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Scripture Reading: Eph. 5:18-20; Col. 3:16-17; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Jude 20; John 15:7; 6:63
We will look at some crucial verses in the New Testament concerning the Spirit and the word. Ephesians 5:18-20 says, “Be filled in spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father.” These verses say that we should praise and give thanks to God at all times. We praise God with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and we give thanks to God in the name of the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, we praise and give thanks because we are filled in our spirit with the Holy Spirit. In these verses, being filled in spirit is linked to praising and giving thanks. We need to be filled in spirit with the Holy Spirit by praising God in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and by giving thanks to God in the Lord’s name.
Colossians 3:16-17 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or in deed, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” These verses also say that we should praise and give thanks. We praise with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and we give thanks in the Lord’s name. However, there is a difference between this portion and Ephesians 5:18-20. Ephesians says that our praising and giving of thanks are the result of our being filled in our spirit with the Holy Spirit, whereas Colossians says that our praising and giving of thanks are the result of our being filled richly with the Lord’s word.
If we compare these two portions of Scripture, we see that both speak of praising and giving thanks to God; of praising with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; and of giving thanks in the name of the Lord Jesus. However, the first part of both portions is different. Ephesians says that we should be filled with the Holy Spirit, whereas Colossians says that we should be filled with the Lord’s word. In other words, the result mentioned in both portions is the same — praising and giving thanks; however, the cause is different. In Ephesians the cause is our being filled with the Holy Spirit, and the result is that we praise and thank the Lord. In Colossians the cause is our being filled with the Lord’s word, and the result is that we praise and thank the Lord.
One portion begins by saying that we should be filled with the Holy Spirit, and the other begins by saying that we should let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. However, the results are exactly the same. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we can praise and give thanks, and when we let the word dwell in us richly, the result is also that we can praise and give thanks.
Second Timothy 3:15-17 says, “From a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” All Scripture is the breathing out of God.
Jude 20 says, “You, beloved, building up yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” To build up ourselves upon our most holy faith is to read and understand the Word. The most holy faith is the Word, the Bible. We must build up ourselves upon the most holy faith. The verse continues, “Praying in the Holy Spirit.” In this verse two matters are placed together: building up ourselves upon the most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit.
John 15:7 says, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” This verse speaks of the relationship between the Lord’s word and prayer. We need to abide in the Lord and let His words abide in us, then we can ask whatever we will, and it shall be done for us.
Last, John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” In this verse we see the relationship between the Lord’s words and the Spirit. The words that the Lord speaks to us are spirit and are life.
In the previous chapter we fellowshipped concerning the Lord’s words in John 14:3: “Where I am you also may be.” Since the Lord is in God the Father, He is bringing us into God the Father. Not only so, since He is one with God and is mingled with God, He will cause us also to be one with God and mingled with God. It is rather easy for those who are one with God and are mingled with God to have the Lord’s manifestation and to have His making an abode with them. What condition is necessary for us to have the Lord’s manifestation and His making an abode with us? According to 14:21 and 23, two conditions must be met: one is that we love Him, and the other is that we keep His word.
The first half of verse 21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves Me,” and the first half of verse 23 says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” These verses show that in order to have the Lord’s manifestation and His making an abode with us, we need to properly deal with the Lord’s word. Hence, the burden of this chapter is a continuation of our previous fellowship, which is, if we desire to have the Lord’s manifestation regularly and to have His making an abode with us, we must deal with His word in a proper way. We must have a proper attitude toward and a good relationship with the word. Whether we can have the Lord’s manifestation and His making an abode with us depends on how we deal with the word.
According to the Bible, there are several matters that should not be neglected when dealing with the Lord’s word. If we neglect these matters, we will not properly deal with the word, and there will be a problem between the word and us. If there is a problem or if we do not deal with the word properly, we will not have the Lord’s manifestation, that is, His face, nor will the Lord make an abode with us. If we would have the Lord’s manifestation, the Lord’s face, and have His making an abode with us, we must have a proper attitude when dealing with the word, and we must have a proper relationship with the word.
We must first pay attention to the wonderful relationship between the Holy Spirit and the word. Concerning this, we have already mentioned Ephesians 5:18-20 and Colossians 3:16-17. We compared these two portions and saw that while these two portions show the same result, they have different causes. The result is that those who are saved praise the Lord with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and they also give thanks at all times to God in the name of the Lord Jesus. In this respect these two portions are similar. They can be likened to twin sisters who have similar facial features but who, if you look at them closely, are actually different. These verses in Ephesians and Colossians are very similar in what they say, but there is still a difference. Ephesians says that when the believers are filled with the Holy Spirit in their spirit, they are able to praise and thank the Lord, whereas Colossians says that when the believers are filled with the Lord’s word, they can praise and thank the Lord. This shows that the word cannot be separated from the Spirit; they are two aspects of one thing. A person who can praise and thank God must be one who is filled with the Spirit as well as with the word.
Being filled with the word and being filled with the Spirit are not two different types of filling but two aspects of one filling. In other words, the word and the Spirit are actually one, not two. In order to be filled with the Spirit, one must be filled with the word, and in order to be filled with the word, one has to be filled with the Spirit. The word and the Spirit cannot be separated. We have a clear basis in the Bible for saying that the word is the Spirit. In John 6:63 the Lord said, “It is the Spirit who gives life;...the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” It is not surprising that Paul says in Ephesians that we can praise and give thanks when we are filled with the Spirit, and in Colossians he says that we can praise and give thanks when we are filled with the word. He says this because the word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is in the word.
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit.” The Word is God, and God is Spirit. Let us now compare these two verses together with 6:63. John 1:1 says that the Word was God, 4:24 says that God is Spirit, and 6:63 says that the Lord’s words are spirit. This is surely wonderful. In these verses we see God, the Word, and the Spirit. The Word is God, God is Spirit, and the Lord’s words are spirit. On the one hand, God is the Word, and on the other hand, God is the Spirit. Thus, the Word is also the Spirit. The three — God, the Word, and the Spirit — are one. Hence, when we touch the Word, we touch the Spirit. Moreover, when we touch the Word and the Spirit, we touch God, because the Word is God, and the Spirit is also God.
If we would have a proper attitude toward the Lord and His word, we must see that the Word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is God. God is Spirit, and the Spirit is in the Word. God’s words are the words in the Bible, and these words cannot be separated from the Holy Spirit. We must have the Holy Spirit in us in order to have the Lord’s word in us. Likewise, when we have the words of the Bible in us, we will have the Holy Spirit, because these two are one — they are God. The Word is the Spirit, God is the Word, and God is also the Spirit. Hence, the Word is God, the Spirit is also God, and the Word is the Spirit.
On the one hand, God is the Word, and on the other hand, God is the Spirit. Therefore, the Word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the Word. This may sound simple, but it is not so easy to explain this accurately. This is the relationship between the Word, the Spirit, and God: God is the Word, and God is also Spirit. Hence, the Word is the Spirit, because both are God. It is no wonder that when the apostle Paul was moved by the Holy Spirit to write Ephesians and Colossians, he uttered this light to cause the believers to see that they are full of praise and always give thanks because they are filled with the Holy Spirit and with the Lord’s word. Indeed, the word and the Spirit are actually one.
Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” The Scripture as the word of God is breathed out of God; it is what God breathed out. Hence, the word of the Scripture is God. We may also say that the word of the Scripture is the Spirit, because God is Spirit, and what He breathes out is also Spirit. We should never regard the words in the Bible as merely words. The words in the Bible should not be regarded as merely black and white letters. They are God-breathed; they are God’s breathing out. Therefore, when we touch the words in the Bible, we touch God.
In John 6:63 the Lord said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Since the Bible is God-breathed, God’s breathing out, the words in the Bible convey God. Since God is Spirit, the words that come out from within God are also Spirit. Let us use a glass of grape juice as an illustration. We know that the liquid that we pour out of this glass must be grape juice because it came from a glass that contains grape juice. The words of the Bible are God-breathed. Since the essence of God is Spirit, whatever God breathes out is God and is also Spirit. In other words, the words of God are breathed out from within God and are God. Therefore, in essence the words in the Bible convey God. Furthermore, since God is Spirit, the words breathed out from God, which are God, must be Spirit.
If we would understand the relationship between God, His word, and the Holy Spirit, we need a proper attitude toward the words in the Bible. The Lord’s word and the Holy Spirit are one. Hence, in order to have a proper attitude toward the Lord’s word, we must have a proper relationship with the Holy Spirit. If we are not filled with the Holy Spirit within, it will be difficult for us to have a proper attitude toward the word. If the Holy Spirit does not have the ground within us, it will not be easy for the word to have the ground within us. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we may have a proper attitude toward the word.
In order to have a proper attitude toward the Lord’s word, we must learn to pray in the Holy Spirit so that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit. A person who is filled with the Holy Spirit must be one who prays. A person of prayer will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can be likened to air. If a person desires to be filled with air, he must breathe in air. When we take a deep breath, we are filled with air. Similarly, if we would be filled with the Holy Spirit, we need spiritual breathing. Our prayer can be likened to breathing. When we pray, we breathe the Holy Spirit.
Jude 20 says, “Praying in the Holy Spirit.” When a person breathes, he is neither in water nor in fire; rather, he is in the air, and consequently he inhales air. Whatever sphere we are in when we breathe is what we inhale and receive. If we are in the air, we will inhale and receive air. In the same principle, when we pray in the Holy Spirit, we receive the Holy Spirit. What we receive in our prayer is the Holy Spirit. We breathe in the air, and as a result, we are filled with air. We breathe in the Holy Spirit, and as a result, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. When we pray in the Holy Spirit, spontaneously we are filled with the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down, and the one hundred twenty disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). They received the Holy Spirit because they had prayed for ten days in one accord (1:14). They prayed and prayed until they received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit — the outward filling of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in order to have a proper attitude toward the word, we must deal with the Holy Spirit properly. In order to deal with the Holy Spirit properly and be filled with the Holy Spirit, we must be a person of prayer. We must pray in the Holy Spirit.
When we pray in the Holy Spirit, we must accept the Lord’s word and let it have the ground in us. When we pray, we are in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit fills us. Since the Holy Spirit and the word are one, when the Holy Spirit enters into us and fills us, He brings the word into us. The word is the Spirit. Consequently, when the Spirit enters into us, He brings the word into us. Whenever the Holy Spirit fills us, the word also enters into us. It is impossible to be moved by the Holy Spirit and not have the word within us. When the Holy Spirit comes, the word also comes. We cannot separate the Holy Spirit from the word.
Suppose you want to go to a movie. The Spirit will touch you and tell you not to go. This shows that the Holy Spirit is moving within you. While He is moving, there is also a speaking within you, telling you not to go. The moving of the Holy Spirit is the Lord’s word. Every time the Holy Spirit touches you, you have the word. The Spirit is the word, and the word is the Spirit.
In John 14:21 the Lord said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves Me.” Then in verse 23 He said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” How does the Lord’s word come to us? The word comes to us with the Spirit, and the Spirit comes into us mainly through prayer. Most of the time we have the moving of the Holy Spirit through our prayer. Whenever we pray, the Spirit will operate and move within us, and the Spirit’s moving and operating are the Lord’s speaking. Whenever there is the moving of the Holy Spirit, there is the Lord’s speaking. When the Holy Spirit moves within us, we should receive the word. This is to receive the moving of the Holy Spirit.
We should also keep the Lord’s word. This means that we should obey the Lord’s speaking in us and His leading. Some might ask what they should do if they do not have the strength to carry out the Lord’s leading. Since we have the Holy Spirit in us, we do not lack strength when the Lord speaks. The Spirit is inside of us. The word in us is the Holy Spirit in us; the two cannot be separated. The word is the Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes into us when we pray, and once the Holy Spirit comes into us, we have the word. Once we receive the Lord’s word into us, we immediately have the Lord’s presence, His manifestation, and the Lord will make His abode with us. This is the time that we should pray more. The more we pray, the more we will be filled with the Holy Spirit and have the word. The more we have the word, the more we will have His presence in us, and the more we have His presence, the easier it will be to pray. This is what John 15:7 says: “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.”
The crucial point is that the relationship between the word and the Holy Spirit is absolute. The word conveys the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if we want the word in the Scriptures to enter into us, we must be persons of prayer; we must pray in the Holy Spirit. Without the realization that the word and the Holy Spirit are one, our attitude toward the word will not be proper. Similarly, if we are not persons who regularly pray in the Holy Spirit, even if the word comes into us, there will be no ground in us for it. Hence, we must first know that the Word and the Holy Spirit are one. Next we must learn to pray regularly in the Holy Spirit. Whenever we pray in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will fill our inner being. When the Spirit fills us, He brings the Lord’s word into us. As we receive the word, we spontaneously touch His presence and obtain His manifestation. Then we are filled further with the Holy Spirit, and we have a desire to pray. The more we pray, the more we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and the more we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the more we have the word. Furthermore, the more we receive the word, the more we touch the Lord’s presence and obtain His manifestation. Then there will be a further moving of the Holy Spirit within us, and we will have more prayer. We should experience this in our spiritual life all the time.
Therefore, we must pay attention to one thing: we must exercise to live in the Lord and to have His genuine manifestation, that is, His presence. To this end we must be persons of prayer who learn to pray diligently, and we must also be persons who read the Word and study it.
We must learn to pray and read the Bible in our spirit. This is not a ritual of kneeling down, closing our eyes, and saying, “Lord Jesus, I thank and praise You for giving me peace and keeping me from having a car accident. Hallelujah, Amen!” This is not the kind of prayer we are referring to. Such a prayer is merely from the lips; it is not a prayer in the spirit. Regrettably, most Christians pray this kind of prayer. Sometimes we close our eyes and mumble a few words before a meal. We may say that we have prayed. However, it is hard to say from where we have prayed, or whether we prayed in the Holy Spirit.
We know that the Holy Spirit is in us; He is living in our spirit. But perhaps some young people among us are not clear concerning their human spirit. Our spirit is the deepest part of our being. Suppose you have an argument with your sister at home; she says that you are wrong, and you say that she is wrong. However, as you continue to say that she is wrong and that you are right, in the deepest part of your being there is a sense that you are wrong. Outwardly you may be unyielding, but inwardly there is a different feeling. The feeling in the depth of your being is different from your reasonings and conduct. This feeling in the depth of your being, this other feeling, is the feeling in your spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit, which is our deepest part.
Jude 20 says, “Praying in the Holy Spirit.” Hence, every time we pray, we must turn from our outward being to our inward being. Our prayer must not be a ritual in which we kneel down to say, “Hallelujah! Thank and praise You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.” We cannot pray like this. When we pray, we need to stop our person and turn to our spirit. Then we can pray according to the feeling in our spirit. This is to pray in the Holy Spirit. This kind of prayer in the Spirit will cause us to touch the Spirit.
We must always return to our spirit and pray in our spirit. We also must read the Word in our spirit. Every time we read the Bible, we should read it in our spirit and not merely in our mind. If we do not read the Bible in this way, the Bible will be like any other book, which can be understood by reading and reciting. A person who reads the book of Genesis in this way can understand that Abraham’s son was Isaac, Isaac’s son was Jacob, Jacob had twelve sons, and the youngest was Benjamin. He can also understand that Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt, and later God rescued them out of Egypt. This kind of reading is like reading history. It is useless, because then the Bible is neither the Lord’s word nor the Spirit to us. The Bible can be the Lord’s word and the Spirit when we pray in our spirit and touch the Spirit. Then we will be in the Spirit. If we open the Bible and read it while we are in the Spirit, every word in the Bible will be the Lord’s word. When we read the Word in the spirit, the Word will be Spirit.
If we read the Word in this way, we will pray and give thanks when we pray and read the Bible. Because we are filled with the Holy Spirit and with the Word, we are also filled with thanksgiving and praise. This kind of praying and reading of the Bible touches the Spirit in our spirit. This is not the prayer in which we merely move our lips, nor is it reading the Bible merely with our mind. Praying merely with our lips is not effective, nor is reading the Bible merely with our mind effective. These are done outside of the Holy Spirit and cannot help us touch God nor help us “eat” the Lord and “drink” the Lord. If we would touch the Lord, eat the Lord, and drink the Lord, we must pray in the Spirit and read the Bible in the Spirit.
How can our praying and our reading of the Word always be in the Holy Spirit? Whenever we pray, we must be calm and turn to our spirit. Then from within our spirit and according to the feeling in our spirit, we can gradually begin to pray. This is how to pray in the Holy Spirit. The more we pray in this way, the more we will breathe in the Holy Spirit and have the Holy Spirit. This will make us persons in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will bring the word into us, and we will be able to read the Bible in a proper way. Our reading of the Bible will be in the Holy Spirit, and the words in the Bible will touch us. Thus, the word will be Spirit to us and will give us life and cause us to live. Not only so, our prayer will be effective, because we will not be the source of the prayer. The Lord in us, the Holy Spirit in us, and the word in us will enable us to pray in the Lord’s feeling and according to His desire. Moreover, whatever we ask, the Lord will do for us. This kind of reading and praying enables us to touch the Holy Spirit and be in the Holy Spirit.
The burden of this message is to point out a way for us to read the Bible and to pray every day. In other words, my burden is that we would eat God, drink God, and enjoy God, that is, that we would touch the Lord’s presence and have His manifestation. For this we must learn to pray in the Holy Spirit and read the Bible in the Holy Spirit. If we are not willing to learn, this message will be empty and useless. However, if we are willing to learn, this message can give us a way that will enable us to touch the source of unlimited blessing. If the young people can be brought into this practice, they will be brought into immeasurable blessings. They will be brought deeper and deeper into God, and God will fill them with His riches. They will also have deeper and richer experiences of the Lord. Such a living far surpasses listening to messages, attending meetings, or participating in various kinds of Christian activities. We must all see that to pray in the spirit and to read the Lord’s Word in the spirit are precious, practical, and intimate.
I hope that we can all learn to turn to our spirit and pray in the Holy Spirit. Then the Spirit will bring the word into us, and we will be able to read the Lord’s word when we open our Bible. As we pray in the spirit and read the Word in the spirit, every word of the Bible will be living. We will have the Lord’s presence, His manifestation, and the Lord will make an abode with us. We will also pray more, which will enable us to touch the Spirit more. The more we touch the Spirit, the more we will have the Lord’s word, which brings us more of the Lord’s presence and further enables Him to make His abode with us. Thus, we will be persons who touch the Lord, eat the Lord, drink the Lord, and enjoy the Lord. In this way the elements of Christ will gradually increase within us, and the Lord will grow in us daily.
