THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Consummated Spirit
Message One—A Bird’s Eye View of the Spirit in the Entire Bible
Scripture Reading: John 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17; Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6; 22:17a
I. The Spirit of God moved in God’s creation of the universe—Gen. 1:2.
II. The Spirit of Jehovah acted in God’s reaching of men and in His care for men—Judg. 3:10; 6:34; Gen. 6:3a.
III. The Spirit of holiness was for God’s making His chosen people holy unto Himself—Psa. 51:11; Isa. 63:10-11.
IV. The Spirit was the Holy Spirit in the conception of John the Baptist to introduce God’s becoming a man in His incarnation (Luke 1:13-17) and in the conception of Jesus in God’s incarnation to be a man in the flesh (vv. 30-36; Matt. 1:18-20).
V. The Spirit was the Spirit with whom Jesus was anointed and who was in the move of the man Jesus in His ministry to God on the earth—Mark 1:10, 12; Matt. 4:1; Luke 4:1, 18; John 1:32-33.
VI. The Spirit was there to anoint and to move with Christ, but at that time the Spirit had not yet entered into the believers to flow out as rivers of living water; in this sense, the Spirit was not yet, because by that time Jesus had not yet been glorified in His resurrection—7:37-39; Luke 24:26.
VII. Through and in His resurrection Christ as the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit to enter into His believers to flow out as rivers of living water—1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 21:6; 22:17c:
A. In the Spirit there are not only the divine element of God but also the human element of Jesus and the elements of His human living and of His suffering of death as well—Acts 16:7.
B. The life-giving Spirit as the Spirit of Christ is concerning Christ in His divinity, who conquered death and became the life in resurrection with the resurrection power—Rom. 8:9b.
C. The life-giving Spirit as the Spirit of Jesus Christ comprises all the elements of Jesus’ humanity with His death and Christ’s divinity with His resurrection, which become the bountiful supply of the unsearchable Christ for the support of His believers—Phil.1:19b.
D. The life-giving Spirit as the Lord Spirit, the pneumatic Christ, is for the metabolic transformation of the believers into the Lord’s image from glory to glory by the renewing of the mind and is for the growth and the building up of the Body of Christ—Eph. 4:16; 2 Cor. 3:17-18.
E. When the man Jesus became the life-giving Spirit, the Triune God was fully completed, consummated—Matt. 28:19b.
F. The life-giving Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God is the Paraclete, the Comforter, to the believers—John 14:16.
G. The life-giving Spirit is the reality of the processed Triune God—v. 17a; 15:26b; 16:13; 1 John 5:6b.
H. The life-giving Spirit is the reaching of the processed Triune God to the believers.
I. The life-giving Spirit is the believers’ access unto the Father, the source of the Divine Trinity—Eph. 2:18.
J. The life-giving Spirit is the fellowship of the processed Triune God with the believers for their enjoyment of the riches of the Divine Trinity—2 Cor. 13:14.
VIII. The Spirit is the compound anointing Spirit—Exo. 30:22-30:
A. The Spirit is compounded with the unique God as the base, as the divinity of Christ, typified by the one hin of olive oil—v. 24b.
B. The Spirit is compounded with God’s Divine Trinity, typified by the three units of five hundred shekels of the spices—vv. 23-24a.
C. The Spirit is compounded with Christ’s humanity, typified by the four kinds of spices.
D. The Spirit is compounded with Christ’s death and its killing effectiveness, typified by myrrh and cinnamon—v. 23a.
E. The Spirit is compounded with Christ’s resurrection and its repelling power, typified by calamus and cassia—vv. 23b-24a.
F. All the above elements compounded together create an ointment for the anointing of all the things and persons related to the worship of God—vv. 25-30; 2 Cor. 1:21; 1 John 2:20, 27.
G. The compound anointing Spirit operates as the Holy Spirit to seal the believers of Christ—Eph. 1:13; 4:30b; 2 Cor. 1:22a.
H. The sealing Spirit becomes a pledge to the believers, guaranteeing God as the inheritance of the believers and giving them a foretaste of God as their heritage—Eph. 1:14; 2 Cor. 1:22b.
IX. The Spirit is the blessing of the gospel—Gal. 3:8, 14:
A. The Spirit regenerates the believers, begetting them as the many sons of God—John 3:5-6.
B. The Spirit is the Spirit of the Son to cry, “Abba, Father!” in the believers’ hearts and to lead the believers to walk as the sons of God—Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:14-16.
C. The Spirit is for the priesthood of the gospel to sanctify the believers—15:16.
D. The Spirit intercedes for the believers—8:26.
E. The Spirit renews the believers, making them the new creation of God—Titus 3:5b; 2 Cor. 5:17.
X. The seven Spirits are the sevenfold intensified Spirit for the church’s degradation in the dark age; in Revelation 1 the sevenfold Spirit is ranked as the second in the Divine Trinity instead of the third, indicating the intensification of the Spirit—vv. 4-5a:
A. The seven Spirits are the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of God to carry out the divine administration for the consummation of the divine economy—4:5.
B. The seven Spirits are the seven eyes of the Lamb, the observing parts of our Redeemer, to observe all the churches in all the nations and to transfuse all His riches into us for the building up of His Body to consummate the building up of the New Jerusalem, thus accomplishing the eternal economy of God—5:6; 21:1-3.
C. The sevenfold intensified Spirit is the speaking Spirit to all the churches—2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22.
XI. The Spirit is the essential Spirit and the economical Spirit of the processed Triune God—John 20:22; Acts 1:8:
A. The essential Spirit of God, the Spirit of life, was breathed into the believers as the divine essence of the divine life—John 20:22.
B. The economical Spirit of God, the Spirit of power, was poured out upon the believers as the divine essence of the divine power—Acts 1:8; 2:2, 4, 17.
XII. The Spirit is the consummation of the processed Triune God:
A. The Spirit and the bride speak together as a universal couple—Rev. 22:17a.
B. The processed and consummated Triune God marries the redeemed, regenerated, and transformed tripartite people for His final manifestation and ultimate expression in glory for eternity—21:1—22:5.
Ministry Excerpts:
The all-inclusive Spirit, whom the all-inclusive Christ (as the threefold seed in humanity) has become, is the aggregate of the all-embracing blessing of the full gospel of God in Christ (Gal. 3:14), for the divine dispensing according to the divine economy. This all-inclusive Spirit comprises many items.
AS THE SPIRIT OF LIFE, FILLING US INWARDLY
WITH HIMSELF AS THE LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT
As the Spirit of life, this Spirit fills us inwardly with Himself as the life-giving Spirit that we may be saturated and permeated with the unsearchable riches of Christ to be the fullness of Christ for His expression (Rom. 8:2; Acts 13:52; Eph. 3:8; 1:23). The words saturate and permeate are similar in meaning, but each bears a special denotation. To saturate means to fill to capacity, to soak thoroughly, and carries the thought of “in depth.” To permeate means to spread or flow throughout, to pervade completely, and carries the thought of “in breadth.” It would be more meaningful to say that a room is permeated, rather than saturated, with the smell of perfume. The Spirit of life fills us inwardly that we may be both saturated and permeated with the unsearchable riches of Christ. The unsearchable riches of Christ are always with the life-giving Spirit. Christ as the threefold seed in humanity is now the life-giving Spirit. The life-giving Spirit is the essential Spirit, who is the spiritual, divine, and heavenly essence of all the riches of Christ. When these riches fill us, we are saturated with Christ, and when He fills us further, we are permeated with Christ. Eventually, we are full of Christ both vertically and horizontally. Vertically, we are saturated with Christ, and horizontally we are permeated with Christ. This is the infilling of the Spirit of life (Acts 13:52).
AS THE SPIRIT OF POWER,
FILLING US OUTWARDLY WITH HIMSELF
AS THE OUTPOURED SPIRIT
The all-inclusive Spirit as the Spirit of power fills us outwardly with Himself as the outpoured Spirit that we may be clothed with the power from on high as our authority for us to be engaged in the Lord’s work according to God’s economy (Acts 1:8a; 2:4a, 17, 33; 4:4, 8, 30; Luke 24:49). The Greek word used in reference to the inward filling is pleroo, and the corresponding word used in reference to the outward filling is pletho. According to their usage in Acts, pleroo denotes the filling of a vessel within, as the wind filled the house inwardly in Acts 2:2, and pletho denotes the filling of persons outwardly, as the Spirit filled the disciples outwardly in Acts 2:4.
The Spirit of power is the economical Spirit for the carrying out of God’s economy. This aspect of the Spirit is different from the aspect of the Spirit as the Spirit of life, or the essential Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, what was poured out on the disciples was not the essential Spirit but the economical Spirit, not the Spirit of life but the Spirit of power (Acts 2:4), because on the day of Pentecost what was needed was not primarily life but power (1:8). The power that was poured out from on high was the economical Spirit to clothe the disciples as their authority. Today, when driving on the street, you may be fearful if you see a policeman in uniform. This is because his uniform is his authority. A large truck may be full of strength and power, but when the policeman in uniform signals for the driver in the truck to stop, the truck must stop. To drive a truck is a matter of power, but to stop the truck at the wave of a hand is a matter of authority. The power from on high is our authority. Everyone who truly speaks for the Lord has this authority. His speaking is the authority. The power from on high becomes the authority for us to be engaged in the Lord’s dispensing according to His economy.
AS THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE SPIRIT OF JESUS,
DIRECTING THE MOVE OF THE MINISTERS
OF CHRIST THROUGH THE INWARD GUIDANCE
BY THE DIVINE DISPENSING
The all-inclusive Spirit as the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus directs the move of the ministers of Christ through the inward guidance by the divine dispensing (Acts 16:6-10). In Acts 16 Paul and his co-workers were traveling in Asia Minor. They wanted to turn toward Asia, but they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit (v. 6); then they attempted to go to Bithynia, but they were prohibited by the Spirit of Jesus (v. 7). Eventually, they stopped, and in the night Paul had a vision concerning a Macedonian man who entreated the brothers to come over to help them. Paul and his co-workers concluded that God had called them to bring the good news into Macedonia (vv. 9-10). They crossed the Aegean Sea and entered into eastern Europe and into the major city of that region, Philippi (vv. 11-12).
Paul and his co-workers had both the outward guidance and the inward guidance. The dream in which the Macedonian man said, “Come over into Macedonia and help us” was the outward guidance. The inward guidance came as they considered the dream and concluded that God had called them to announce the good news to the Macedonians. This inward guidance was through the Spirit by the divine dispensing. Through the leading of the Spirit, Paul and his co-workers received some amount of dispensing. This was their inward guidance.
AS THE RENEWING SPIRIT, TRANSFORMING US WITH ALL THE ATTRIBUTES OF CHRIST INTO THE GLORIOUS IMAGE
OF THE RESURRECTED AND GLORIFIED CHRIST
As the renewing Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit transforms us with the attributes of Christ into the glorious image of the resurrected and glorified Christ that we may bear His image for His glory (2 Cor. 3:17-18; Rom. 12:2a). The attributes of Christ include many items, such as His humility, His patience, and His kindness. When they are expressed outwardly, these items are Christ’s virtues, but within Christ, they are His attributes.
AS THE TRANSFORMING SPIRIT, CONFORMING US,
HIS MANY TRANSFORMED BROTHERS, TO HIS IMAGE
As the transforming Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit conforms us, His many transformed brothers, to His image, the image of the firstborn Son of God, that we may fully be what He is (Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2). The Spirit’s transformation has a goal, and that is to conform us to the image of the firstborn Son of God. Christ as the firstborn Son of God is the model, the mold, to which we all must be conformed. In baking bread, there is the need of a mold. Once we have the mold, the dough can be placed into the mold so that it will have the same image as the mold. Christ is the mold, and we are the dough. Before being placed in the mold, we are without a proper image. But once we are put into the mold, we have the proper image. All the saints bear the same image because they have all been placed into the same mold.
The transforming Spirit will conform us to the image of the firstborn Son of God that we may fully be what He is. First John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been manifested what we will be. We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is.” The real meaning of this verse is that the glorified Christ in our spirit will both saturate us vertically and permeate us horizontally, filling us that we may express Him. Eventually, we will be conformed to His glorified image and be exactly as He is.
AS THE CONFORMING SPIRIT, GLORIFYING US
WITH THE DIVINE GLORY OF GOD AND OF CHRIST
As the renewing Spirit, He transforms us, and as the transforming Spirit, He conforms us. Then as the conforming Spirit, He glorifies us with the divine glory of God and of Christ that the divine glory within us today may be expressed outwardly, in which we will be the same as Christ is in the glory of God (Rom. 8:30b; Heb. 2:10a; 1 Pet. 5:10a; Col. 1:27). To be glorified in the divine glory is not merely objective. In my early Christian life I was taught that although we are very mean and low pieces of clay, one day, when the Lord Jesus comes, we will be brought into the glory of God. At that time I did not understand the matter of glorification, so I accepted this teaching. Later, I realized that this kind of teaching is too objective. If we as pieces of clay are put into glory, we will remain pieces of clay. The only difference will be that today we are clothed with clay, but in that day we will be pieces of clay clothed with glory.
The way that we are glorified is not objective but very subjective. Christ as the glory today is already within us as the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). He is not in us in a dormant way, but He is saturating and permeating us to bring us through the process of conformation. His conforming us is also His glorifying us. When this glorifying reaches its climax, our body will be redeemed (Phil. 3:21; Rom. 8:23). At that time, we will no longer be clay. Rather, our clay will be transformed and conformed to the expression of Christ in glory.
AS THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD,
AS THE SEVEN LAMPS OF FIRE,
AND AS THE SEVEN EYES OF THE LAMB
As the seven Spirits of God, as the seven lamps of fire, and as the seven eyes of the Lamb, the all-inclusive Spirit searches through enlightening and infuses through observing the churches with all the saints by the divine dispensing (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6). The seven Spirits are the Spirit of God intensified sevenfold. The seven Spirits as the Spirit of God are the seven eyes of the Lamb, Christ (5:6). This strongly contradicts traditional theology which says that the three of the Divine Trinity are separate persons. In Revelation 5:6 the third of the Divine Trinity, who is the Spirit, is the eyes of the second, who is the Lamb, Christ the Son of God. Are these two separate persons or are they one person? The eyes of a person cannot be separated from that person to become another person. The third of the Divine Trinity is one with the second of the Divine Trinity. How wonderful this is!
The seven Spirits of God as the eyes of the Lamb are also seven lamps of fire (Rev. 4:5). Whenever we close our eyes, we find that we are in darkness; we have no “lamps” by which we can see. Thus, our two eyes are two lamps. If we were blind, we would have no light, because we would have no lamps. To have light, we need a lamp. Without our eyes, we would have no light, no lamp, to enlighten us. This illustrates how the eyes are the lamps. Because our eyes are our lamps, we must pray so that the Lord will open our eyes that we may have light (Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:18). Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord” (lit.). Our spirit is the lamp to bring in the Lord as the light. Our spirit is not the light; it is the lamp to receive the light. But without the lamp, we cannot receive the light. Hence, we must exercise our spirit, which is the lamp, to have a clear conscience so that the light can shine within us.
AS THE CONSUMMATION
OF THE PROCESSED TRIUNE GOD, MARRYING
THE TRANSFORMED, TRIPARTITE, REDEEMED SAINTS,
THAT HE AND WE MAY BE A UNIVERSAL COUPLE
The life-giving Spirit, who today is sevenfold, is the consummation of the processed Triune God. This consummated Triune God marries the transformed, tripartite, redeemed saints, that He and we, we and He, may be a universal couple for His redeemed ones to enjoy the riches and fullness of the processed Triune God as the all-inclusive blessing of the New Jerusalem through His dispensing according to His economy for eternity (Rev. 22:17a). The entire Bible of sixty-six books ends with the New Jerusalem, the embodiment of the blessing of the gospel of God. Galatians 3:14 reveals that the Spirit is the blessing of the gospel. The New Jerusalem is the aggregate of the Spirit, who is the blessing allotted to us in the gospel of God for our eternal enjoyment.
AS THE ALL-EMBRACING BLESSING
OF THE FULL GOSPEL OF GOD IN CHRIST,
CONSUMMATING IN THE NEW JERUSALEM
IN THE NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH
The life-giving Spirit, as the all-embracing blessing of the full gospel of God in Christ, consummates in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth as the aggregate, the totality, of Christ’s being the threefold seed in humanity (Rev. 21:1-3, 9-23; 22:1-2, 14). The Spirit is the consummation of Christ as the threefold seed of Mary, Abraham, and David.
THIS TOTAL BLESSING BEING THE MINGLING, THE BLENDING, OF THE PROCESSED AND CONSUMMATED
TRIUNE GOD WITH HIS CHOSEN AND GLORIFIED
TRIPARTITE SAINTS AS THE CONCLUSION
OF THE DIVINE REVELATION FOR ETERNITY
This total blessing is the mingling, the blending, of the processed and consummated Triune God with His chosen and glorified tripartite saints as the conclusion of the divine revelation for eternity. This is the end of the Bible, and this is the central line of the divine revelation. (The Central Line of the Divine Revelation, msg. 12)