The Church is Beautified and Sanctified by the Washing of the Water in the Word

The Lord’s primary work in the recovery is His genuine work to prepare us to be His glorious bride; we as the church are being beautified through the process of sanctification by Christ as the life-giving Spirit cleansing us by the washing of the water in His word. Amen!

The Lord today wants to gain His bride who would match Him, being spotless and with no wrinkles, even the same as He is, beautiful and glorious.

He does it not by requiring us, His people, to behave in a certain way and obey certain rules; He does it by working Himself into us.

He is the most lovely One. He is the most lovable One. He is the most beautiful One.

We believers in Christ are the crazy lovers of Jesus who have seen something of His beauty, were captivated by Him, and now love Him back with the love which He has poured out in our hearts.

Day by day we are learning to spend time with the Lord and be infused with Him. We come to Him in the Word day by day, and we desire to remain in the church life, inquiring of Him and beholding His beauty.

Amen, Lord Jesus, we love You! As we behold the beauty of the Lord day by day, both in our personal time with Him and together with the saints, something metabolic takes place in our being: we are being transformed into His image.

His image is imprinted on us. His beauty becomes our beauty. We, as the house of God become the house of His beauty, and He is beautifying us. He makes us beautiful, for He infuses what He is into us.

What a beauty it is for a group of human beings to live Christ, express Christ, and magnify Christ!

The apostle Paul was such a person; even though he was in prison, he still lived Christ and magnified Him. He aspired to be found in Christ, and he forgot what is behind and stretched forward to what was before to gain more Christ.

His aspiration was that in all things, whether in life or death, Christ would be magnified through him. This is our aspiration also.

As we work at the office or take care of so many things around the house, we want Christ to be expressed through us.

We open to Him, we call on His name, and we allow Him to infuse us with what He is.

As we continually behold the beauty of the Lord in the church as the house of His beauty, we are being metabolically changed to be transformed into His image from glory to glory!

May we remain in this process of being beautified by the Lord to be His glorious bride!

The Church is being Beautified through Sanctification by Christ Cleansing us by the Washing of the Water in the Word

Thank the Lord that, in His mercy and grace, He has brought us into His recovery, where we can enjoy and be under His genuine work to prepare us as His glorious bride.

What the Lord is after today, His genuine work and His primary work, is to prepare the bride of Christ.

How can He gain His bride? There’s no other way besides the continual, dispositional sanctification spoken of in Ephesians 5:26.

The way Christ gains a glorious bride to present to Himself as the Bridegroom is by the washing of the water in the word.

We need to be in the process of dispositional sanctification continually so that we may be prepared as the bride of Christ and hear the call in Revelation 19:7-9 – the bride is ready! Amen!

We all want to participate in this wonderful, glorious, universal wedding by preparing ourselves to be the bride of Christ!

What stands out about a bride is her beauty; it is not merely her skill to do this or that, nor is it just her maturity but even more, her beauty.

As the church, we are being beautified through the process of sanctification by Christ as the life-giving Spirit cleansing us by the washing of the water in the Word of God (Eph. 5:26-27).

There’s water in the word of God, which the Lord uses to wash us, cleanse us, and sanctify us to make us His glorious bride! In the word of Christ is the Spirit as the water of life; the words that He speaks to us are spirit and life (John 6:63).

If we eat the Lord, we live because of Him (6:57). How do we eat the Lord? It is by coming to Him in His word to partake of Him as the life-giving Spirit in the Word.

To eat is not just to take something into us; it is to masticate, chew; we need to take the word of God through spiritual mastication and chewing.

We masticate Jesus in His word; we eat the Lord in His word.

To masticate is to take the word into our mouth, chew it, keep it in our mouth until it is broken down properly and can be ingurgitated, and then swallow it, little by little, to be digested by the digestive system.

Spiritually speaking, we need to masticate the Lord by coming to Him in His word. We need to take the word of God with much prayerful consideration and musing.

The word of God contains the Spirit of life, and we can exercise our spirit to pray over God’s word, sing with God’s word, speak with God’s word, and muse on God’s word to masticate Jesus and be washed by the water in the Word.

As the life-giving Spirit, Christ is the speaking Spirit; He speaks to us and He washes us, for His speaking washes 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).

We need to take the word of God as our daily food and eat it; we need to exercise our spirit and listen to the Lord’s speaking to us in His word, and the word He speaks to us is living water washing us and cleansing us.

The word in the Bible is logos, the constant word, but it has to become rhema, the instant word, the word that the Lord presently speaks to us.

Yes, the Bible is in our hands, and yes, we all can read the Bible; however, we need to exercise our spirit when we read the Bible to come to the Lord in His word and have His fresh speaking.

We need to convert the written word of God into the instant word of God, the present speaking of the Lord.

The Lord Jesus did this when He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness; we don’t know what He was reading in the Bible or how much He read the Bible but we know that in His answers to Satan, He quoted mainly from Deuteronomy.

Most likely, He was chewing on the Word of God in this book, and this was fresh to Him, so He spoke it to the enemy.

Many times the enemy knows the Bible and may challenge us or dare us to do things based on the word of God; we, however, need to remain in the Word of God in a living way and be washed by the water in the word!

We need to enjoy the Lord in His word, be nourished by the Lord in His word, and be washed by Christ as the life-giving Spirit in His word. Amen!

The indwelling Christ as the life-giving Spirit is always speaking an instant, present, living word to metabolically cleanse away the old and replace it with the new, causing an inward transformation.

May we have the Lord’s speaking today. May we treasure the Lord’s speaking and pay the price for Him to speak to us.

May we allow the Lord’s instant, present, living word to metabolically cleanse away anything old in us and replace it with His new element.

When we do this, the Lord has a way to wash us, renew us, sanctify us. and constitute us with Himself to make us His beautiful bride.

Lord Jesus, we open to Your primary work in Your recovery of preparing Your glorious bride: we want to be part of the bride! Amen, Lord, keep us in the continual dispositional sanctification for us to be prepared as Your beautiful and glorious bride! We come to You in Your word to be sanctified dispositionally. May we obtain not just knowledge from the Bible but even more, gain something of Christ as the life-giving Spirit. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit and we come to You to read the Bible. We want to enjoy You in Your word. We want to touch and be touched by the life-giving Spirit embodied in the Word of God. Cleanse us by the washing of the water in the word. Hallelujah, the life-giving Spirit is the living water in the Word of God and we can exercise our spirit to touch Him, be washed and cleansed, and be prepared as His bride! Amen, Lord, may we be those who muse and prayerfully consider the word so that we may masticate You, gain You, and be infused with You! We treasure Your instant speaking! Speak to us today!

We are in the Process of being Washed by the Water in the Word to be Saturated with Christ and Beautified by Him to be His Beautiful Bride

God’s way in His economy is not to change us outwardly or to coerce us to do certain things for Him; His way is organic, for He comes into us inwardly to do a change within our being.

God doesn’t want to force us to do things we don’t want to do; however, He has an economy, and in His economy, He is dispensing Himself into our being.

The way He prepares us as His bride is not by outward perfecting or correction but by an inward change, the process of dispositional sanctification.

God’s way is for Christ to come and give Himself up for the church, for He loves the church (Eph. 5:25).

He gave Himself up for the church, and then He came as the life-giving Spirit embodied in His word to wash us, cleanse us, and sanctify us to make us His beautiful bride.

Today we believers in Christ are in the process of being washed by the water in the word of God to be saturated with Christ and beautified by Him to be His beautiful bride! Hallelujah!

As we remain in the process of being washed by the water in the Word of God, the old elements and things in us are being removed, and the new element of God is added to our being.

There is an inward, metabolic cleansing taking place in our being, and by means of this cleansing, we are being transformed.

As we remain under the washing of the water in the word, we have the Lord’s speaking as the life-giving Spirit, and we are truly changed, transformed.

Hallelujah, through such a washing process we are saturated with Christ and beautified by Christ to be His holy, beautiful, God-expressing bride, a bride without any blemish or imperfection (Rev. 19:7; cf. S. S. 6:13; 8:13-14). Hallelujah!

If we see this, if we realise that it is the continual washing of the water in the word as we come to the Lord in His word with the exercise of our spirit that accomplishes God’s dispositional sanctification in us to make us His beautiful and glorious bride, we will just come to Him again and again!

We will treasure our time with the Lord in His word, for there is a cleansing, a washing, a transformation that takes place as we read and pray over the word!

There’s a metabolic cleansing going on in our being as we pray-read the word of God, which causes a genuine change in life.

It is one thing to try to convince someone to do something and it is something else to bring them into the enjoyment of that thing and as a result, they will do it.

The Lord doesn’t convince us or force us to do His will; He dispenses Himself into us as the life-giving Spirit by means of His living word, and His present speaking washes us, cleanses us, and sanctifies us.

This causes a metabolic change in our being and we are being transformed into His image!

This is what we need today, both personally and corporately: the inward metabolic cleansing coming from allowing Christ as the life-giving Spirit to be our life and our person!

Oh, how we treasure the Lord’s speaking! Christ as the life-giving Spirit sanctifies us, the church, by cleansing us according to the water in the Word! Hallelujah!

There’s living water in the word of God, and when we exercise to touch the Lord in coming to His word, we have the Lord’s speaking.

The Spirit’s speaking becomes the water that cleanses, purifies, sanctifies, and supplies us with the element of Christ.

This element is added to our being to replace and discharge our old element, thus bringing about genuine transformation.

May we open to the Lord again and again as we come to His word to be washed, cleansed, and prepared as His beautiful and glorious bride!

Thank the Lord that Christ as the life-giving Spirit, sanctifies the church by cleansing her according to the washing of the water in the Word.

According to the divine concept, water here in Ephesians 5:26 refers to the flowing life of God typified by the flowing water (Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4; John 7:37-39; Rev. 7:17; 21:6; 22:1, 17).

We are today in such a washing process in order that the church may be holy and without blemish.

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming in us as the living Spirit to regenerate us, renew us, and sanctify us to make us the same as You are! Hallelujah, we are today being washed by the water in the word of God to be beautified and become His beautiful and glorious bride! Amen, Lord Jesus, saturate us a little more today. Beautify us by the cleansing and washing of the water in the Word! Hallelujah, we are becoming Christ’s holy, beautiful, and God-expressing bride! Praise the Lord, we are becoming a bride without blemish or imperfection! Amen, Lord, keep us open to You as we come to Your word so that You may sanctify us and prepare us as Your bride. Flow as the living water, the flowing life of God, to wash us and make us holy and without blemish. We treasure Your speaking. We need Your instant living word. Beautify the church, Lord, by our remaining in the washing of the water in the Word of God! Amen, Lord, have Your way to obtain Your glorious and beautiful bride!

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 brother Ed Marks in this conference, and portions from, Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 55-56, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Maturity of the Bride (2025 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 4, The Beauty of the Bride – day 3.
• 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.
  – The cleansing of the church by the washing of the water in the Word, a portion from, The Glorious Church, Chapter 3, by Watchman Nee.
  – Ephesians (Program #52) – God’s Desire for a Glorious Church, via, Bible study radio.
  – Being Sanctified by the Washing of the Water in the Word by Receiving the Lord’s Daily… – a video sharing via, Heavenly Foods.
  – Renewing unto New Jerusalem (2), via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Becoming the bride of Christ, a portion from, The Body of Christ, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – Why Read the Bible? To Slay God’s Adversary! More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Thou art the food and the water of life, / Thou canst revive me, my spirit upbear; / I long to eat and to drink here of Thee, / Thyself enjoy through my reading and prayer. / Thou art the Word with God’s fulness in Thee, / Thou too the Spirit that God my life be; / Thee in the Word I enjoy as my food, / Thou as the Spirit art water to me. (Hymns #811 stanzas 2-3)
  – Thy Word is light, Thy Word is food; / Which doth enlighten and supply; / I long to read and feed much more, / For light and food to satisfy. / Thou art the living water too / Which full revival doth bestow; / I wish to pray and drink e’en more / That through me living rivers flow. (Hymns #813 stanzas 7-8)
  – The Lord is longing for His Bride, / All glorious within. / His heart will then be satisfied / When she is fit for Him. / ’Tis by the Word the church is made / Holy and pure as He; / All spots and wrinkles it removes / That she His Bride may be. (Hymns #1310 stanzas 1-2)