
Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 1:3; Eph. 2:6; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Gal. 2:20a; 2 Tim. 4:22; Phil. 1:19-21a; Acts 1:8; Rev. 1:9; 21:2, 10; 22:5b
I. In His multiplying resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3; Eph. 2:6) His becoming the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit — 1 Cor. 15:45b.
II. This all-inclusive life-giving Spirit dwelling and living in the countless members whom He has regenerated — Gal. 2:20a; 2 Tim. 4:22.
III. Our living Him out by the bountiful supply of this all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (Phil. 1:19-21a) as His witnesses and testimony — Acts 1:8; Rev. 1:9.
IV. This testimony being universal and spreading to the uttermost part of the earth — Acts 1:8.
V. The ultimate consummation of this testimony being the New Jerusalem, which is eternal, full, and endless — Rev. 21:2, 10; 22:5b.
In this chapter we will see how the all-inclusiveness and unlimitedness of Christ can be seen in our living and testimony. We live out and testify Christ, and in such a living out and testimony, Christ is all-inclusive and unlimited.
People have problems because they are not inclusive. Once again we may use husbands and wives as an illustration. Many of you are married. Please tell me, is there inclusiveness between you and your husband or wife? Are you inclusive with your wife? Are you inclusive with your husband? If you are willing to speak an honest word, you will admit that no one is inclusive. Nevertheless, when your experience of life reaches an extent in which you can truly say, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me,” then you are inclusive. The reason couples are separated or divorced is that they are not inclusive. Sometimes the husband thinks that his wife is a burden to him, and he has no way to be inclusive with her. Sometimes the wife feels that her husband is too annoying, and she has no way to be inclusive with him. Why are you not inclusive? It is because you are not the multiplication of Christ. If you can truly say, “I am crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live,” then you are inclusive, and your inclusiveness is unlimited. The truths that we have released in these chapters are not empty doctrines but can be put into practice in spirit. If you can say, “O Lord, I am crucified with You, and it is no longer I who live,” then you will have no problem getting along in the church with ninety thousand brothers and sisters, let alone nine thousand. You will be able to be inclusive with everyone.
In the churches brothers and sisters often come to me with their problems. In America, brothers who are overseas Chinese sometimes come to me, saying, “Brother Lee, we can’t stand a certain American brother. His American flavor is too strong.” In less than two weeks’ time, an American brother may also come, saying, “Brother Lee, how can this be? Those Chinese brothers bear too much of the Chinese flavor!” We can see from this that when we live in our self, there is no way for us to be inclusive. We must see and realize that we are the multiplication of Christ. “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” Whenever we live by Christ, we live out His all-inclusiveness.
The apostle Paul wrote the book of Philippians during his imprisonment in Rome. He was mistreated there and may have expected to be martyred soon. However, he says in Philippians 1:19 that he knew that his suffering would turn out for him to salvation because of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Paul was not preaching ethics or morality; what he preached was the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus Christ is not only the Spirit of God but also the Spirit of Jesus and the Spirit of Christ. This Spirit has a bountiful supply. This bountiful supply, which is all-inclusive and unlimited, enables us to endure what others cannot endure and to bear what others cannot bear.
In Ephesians 3:17 Paul says, “That Christ may make His home in your hearts.” Make...home here is a strong word. When Christ makes His home in our entire being, we can experience the breadth, length, height, and depth of the universe. What is the breadth? What is the length? What is the height? What is the depth? It is hard to say. How deep is to be deep? How high is to be high? Paul indicates that the breadth, length, height, and depth of the universe are Christ. Christ is the boundless dimensions of the universe. This is why Paul says that the Lord’s riches are unsearchable as the breadth, length, height, and depth. Paul experienced Christ to an extent that he reached the boundless dimensions of the universe. Thus, he knew that Christ’s endurance, love, power, and wisdom are unlimited, and everything of Christ is boundless. He knew from experience that when we become His multiplication and increase and thereby experience Him, we will realize that our Lord is infinite. Christ is all-inclusive and unlimited.
This experience altogether depends on the Spirit. The operation of electrical appliances, such as light bulbs, radios, microphones, televisions, audio and video tape recorders, and computers, hinges on electricity. Once the electricity is cut off, all the electrical appliances stop their operation. All Christians’ experiences of multiplication and increase depend on the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, the vision we have seen by the Lord’s grace is that this Spirit is the key to all our spiritual experiences. It is not doctrines, religion, history, or any trend, but the all-inclusive and infinite Christ. This Christ today is the Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit. What is the reality of the church? When we live in this Spirit, and when this Spirit flows out of us, we are the reality of the church. When this reality is expressed in a locality, this expression is the local church. Universally speaking, it is the universal church, which is the Body of Christ.
This all-inclusive Christ is still here. He is sent as the seven Spirits to all the earth, working in us in many ways to make us, one by one, His duplication, multiplication, and increase. Eventually, at His coming, there will be the manifestation of the kingdom, and the ultimate manifestation will be the New Jerusalem. This is His testimony. We are His multiplication and increase, and when we live in this multiplication and increase, we become His testimony. This testimony grows and increases day by day, first as the church, then as the kingdom, and finally as the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth.
May the Lord open our eyes and save us from our traditional and religious perspectives. In actuality, we are not Christianity; rather, we are Christ. This living Christ who is in us makes us who believe in Him His multiplication and increase. To us, to live is Him; hence, we are His testimony. This testimony is not only individual but also corporate. First it is the church, then it is the kingdom, and finally it is the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth.