THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Divine Dispensing
Message Six—The Dispensing of the Spirit
Scripture Reading: John 14:17; 20:22; 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:14-15; 14:23; Rom. 8:9-11; John 7:38-39
I. The entire universe is focused on God, and He is triune: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit; the Triune God is not merely for teaching, but is for dispensing; doctrinally we may not fully understand the Triune God, but in experience we can testify that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are in us; this is for experience on our side, and this is for dispensing on His side—Rom. 11:36; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
A. The very God upon whom the entire universe is focused is not a single God; He is triune; both the Old and New Testaments use plural pronouns in referring to the Triune God—Gen. 1:26; John 14:23: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
1. In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;” here the plural pronouns, us and our, are used. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
2. Then in John 14:23 the Lord Jesus said, “We will come to him and make an abode with him;” who are the We? The Father and the Son. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
3. So our God is triune; the entire universe is focused on God, and He is triune: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit—Matt. 3:16-17; Rev. 1:4-5. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
B. Although God is triune, He is one; the Father is not separate from the Son, nor from the Spirit; the Spirit is not separate from the Son, nor from the Father; the Three have never been separated; the Three coexist and coinhere all the time; the Three are always one; there is no separation; this is a mystery as revealed in the Scriptures for dispensing the Triune God into us—John 15:26; 14:10; 2 Cor. 13:14. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
II. The Father is the source, the initiator, the Son is the expression, the accomplisher, and the Spirit is the entering in, the applier; the Father sent the Son, and the Son came with the Father; the Son sent the Spirit, and the Spirit came from with the Father in the name of the Son—John 14:17; 8:29; 16:32, 7; 14:26; 15:26: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
A. In the Father you taste love, in the Son you enjoy grace, and in the Spirit you participate in the communion, the fellowship, the flow, of the divine life; love is the source, grace is the enjoyment, and the Spirit is the communion; this is the dispensing of the Triune God—2 Cor. 13:14. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
B. Today the very reaching of this Triune God into you is the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit; he is the Spirit; when the Spirit comes, He comes in the Son’s name, and He comes with the Son and with the Father—1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
C. The Spirit is the entering in and the applier of the Triune God; our God is not only the source and not only the expression, but also the entering in; he has entered into our being—Col. 1:27. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
D. The Spirit is another Paraclete; Paraclete is the anglicized form of the Greek word paracletos; this is a very inclusive word; it means one who serves you, who is called to your side to help you in everything; it also denotes one who is taking care of your case like an attorney, or who intercedes for you like an intercessor; it also denotes a kind of patron; further, it denotes consoling and comforting—John 14:16: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
1. The Spirit, the Third of the Trinity, is the total consummation of the Triune God; He is not just one third of the Godhead; He is the totality of the Godhead—1 Cor. 15:45b. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
2. Such a One is your helper, your patron, your counselor, your comforter who takes care of your needs in your daily life—John 14:16. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
E. The Spirit is given by the Father in answering the Son’s request; the Three of the Godhead are working together to give us the Spirit, as revealed in John 14:16. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
F. The Spirit was sent by the Father in the Son’s name; when the Spirit is sent, He is sent in the Son’s name; that means He is sent as the Son; so the Son comes as the Father, and the Spirit is sent as the Son; this simply means that the Three are one—John 14:26.
G. The Spirit proceeds from with the Father; the Spirit does not come by Himself alone; He comes from the Father, and He comes with the Father—John 15:26. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
H. The Spirit receives all that is of the Son; whatever the Son is and has, has been disclosed, passed on, to the Spirit; the Spirit then discloses everything He has received to us—John 16:14-15. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
I. The Spirit abides with the Son and the Father in the believers—John 14:17, 23; Rom. 8:9-11: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
1. In Romans 8:9-11 three divine titles are used interchangeably: the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ; this indicates that Christ is the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of God; these three divine titles are used interchangeably to describe the dispensing of the Trinity into our three parts to mingle Himself fully with our being. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
2. The Trinity is mingled with our three parts; this is really wonderful! This is the abiding of the Triune God in His ultimate consummation, which is the life-giving Spirit. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
3. First John 2:23 says, “He who confesses the Son has the Father also;” so when you have the Son, you have both the Son and the Father; because the Son comes as the Spirit, He is the pneumatic Christ—2 Cor. 3:17. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
4. Eternal life is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, who come to us in the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit; this Triune God is the reality of eternal life—1 John 5:20: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
a. When we Christians say that we should grow in life, we mean that we should grow with the element and essence of the Triune God—Col. 2:19b. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
b. Life in our Christian experience is just the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; life is the Triune God, and this life is within us—Col. 3:4. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
J. Now we, the believing and baptized people, are one with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; we participate in the Triune God and enjoy His dispensing of Himself into us—Matt. 28:19. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
K. The Spirit of the resurrected Christ comes to testify concerning the Son and to glorify Him; as the transfiguration of the Son, He makes the Son real in the believers’ experience; this is to testify concerning the Son—John 15:26; 16:14: (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
1. When the Spirit discloses what the Son is to the believers and makes Him real to them in their life, the Son is glorified—John 16:13. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
2. By this the Son becomes the believers’ life within and their expression without; this is to glorify the Son—Col. 3:4. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)
III. Eventually, this Spirit will fill up the believers and overflow from within them as rivers of living water in many aspects of their Christian life; this is for the believers in Christ to experience and enjoy the Triune God to the uttermost; this is the ultimate consummation of the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity into God’s chosen people—John 7:38-39. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 13)