THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church
Message Three—The Essence and Sphere of the New Testament Being the Spirit
Scripture Reading: John 14:10, 13, 16-20, 26; 20:22; 15:26; 2 Cor. 3:17-18
I. Bible readers all know that the Bible speaks of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit; therefore, the Holy Spirit is one of the three major subjects of the Bible; we want to see the Holy Spirit, “the Spirit,” from the viewpoint of the entire Bible—John 7:39; Phil. 1:19:
A. At the very beginning, in Genesis 1, after telling us that God created the heavens and the earth, the Bible goes on to say that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters; God’s act of creation was performed by the Spirit of God, that is, carried out by the Spirit of God brooding over the face of the waters—v. 2.
B. After speaking of the Spirit of God, the Old Testament refers to the Spirit of Jehovah numerous times; the Spirit of Jehovah indicates the reaching of God to man:
1. The book of Judges frequently says that certain judges rose up to fight for the children of Israel because the Spirit of Jehovah had come upon them—3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6.
2. Furthermore, the prophets rose up to speak for God because the Spirit of Jehovah had come upon them also—2 Sam. 23:2; 1 Kings 18:46; 2 King 3:15; Ezek. 1:3; 8:1; cf. Isa. 61:1.
3. In Joel 2:28-29 God promised, saying, “And afterward I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh…Indeed even upon the servants and the maids / In those days I will pour out My Spirit;” in the Old Testament the pouring out of the Spirit is typified by rain, as in Hosea 6:3, which says that God would pour out His Spirit at two times as the fulfillment of the autumn, or former, rain and the spring, or latter, rain—cf. Hosea 6:3.
4. The Old Testament speaks of the Spirit of God only to this extent, concluding at the end with a promise, which is that God will pour out His Spirit as rain upon His elect—Job 29:23; Prov. 16:15.
C. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit is the first divine title ascribed to the Spirit of God; at the time of the New Testament, for the initiation of the gospel of God, the preparing of a human body for the Savior required that the Holy Spirit impart the divine nature into humanity, making man holy for the carrying out of God’s plan of redemption; hence, the mention of the Holy Spirit in the beginning of the New Testament is related to the conception of Christ—Matt. 1:20.
D. Jesus had the Holy Spirit in the essential aspect as His intrinsic nature from His conception and birth, but it was at His baptism that the Holy Spirit in the economical aspect descended upon Him as His outward power—Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:35; 4:14, 18; Matt. 12:28.
E. On the day of the Lord’s resurrection, in which the Son came as another Comforter and breathed the Holy Spirit, who is His transfiguration, into His disciples—John 14:16, 26; 20:22:
1. Another Comforter being the Holy Spirit whom the Father sent in the Son’s Name.
2. The Lord’s breathing of the Holy Spirit into the disciples was the fulfillment of His promise that the Father would give them the Spirit of reality as another Comforter.
3. Another Comforter, the Spirit of reality, being the consummation of the Triune God.
4. The Triune God has been consummated as the Spirit, who enters into us with the Father, in whom is the Son; because of the Spirit’s entering into us, we are in the Son and consequently, the Son is also in us; this is the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—in us to be experienced by us as our blessing and to become our enjoyment, which is Christ in us as the hope of glory; therefore, to experience Christ is to experience the Triune God—14:20; Col. 1:27.
5. Christ, who is the Spirit; by calling on the name of the Lord, our spirit touches the Spirit, who is the consummation of the Triune God; as a result, we can enjoy the Lord’s riches; this is to experience Christ—Rom. 10:12.
F. The Lord passed through the processes of death and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit; in this Spirit are the elements of the Lord Himself, His death, and His resurrection; since the Lord is the Spirit, He can come into us, and all His riches can be subjectively experienced and enjoyed by us—2 Cor. 15:45b; 3:17.
G. When the Trinity is referred to in the beginning of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, the Spirit is called “the seven Spirits who are before His throne”; the seven Spirits are moving and speaking in the church today—1:4-5.
II. In the New Testament there are four main passages which speak in a clear way concerning the Triune God—Eph. 2:28; 3:16-17; 4:4-6; 2 Cor. 13:14:
A. The first passage is Ephesians 2:18: “For through Him [the Son] we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father”; this verse clearly mentions the Son, the Spirit, and the Father:
1. If we want to understand what Ephesians 2:18 says concerning our having access through the Son, in the Spirit, and unto the Father, we must have an even deeper study of the Bible:
a. The Son came to the earth from and with the Father, but He was conceived and born of and through the Spirit as His essence; thus, the Son did not come alone; instead, the Father and the Spirit came with Him—John 5:43.
b. In this incarnated One there are the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; therefore, this One is the Triune God.
2. When Ephesians 2:18 speaks of these three steps, it is telling us not that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three different persons but that they are one God in three aspects:
a. The aspect of His redeeming us, the aspect of His applying redemption to us, and the aspect of His coming into us for our enjoyment; this is to have access through the Son, in the Spirit, and unto the Father.
b. Through the Son is through the Triune God, in the Spirit is in the Triune God, and unto the Father is unto the Triune God; this is how we enjoy all the fullness of the Triune God.
B. The second passage in the New Testament that speaks of the Triune God is Ephesians 3:16-17, which says, “That He [the Father] would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ [the Son] may make His home in your hearts through faith” :
1. This is the apostle Paul’s prayer that the believers may experience the fullness of God according to the riches of the Father’s glory that they may be filled unto all the fullness of God—v. 19b.
2. The Father hears Paul’s prayer and grants the believers to be strengthened through the Spirit into the inner man; then, Christ can make His home in the believers’ hearts—vv. 16-17a.
3. It is truly marvelous that Paul prays to the Father, but when the Father answers his prayer, He comes through the Spirit; yet the One who makes His home in the believers’ hearts is the Son; the result is that the believers are filled unto all the fullness of God—not merely the fullness of the Son or of the Father or of the Spirit but the fullness of God—3:19b.
4. If we understand the scriptural principle, we will see that whatever goes from us to God begins with Christ, and whatever comes from God to us begins with the Father; ephesians 3:16-17, however, speaks of God coming to us to make His home in our hearts; therefore, the direction is reversed; it begins with the Father, it is through the Spirit, and finally the Son comes to make His home.
C. The third passage in the New Testament which speaks of the Triune God is Ephesians 4:4-6, which says, “One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” here we see the Spirit, the Son, and the Father:
1. This God is not only the God who created us but also the Father who regenerated us; He is our God and Father, who is over us and through us and in us.
2. This is how the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—become our reality and experience in our living as the foundation and element of all our living.
D. The fourth passage in the New Testament which speaks about the Triune God is 2 Corinthians 13:14, which says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” :
1. Actually, these are three aspects which we experience at the same time; in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit there is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ brings the love of the Father to us.
2. Love is the hidden source; when love is expressed, it becomes grace; the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is the pouring out, the transmission, and the application, which applies to us the love that the Father manifests and that is expressed in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; thus, love, grace, and fellowship are actually one.
3. The preceding four passages of the New Testament clearly reveal the Triune God, and all prove to us that both the experience of Christ and the experience of the Holy Spirit are in reality the experience of the Triune God.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE SPIRIT
The Spirit of God
At the very beginning, in Genesis 1, after telling us that God created the heavens and the earth, the Bible goes on to say that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (v. 2, ASV). The Hebrew word for moved means something like the brooding of a hen over its eggs. A hen broods, stretching its wings over its eggs for the purpose of producing something living, that is, its chicks. Therefore, some good English versions of the Bible have translated this word into was brooding, with the sense of life-producing. Bible readers all know that Genesis 1 speaks about God’s creation of the heavens and the earth, but many have neglected the fact that God’s act of creation was performed by the Spirit of God, that is, carried out by the Spirit of God brooding over the face of the waters.
The Spirit of Jehovah
After speaking of the Spirit of God, the Old Testament refers to the Spirit of Jehovah numerous times. The Spirit of Jehovah indicates the reaching of God to man. The book of Judges frequently says that certain judges rose up to fight for the children of Israel because the Spirit of Jehovah had come upon them (3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6). Furthermore, the prophets rose up to speak for God because the Spirit of Jehovah had come upon them also (2 Sam. 23:2; Isa. 61:1). Elijah became a prophet because the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him; later, Elisha, following Elijah, put on Elijah’s mantle. That mantle is a type of the Holy Spirit descending upon the believers in the New Testament as the economical Spirit, the Spirit of power. In Luke 24:49 the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “And behold, I send forth the promise of My Father upon you; but as for you, stay in the city until you put on power from on high.” This is what the mantle of Elijah and Elisha typifies. Hence, this Spirit is also called “the mantle Spirit.”
In Joel 2:28-29 God promised, saying, “And afterward I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh,/…Indeed even upon the servants and the maids / In those days I will pour out My Spirit.” In the Old Testament the pouring out of the Spirit is typified by rain, as in Hosea 6:3, which says that God would pour out His Spirit at two times as the fulfillment of the autumn, or former, rain and the spring, or latter, rain. On the day of Pentecost, the pouring out of the Spirit was the former rain; at the end of this age, God will again pour out His Spirit upon the children of Israel, and all Israel will repent and be saved. This is the latter rain, as prophesied in Zechariah 12:10.
The Old Testament speaks of the Spirit of God only to this extent, concluding at the end with a promise, which is that God will pour out His Spirit as rain upon His elect.
The Holy Spirit
In the New Testament the Holy Spirit is the first divine title ascribed to the Spirit of God. Matthew chapter one says that the Holy Spirit entered into the womb of Mary, a human virgin, causing her to conceive and give birth to a child, Christ. At the time of the New Testament, for the initiation of the gospel of God, the preparing of a human body for the Savior required that the Holy Spirit impart the divine nature into humanity, making man holy for the carrying out of God’s plan of redemption. Hence, the mention of the Holy Spirit in the beginning of the New Testament is related to the conception of Christ.
The Essential Spirit and the Economical Spirit
When Christ came out to minister at the age of thirty for the accomplishing of the commission which He had received from God, the Spirit of God descended upon Him (Matt. 3:16). Matthew 1:18, 20 and Luke 1:35 unveil to us that Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit as His essence. Then at His baptism, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, descended upon Him again. This was related to His ministry, His work. These are not two Spirits but two aspects of one Spirit. The Holy Spirit as the essence of Jesus in His conception and birth was His divine life, and He lived by this Spirit as His essence and life. The essence of the divine element of the Holy Spirit, who was His life and nature, was unchangeable and irremovable. However, the Holy Spirit also has the economical aspect, the aspect of power, which was for the ministry of Jesus (Luke 4:14, 18; Matt. 12:28) and could be removed from Him when there was the need for it (Matt. 27:46).
Jesus had the Holy Spirit in the essential aspect as His intrinsic nature from His conception and birth, but it was at His baptism that the Holy Spirit in the economical aspect descended upon Him as His outward power. The Bible clearly records that the Lord Jesus ministered not by His own strength but by this Spirit. Within, He was constituted and filled with the essential Spirit; without, He was anointed and empowered by, as well as filled with, the economical Spirit. He was a person altogether wrapped up with the Spirit. Hence, His move was the Spirit’s move, and His work was the Spirit’s work.
Another Comforter
Another Comforter, the Son Who Was in Them
The Lord went on to say that this Comforter, the Spirit of reality, would abide with the disciples and would be in them (v. 17). The Lord had been with the disciples for three and a half years, they truly enjoyed His presence, and He was their Comforter, but now He was going to leave them. When they heard this, they were very sorrowful. Therefore, the Lord wanted them to know that at that time He could only be with them outwardly, but He could not enter into them. Although the Lord in the flesh could be with the disciples and could walk, stay, and abide with them, He was not satisfied with this. He desired to enter into the believers that He might live in them as their life. Moreover, He wanted to be their bread of life and life supply. In other words, He wanted to be the “another Comforter.” Therefore, the “another Comforter” was Christ entering into them to be their life and life supply. Since He was to be life to them, He could not be merely outside of them but had to be inside of them. Since He was to be their bread of life and life supply, He had to be received into them that He might minister to them. Hence, although the disciples were delighted with the Lord’s outward presence, that was not good enough; the Lord aspired to enter into them.
Another Comforter Being the Holy Spirit
Whom the Father Sent in the Son’s Name
John 14 contains many revelations. Verse 6 says that Christ is the way, the reality, and the life; verse 9 says that he who has seen the Son has seen the Father; verse 11 says that the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son; and verses 16 and 17 say that another Comforter, the Spirit of reality, would be given to the disciples not only to abide with them but also to be in them. However, the four most important verses in John 14 are verses 10, 20, 23, and 26. Moreover, the revelation in these four verses is progressive. Therefore, to study the experience in verse 20, we need to go on to study verse 23.
In verse 23 the Lord said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him.” This is truly wonderful. Why is it that when one loves the Lord, the Father loves him? Why did the Lord say that the Father would love him, instead of saying that He Himself would love him? Would not the Lord also love him? Then the Lord continued, “And We will come to him and make an abode with him.” We here refers to the Father and the Son. According to our thinking, if a person loves the Son, the Son will love him and will enter into him with rejoicing to abide in him. But why did the Lord say that when one loves the Son, it is the Father who would love him, and the Father and the Son would come to him and make an abode with him? In order to explain this verse, we must go on to study verse 26.
As we have seen, verse 20 says that the Son abides in the disciples, and it is through the Holy Spirit, whom the Father sent, that the Son is able to abide in the disciples. Then, verse 26 says, “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and remind you of all the things which I have said to you.” This verse says that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father in the Son’s name. According to grammar, in My name is a modifier; to be in His name is to be in His person. However, when we read this verse, it is very difficult to say whether in My name refers to the Father sending in the Son or to the Spirit being sent in the Son, that is, whether this phrase modifies the Father or the Spirit. Actually, in My name modifies the Father. Therefore, the Father sending the Holy Spirit in the Son’s name is equivalent to the Son sending the Holy Spirit; that is, the Father’s sending of the Holy Spirit in the Son’s name is the Son’s sending of the Holy Spirit from the Father (15:26). In other words, the Son sent the Spirit from the Father and with the Father. This does not mean that the Son sent with the Father but that the Spirit comes with the Father.
Another Comforter Coming by Being Given
John 14:18 says that the Lord would come to the disciples. How did the Lord Jesus come as another Comforter? He came first by becoming the life-giving Spirit through death and resurrection; this was the first step of His coming. Then, on the day of His resurrection, in the evening, the Son who became the Spirit came to breathe Himself into the disciples; this was the second step of His coming.
Similarly, verse 16 says that the Father would give the Comforter to the disciples. Verse 16 says, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever.” How did the Father give the disciples another Comforter? The first step was by resurrecting the Son, who passed through death (Acts 2:24, 32; Rom. 8:11), and then by sending the Son who had become the Spirit to breathe into them (John 14:26). When the Son breathed into them, the Father’s giving was accomplished. The Lord’s breathing of the Holy Spirit into the disciples was the fulfillment of His promise that the Father would give them the Spirit of reality as another Comforter. Hence, the Lord’s breathing accomplished not only His coming as another Comforter but also the giving of the Comforter by the Father. In other words, the Lord’s breathing is the Spirit’s coming and the Father’s giving. Therefore, John 20:22, where the Lord breathed into the disciples, is the fulfillment of 14:16-17, 26, and 15:26.
Another Comforter, the Spirit of Reality,
Being the Consummation of the Triune God
John 14:19 says, “Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me.” This word was spoken by the Lord to His disciples on the night of His betrayal. Then on the third day He was resurrected from death, and in the evening of that day He went to the disciples and breathed into them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” who is the Spirit of reality. The Lord’s word of promise to His disciples was fulfilled in just three days and was therefore “a little while.” At that time, the Lord became the Spirit and breathed Himself into the disciples. Hence, the world beheld Him no longer, but the disciples beheld Him. The Lord’s breathing was the Father’s giving and the Spirit’s coming. This is the reaching of the Triune God. Hence, the Spirit of reality, the Holy Spirit who was breathed into the disciples, is not only the third of the Triune God but the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God. In this Spirit are the Son and the Father. For this reason, for Christ to come into us to become our experience, He must be the Spirit. Christ is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God.
Hence, the Triune God is not for theological doctrines but for our experience. If we do not understand this, in our experience it may seem that we have only the Son without the Father and the Spirit. Actually, when we experience Christ, this Christ is the Spirit, and this Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God. Therefore, when we experience Christ, we also experience the Father with the Spirit. We may say even more plainly that the Christ whom we experience is the Spirit. For this reason, many of the great Christian teachers throughout the ages eventually acknowledged that Christ is the Spirit in the Christians’ experience. Because of this, we have created the term the pneumatic Christ.
Paul was clear about this matter and therefore said, “The Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17). This kind of speaking is not doctrinal but experiential because he went on to say, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Furthermore, he said, “But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (v. 18). This means that in our experience the Lord is the Spirit, the consummation of the Triune God. The Lord Spirit, who is transforming us within, is with the Father and in the Son.
CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD TO TOUCH
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND ENJOY THE RICHES OF THE TRIUNE GOD
Let us use prayer as an illustration. Christians’ general concept about prayer is that we pray and ask the Lord to do something for us only when we have problems. However, this is not accurate. It was only after groping for a long time that I have realized that the prayers of Christians are actually their calling on the name of the Lord. The biblical word for call means to cry out. When we pray, we surely cry out the name of the Lord Jesus. If we call out the name of the Lord Jesus from deep within, our spirit is stirred up. Sometimes even when we call on the Lord’s name softly, our spirit is stirred up. Romans 10:12-13 says, “For the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him; for ‘whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Therefore, it does not matter whether our voice is loud or soft; what matters is that we call. The Lord is rich for our enjoyment. In order to enjoy the riches of the Lord, we need to call upon His name. Calling on the name of the Lord is the secret not only to our salvation but also to our enjoyment of the Lord’s riches. When we call upon the name of the Lord, we breathe in His riches.
Every day we need to exercise our spirit and call on the name of the Lord to enjoy Him. Whenever we are about to lose our temper, we should exercise to call on the Lord. Once we call on the Lord, our temper is gone, and when we call again, we feel peaceful inside and we rejoice exultingly. Sometimes when we are tired from working, we can call, “O Lord Jesus!” and we feel relaxed. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. When we call, we are filled with “air.” The Lord is the Spirit. In Greek, the word for spirit is the same as that for breath or air. For Christians, to call on the name of the Lord is to be filled with air. If we call sufficiently, we are “inflated”; if we do not call, we become “deflated.”
Every morning you need to first call on the name of the Lord to be filled with “air,” and then go to your office. Every office is a place that deflates people. It is needless to say that you are often deflated after working hours are over; even by noon you have nearly been deflated already. Therefore, you need to call on the Lord at noon so that you may be filled with “air” again. After leaving your office, on your way home, you must again call on the Lord’s name and get fully inflated. Then when you return home, you will not feel dejected but instead be overflowing with joy. When we call on the Lord, we experience Christ, who is the Spirit. By calling on the name of the Lord, our spirit touches the Spirit, who is the consummation of the Triune God. As a result, we can enjoy the Lord’s riches. This is to experience Christ.
THE HOLY SPIRIT BEING THE REALITY OF ALL SPIRITUAL THINGS
After I was saved, I enjoyed reading spiritual books and magazines, especially the writings by Brother Watchman Nee. In two of his books, The Normal Christian Life and The Overcoming Life, based on Romans 6, Brother Nee said that every Christian should know how to reckon (v. 11). For example, we should reckon that we have been crucified with Christ. At that time, although my mind was clear, regardless of how much I tried to reckon, it did not work. According to time, Christ was crucified two thousand years ago, while I was born two thousand years after Him. How can I be crucified with Him? Moreover, according to space, He was born in the land of Judea, while I born in China in the Far East. Again, how can I be crucified with Him?
Brother A. B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, wrote a hymn with a chorus that says, “Let us reckon, reckon, reckon, / Let us reckon, rather than feel; / Let us be true to the reck’ning, / And He will make it real” (Hymns, #692). Since this is based upon the Bible, I accepted this doctrine, and I tried my best to reckon. However, regardless of how much I tried, it did not work. Without reckoning, I was better off; the more I reckoned, the worse off I was. Without reckoning, it seemed that my natural self was dead, but once I began to reckon, it became alive and everything went wrong. Later, Brother Nee added a word saying that the reckoning in Romans 6 must be done along with the experience in Romans 8. Romans 6 merely gives us the fact, whereas Romans 8 brings us into the experience.
Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.” This verse tells us clearly that it is not that we can reckon ourselves to death, but that by the Spirit we put to death the practices of the body. How do we do this by the Spirit? It is by calling on the name of the Lord. We simply need to call on the Lord. Then our spirit is stirred up and executes the Lord’s death within us. Christ in us is the Spirit, who contains the element of His death with its effectiveness. Therefore, the Lord’s death is in the Spirit, not in our reckoning.
For this reason, after his speaking in Romans 6, Paul spoke about being according to the spirit, walking according to the spirit, and being led by the Spirit of God (8:4-5, 14). It is only by the Spirit that we can put to death the practices of the body. If the Lord were not the Spirit, He could not come into us, and His death would have nothing to do with us. The Lord passed through the processes of death and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit. In this Spirit are the elements of the Lord Himself, His death, and His resurrection. Since the Lord is the Spirit, He can come into us, and all His riches can be subjectively experienced and enjoyed by us. The Lord is the Spirit as the reality of all spiritual things.
THE SEVEN SPIRITS FOR GOD’S MOVE ON THE EARTH
When the Trinity is referred to in the beginning of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, the Spirit is called “the seven Spirits who are before His throne” (1:4). The seven Spirits are moving and speaking in the church today. At the beginning of each of the seven epistles in Revelation chapters two and three, it is the Lord who speaks, but at the end of each epistle, it is the Spirit who speaks to the churches. This indicates that the Lord who speaks is the Spirit, even the seven Spirits. Revelation 22:17 says, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come!” This shows us that the Spirit, who is Christ as the Bridegroom, and His bride sound the call together.
In the Gospel of John, the Spirit is likened to the Son’s breath. In John 20:22, the Son breathed into the disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This indicates that the breath breathed out by the Son was the Holy Spirit. In Revelation, the seven Spirits are the eyes of Christ as the Lamb. Breath is for living and denotes man’s essence, whereas eyes are for moving and denote man’s activities. In other words, the breathing of breath is for the essential aspect, whereas the eyes’ observing and shining are for the economical aspect. In the Gospels the Spirit is the breath, while in Revelation the Spirit is the eyes.
THE THREE OF THE DIVINE TRINITY
BEING UNDIVIDED AND INDIVISIBLE
Whether essentially or economically, the Spirit cannot be separated from the Son. In the essential aspect, the Spirit is the Son’s breath, while in the economical aspect, the aspect for moving, the Spirit is the Son’s eyes. Likewise, we can neither divide the Son from the Father nor divide the Father from the Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are absolutely undivided and indivisible; these three are one. Isaiah 9:6 says that the Son is called the eternal Father, and 2 Corinthians 3:17 says that the Son is the Spirit. Hence, these three are one. Regardless of which one we experience, we experience all three.
THE WAY TO EXPERIENCE THE TRIUNE GOD
There is a way to experience the Triune God. Ephesians 2:18 says, “For through Him [Christ] we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father.” We cannot experience the Father directly; we must come to the Father in the all-inclusive Spirit through the Son. Therefore, the Gospels reveal that we need to believe in the Son. To believe in the Son is to receive the Son. The Son, who is the Spirit, enters into us by our receiving Him. As a result, we have access to the Father to experience God and His riches. This is the sequence of experiencing the Triune God, not three kinds of experiences but one experience in three aspects. We need to have a subjective and rich experience of this kind. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)