THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Divine Dispensing
Message Five—The Dispensing of the Son
Scripture Reading: John 1:18; Heb. 1:3; John 5:43; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17; John 14:16-20, 23; 17:23, 26
I. The Gospel of John is particular in the divine dispensation; in it we cannot find that the Lord had any intention merely to teach us what to do or what not to do; the Lord discloses that the Trinity of the Godhead wants to dispense Himself into our being—John 1:18; 14:16-20: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
A. On the positive side, this book shows us the divine revelation concerning the Triune God being dispensed into our being; on the negative side, it shows us the veils—religion, human thought, natural concepts, and even concepts concerning the worship of God—cf. John 11. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
B. According to the Gospel of John at least three things frustrate the dispensing of the Son:
1. First is religion; we have been born into religion, and religion is in our blood. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
2. The second frustration is ethics; we cannot stay away from the thought of being a good person. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
3. Third, we cannot stay away from our natural thinking; we all have our natural thinking; philosophy is just the development of our natural thinking—2 Cor. 10:4-5. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
4. It is really hard for us to stay away from these three things: religion, ethics, and natural thinking; yet we must realize these are hindrances, coverings, veils, to us—2 Cor. 3:15-16. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
C. Surely the revelation of such a book demands that we drop everything; we need an empty spirit to receive something new, something fresh, something up-to-date, something that is the genuine revelation in the holy Word—Matt. 5:3. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
II. The Gospel of John has a particular character and touches a particular thing: the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—is endeavoring to work Himself into the very being of His chosen people, that all of His chosen people may live a life, not of religion, nor of ethics, but of the Triune God—Gal. 4:19; Eph. 3:17a: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
A. The Father is the source, and the Son is the expression, the accomplisher; whatever the Father planned, the Son accomplished; so the Son is the accomplisher—John 1:18; Heb. 1:3. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
B. The Son was sent by the Father, and He came in the Father’s name—John 5:43: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
1. The Lord Jesus never did anything in His own name; he always did everything in the Father’s name—John 10:25. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
2. When the Son came He did not simply represent the Father; when He came, the Father came; He came in the Father’s name; He lived the Father; this is just for the Father’s dispensing in the Son and through the Son—John 6:46. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
C. The Son of God came not just to dwell among us, but to tabernacle—John 1:14; 16:4b: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
1. The tabernacle signifies God in humanity; this very God as the tabernacle is enterable. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
2. His redeemed people, His priests, His serving ones, can enter into Him and dwell in Him and enjoy Him. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
3. By tabernacling among us, our God became enterable—John 1:14. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
D. Christ the Son not only coexists, but also coinheres with the Father—John 14:10-11, 26; 15:26; 10:30: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
1. When the Son came, He said that He was not alone, that the Father was with Him; so while He was on earth, He and the Father were existing together; but on the other hand, the Lord said that He was in the Father, and the Father was in Him— John 8:16, 29; 14:10a, 11a; 17:21. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
2. This is not for doctrine, but for experience on our side and for dispensing on His side—2 Cor. 13:14. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
3. The Triune God has been dispensed into us; this very Triune God now has to be our very living; we need to forget about so many other things; our life and our living should not be religion or ethics, but the Triune God—Phil. 1:21. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
4. We must live in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Spirit; we should not live in our own name; as long as we live in the name of the Triune God, our living will be marvelous!—Gal. 2:20. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
5. We need to see such a vision that in God’s economy He doesn’t want something else; He only wants to work Himself into our being; Christ the Son coexists and coinheres with the Father so that He with the Father might be dispensed into our being—John 14:10; 17:21. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
E. As the Son and the Father are coinhering, they are one—John 10:30; 17:22. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
F. The Son lived on earth not just by the Father or through the Father, but because of the Father; His living had a cause; that cause was the Father—John 6:57. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
G. The Son was working in the Father’s name and with the Father; this means when the Son was working, He was working with the Father as one; He and the Father were not working separately—John 10:25; 5:17, 19: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
1. The Lord told us that He came down from heaven not to do His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him—John 6:38, 5:30. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
2. the Lord as the Son did not carry out His own will but the Father’s—John 3:34a; 14:24; 7:16-17; 12:49-50. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
3. The Son was also seeking the Father’s glory—John 7:18. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
4. The Son who came in the Father’s name, who did the Father’s will, who spoke the Father’s word, and who sought the Father’s glory also expressed the Father—John 14:7-9. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
H. As the expression of the Father, the Son sent the Spirit from with the Father—John 15:26; 16:7. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
I. John 3:34 tells us that the Son gives the Spirit to us; after sending the Spirit, the Son gives the Spirit to us without measure. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
J. Eventually, through death and resurrection, the Son became the Spirit; this is for the dispensing of Himself into us—John 20:19-23. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)
III. So the entire Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—is now abiding in us to be one with us; now in the divine life and in the divine nature He is making us His expression; as genuine Christians we should live a life that lives the Triune God; this is the dispensing of the Triune God into us to produce many children of God and many brothers of Christ, so that the Father may have a house, that Christ may have a Body, and that the Spirit may have an organism to express the Triune God—John 14:23; 17:23, 26. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 12)