washing of the water in the Word, a portion from, The Revelation of the Mystery, Chapter 9, by Witness Lee.
  – 7 Compelling Reasons to Read the Bible, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – God’s organic salvation is the ultimate solution to all the intrinsic problems introduced into man’s being—spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 5:23)—through the fall. This organic salvation begins with the regeneration of our spirit by the Spirit (John 3:6); proceeds through the spreading of the Spirit into our soul, thereby accomplishing dispositional sanctification (Rom. 6:19-22), renewing (Titus 3:5; Eph. 4:23), transformation (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), and conformation (Rom. 8:29); and ultimately consummates in the glorification of our body (v. 30). Read more via, Shepherding Words.
  – Preparing Christ’s Bride – The Living of His Overcomers, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Transformation, Renewing, Sanctification, Washing for New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – From glory to glory, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The Lord’s Need for Strong Young Men, article via, Living to Him.
  – Longing for the Lord’s Speaking – Ministry Excerpts from Recent Conferences and Trainings, via, LSM.
  – “The Experts Speak”—John Gordon Melton, Ph.D., via Contending for the Faith.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I come to His presence afresh / Ere the night has passed into morning; / And His face I see as it shines on me— / The Lord within is dawning. / And He speaks to me and reveals to me / All His riches for me today; / And with sweet delight I partake of Him, / My hunger has passed away. (Hymns #554 stanza 1)
  – Oh, purify us, Lord, by speaking in our heart; / Thy living, spoken word this washing will impart. / Increase Thy speaking, Lord, and cleanse our every part. / Oh, purify us, Lord, we pray. / Oh, purify us, Lord, today; / Wash all our natural life away. / Speak now Thy words in us, / And make us glorious. / O Lord, do speak in us today. (Hymns #1135 stanza 2 and chorus)
  – Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Speaking nothing in pretense; / Ask according to the spirit, / Praying by the inner sense. / Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / List’ning earnestly to Him; / Be impressed with His intentions, / Yielding to Him from within. (Hymns #784 stanzas 4-5)