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Scripture Reading: James 4:5; 1 Pet. 4:13-14; 1:11; 1 John 2:20, 27; 3:24; 4:13, 15; Jude 20; Rev. 2:1, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17, 18, 29; 3:1, 6, 7, 13, 14, 22; 4:5; 5:6
James 4:5 says, “Do you think that the Scripture says in vain: ‘The Spirit, whom He has caused to dwell in us, longs to envy’?” Here the Spirit is revealed as the Spirit of envy. The law in the Old Testament tells us that God is a jealous God (Exo. 20:5), and 2 Corinthians 11:2 also speaks of the jealousy of God. The Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, is a Spirit of jealousy. James 4:4 says, “Adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” To love the world is to commit spiritual adultery. If a wife loves someone other than her husband, her husband will be jealous. In the same way, the Spirit of God is a spirit of jealousy. He is jealous, just as a husband is jealous over his wife. We should not love anything other than the Lord Himself. If we do, the indwelling Spirit will be jealous.
First Peter 4:13 and 14 say, “Inasmuch as you share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice exultingly. If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” In the Epistles of Peter, the Spirit is revealed as the Spirit of glory. The Epistles of Peter, especially the first one, deal with the sufferings of the believers. If we Christians suffer something for Christ, then the Spirit within us will be the Spirit of glory. On the positive side, all sufferings work out one thing; that is, they break the outer man. Then when our outer man is broken, the glory in the Holiest Place, that is, in our spirit, will be manifested. The Spirit in verse 14 is the Spirit of glory for suffering in the name of Christ. The more we suffer, the more the Spirit of glory will be manifest.
A small story may help to make this clear. In 1900, the year of the Boxer Rebellion, a certain young man was about seventeen years old, a young learner in a store in Beijing, the capital of China. One day all the stores were closed due to Boxer activity. No one dared to come out into the street. All of a sudden there was a shouting along the street, and something like a parade proceeded by. This young man watched the procession through the crack of a door. The Boxers were parading with swords in their hand, pulling a mule cart, upon which sat a young girl. This young girl was condemned as a Christian and was being brought to a certain place to be executed by beheading. However, she was singing as she was paraded on that mule cart, and her face was shining. The young man who was watching through the door marveled how, amidst that parade of cruel people, the girl could sit there and sing with a shining face. While that young sister was being brought to be executed, she was suffering, and the Spirit of glory and of God was resting upon her. Later, when the young man sought to find out about the girl, he came to know the gospel. It was through this that he was saved. Many years later he preached the gospel to a second person, who was then saved. It was through this second brother that I learned this story.
First Peter 1:11 speaks of the Spirit of Christ in the prophets. This refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in the ancient times. Here again we see that the Spirit is the eternal Spirit. Even in the ancient times, the time of the prophets before Christ came, the Spirit of Christ was already working. The Spirit worked within the prophets as the Spirit of Christ. As a result, they were inspired by this Spirit to seek to know something about Christ. Today, however, we have the Spirit of Christ indwelling us, as mentioned in Romans 8:9.
In the Epistles of John, the Spirit is implied as the anointing Spirit (1 John 2:20, 27). Then 3:24 says, “In this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave to us.” Verse 13 of chapter 4 continues, “In this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit,” and verse 15 says, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.” These verses prove that God is one with us, that God dwells in us and we dwell in God by this anointing Spirit. Therefore, the Spirit in the Epistles of John is the Spirit of mutual abiding. We abide in God by the anointing Spirit, and God abides in us by this Spirit.
Jude 20 says, “You, beloved, building up yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit in Jude is the praying Spirit.
In the first three chapters of Revelation we see the speaking Spirit, who is the Lord Himself (2:1, 7-8, 11-12, 17-18, 29; 3:1, 6-7, 13-14, 22). At the beginning of each of the seven epistles in chapters 2 and 3, it is the Lord Himself who speaks, but at the end of each epistle it says, “Hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This proves that the speaking Spirit is the Lord Himself. The Lord is the speaking Spirit who speaks to the churches all the time.
Verse 5 of chapter 4 says, “Out of the throne come forth lightnings and voices and thunders. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” The Spirit here is the seven Spirits as the seven lamps burning before the throne of God. Then 5:6 says, “I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” The seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God, and these seven Spirits are the seven eyes of Christ.
Revelation speaks concerning God’s judgment. In his Gospel, John could lay his head on the bosom of Christ. However, when he saw Christ in Revelation 1, he fell at His feet as dead (v. 17). The Jesus in John and the Jesus in Revelation are the same person, but in two kinds of atmosphere. In the Gospel of John He is in an atmosphere of love and grace, but in Revelation He is in an atmosphere of judgment. In the Gospel of John words of grace come out of His mouth, but in Revelation the word out of His mouth is a sword to kill and to judge (1:16).
In Revelation the Spirit judges by enlightening and searching. In this book, therefore, the seven Spirits are the enlightening, searching, and judging Spirit. The lamps of fire enlighten, and the eyes of the Lamb are searching. The Lord has eyes like a flame of fire (v. 14), and these eyes are the seven lamps. The Lord’s judging is by burning, through the enlightening, searching, and burning Spirit. This is why the judgments mentioned in this book are a burning, a matter of fire.
The Spirit first enlightens like a lamp; second, He sees through and searches; and third, He burns. This burning is His judging. This is the application of 1 Corinthians 3:12 and 13, which say, “If anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble, the work of each will become manifest; for the day will declare it, because it is revealed by fire, and the fire itself will prove each one’s work, of what sort it is.” If our work is of gold, silver, and precious stones, it will not be burned but will rather be proved by the burning. However, if our work is wood, grass, and stubble, no doubt it will be burned. If what we have and do is only wood, grass, and stubble, the burning will be a real consuming to it all. However, if what we have and do is something of gold, silver, and precious stones, it will be approved through the burning.
The book of Revelation reveals two issues of God’s judgment. One issue is the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15), and the other issue is a city of water (21:2; 22:1). Both of these issues come out of the seven Spirits. Whatever will be burned and consumed will go to the lake of fire, and whatever will be approved will come into the city of water. Daniel 7:9 says, “I watched / Until thrones were set, / And the Ancient of Days sat down. / His clothing was like white snow, / And the hair of His head was like pure wool; / His throne was flames of fire, / Its wheels, burning fire.” A fiery stream issues, comes forth, from before Him. This is a stream of fire, a fiery stream, coming out of the throne of God. Revelation 22:1 says that a river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Therefore, there are two streams out of the throne of God. One stream is the stream of fire, and the other stream is the river of water. One is for judgment, and the other is for nourishment.
The Gospel of John, recorded by the same writer, clearly tells us that the Spirit is living water (John 4:10, 14; 7:37-39). In the book of Revelation the Spirit is both the water of life and fire. Are the seven Spirits fire or water to us? Whenever we have something negative, something of wood, grass, and stubble, the Spirit immediately becomes the burning Spirit, the stream of fire. On the other hand, whenever we are right with God and have that which is positive, He is the living water to water us, nourish us, and bring the tree of life to us.
The Spirit as the river of water of life is typified by the one river in Genesis 2:10 which was divided into four branches to reach the four directions of the populated earth, as represented by the place names in verses 11 through 14. This signifies that the gospel is preached in every direction of the populated earth to reach every kind of people. The gospel is preached even to such a place as Babylon, as implied in these verses by the names Euphrates and Hiddekel (Tigris).
Today in this universe there are two streams, the stream of fire to judge and burn, and the river of water to water and nourish. The stream of fire will bring all the negative things — sin, the world, the flesh, Satan, and everything of darkness — to one place, the lake of fire, the “trash can” of the universe. On the other hand, everything spiritual and heavenly — that which is of God, Christ, and the Spirit — will be nourished by the river of water and brought by that stream to the city of water. Every house has a trash can, but there will be no trash can within the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is transparent and entirely pure. There is no dust, clay, wood, grass, or stubble there. Rather, what is there is gold, pearl, and precious stones. None of these can be burned. We need a vision to see all of these very meaningful matters.
On the negative side, the seven Spirits of God deal with the enemy and all negative matters. As pertains to the children of God in particular, the seven Spirits are for purging and burning. First Corinthians 3:15 speaks of being saved, yet so as through fire. Hebrews 6 also mentions burning. Verses 7 and 8 say, “The earth, which drinks the rain which often comes upon it and produces vegetation suitable to those for whose sake also it is cultivated, partakes of blessing from God. But if it brings forth thorns and thistles, it is disapproved and near a curse, whose end is to be burned.” Then 10:27 through 29 tells us that if anyone considers the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and has insulted the Spirit of grace, he will have a certain expectation of judgment and fire.
In Matthew 3:10 and 11, John the Baptist said, “Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not produce good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. I baptize you in water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is stronger than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He Himself will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire.” These verses mention fire twice. It is not logical to say that the first time fire is mentioned it is negative, but the second time the same word is used it is positive. Therefore, baptism in fire does not have a positive meaning; it is not related to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Rather, it is the fire in the lake of fire. Verse 12 continues, “Whose winnowing fan is in His hand. And He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing floor and will gather His wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.” If a person is wheat, Christ will baptize him with the Holy Spirit, and he will have life. However, if he is chaff, He will baptize him with fire; that is, He will put him into the lake of fire. The evil ones, the Pharisees and Sadducees, came to John the Baptist in a pretentious way. It is as if John said, “If you do not bear fruit, you will be cut down and cast into the fire. You may fool me because I come only to baptize you with water, but you cannot fool Him. When He comes, He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He will clear up His threshing floor. If you are the real ones, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit for life. If you are the false ones, He will put you into the fire.”
At the end of the New Testament the Holy Spirit is revealed as the burning Spirit. Before this, from Romans to Jude, all the aspects of the Spirit are positive. If we enjoy all those positive aspects and go along with them, that is very good. However, if we do not, the Spirit will be the Spirit of fire to us. If we receive Him, enjoy Him, and experience Him as the Spirit of life, the Spirit of the divine sonship, the transforming Spirit, the renewing Spirit, the speaking Spirit, and the Spirit in so many aspects, that is wonderful. If not, we will have to deal with Him in a different way — He will be the seven Spirits of God to us. He will search us, burn us, and judge us, and all the wood, grass, and stubble will be burned by His searching. This is a warning. We should not say that the Spirit is only wonderful. Eventually, He may also be fearful.
Many times we are under the burning of the seven Spirits. This is why we often have sufferings. Sufferings are to burn off the things of the flesh, the old creation, and the self. The many sufferings mentioned in 2 Corinthians are also a kind of burning (1:5, 8-9; 4:8-12; 6:4-10; 11:23-28). The burning of fire for judgment is a great matter. If we do not understand this concept, we cannot understand the books of Hebrews and Revelation. Hebrews 12:29 says, “Our God is also a consuming fire.” Out of Him there is a stream of fire because He is the fire. The fire mentioned in Ezekiel 1 is the same in principle; it is fire as the judging element.
The searching, burning, and judging Spirit in Revelation is called the seven Spirits. Generally speaking, the number seven signifies completeness. In this book, however, seven not only means completeness but also implies judgment. In the entire book of Revelation there are four great sevens. First there are the seven epistles in chapters two and three. Then there are the seven seals (6:1—8:5), the seven trumpets (8:6—11:19), and the seven bowls (15:1—16:21). All these sevens relate to judgment. The seven epistles are judging epistles. They are different from all the previous epistles in the New Testament. All the previous epistles are nourishing epistles; only these seven are judging epistles. Likewise, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls also are for judgment. After these four series of judgments, some things will go to the lake of fire, and some will go to the city of water. It is by this series of four judgments that all things in the universe will be classified as to whether they belong to the lake of fire or to the city of water.
The number seven in this book is not only the number of completeness but also implies judgment. Therefore, the seven Spirits of God represent the governmental aspect of the Holy Spirit. The seven Spirits come out of the throne of God to judge and work governmentally. The Spirit of God is both the speaking Spirit for the testimony of Jesus, and He is the judging Spirit.
I hope that you would all spend the time to review all the aspects of the Spirit that we have mentioned and pray over them. Then you will see that the Spirit is none other than Christ Himself for us to experience and taste. In the first part of the New Testament Christ is the Word, and in the latter part Christ is the Spirit with many aspects. Christ as the Word is for us to know, to “read,” and to understand, and Christ as the Spirit is for us to realize, enjoy, taste, and experience. If we enjoy Him in a proper way, He is the river of water. If not, He is the stream of fire to us, and something that we have will be brought into the lake of fire. Only when we enjoy Him is He the river of water to us; this river will bring us into the city of water. We need to spend time to pray over all these points, which are very meaningful and helpful.
