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Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:6; 5:18b-20
Ephesians 4:6 says, “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Although the phrases over all, through all, and in all are very brief and simple, the secret and mystery of God’s relationship with man is contained in them. God is not only over us but also through us and in us in order to be expressed, manifested, glorified, and exhibited. We must realize that these three phrases are in a particular order. Everyone who has considered God and believes that there is a God knows that this God is over the people on the earth. There is no doubt that God is over all of us. However, not many have considered that God is through us and is doing something through us. Furthermore, we who are Christians know and experience God being in us. To us, God is not only over us and through us, but even more, He is in us and is abiding in us, dwelling in us, and mingling Himself with us for His expression, manifestation, exhibition, and glorification. We were made for God and made to fulfill His purpose, which is that we would contain Him and express Him (Rom. 9:21, 23; Gen. 1:26).
We need to read the Scriptures in the light of God’s purpose, which is that God would express Himself through humanity. Then we will realize that although God is the invisible and hidden God, a God who always hides Himself (1 Tim. 1:17; Isa. 45:15), He also has the desire to manifest and express Himself through man. God can be seen only through humanity. This is proved by John 1:18, which says, “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” God does not express Himself through Himself or in Himself. He expresses Himself only through man and in man. Although I do not know why God desires this, I do know that this is the desire of His heart.
To illustrate this matter, consider a light bulb. The sole purpose of a light bulb is to give light. It has no other purpose. If a light bulb is not attached to an electrical socket so that it can express the light, it is meaningless and good for nothing, because it was specifically made for the purpose of receiving and expressing light. Furthermore, electricity cannot be expressed by itself. In order to be expressed, it needs a light bulb that has been made purposely to express electricity. Similarly, God would never express Himself by Himself. He needs some “bulbs,” people who were made for the purpose of expressing Him. We must realize that we have been made for this purpose. We are vessels and containers that are good for nothing but to receive, contain, and express God. As human beings, we must know what we are and what we are good for. We may realize that as Christians we are the saints, the believers, and even the Lord’s servants and His children. However, we may have never had the thought that we are containers and vessels of God and that we were made specifically for the purpose of containing and expressing God, just as light bulbs are made specifically to contain and express light. We must realize that God is over us, through us, and in us and that He is dwelling in us, abiding in us, and remaining in us. Thus, we must be the containers to contain and express Him.
We must also realize that the only way we as containers can express God is by exercising and releasing our spirit, because today God is Spirit, and this divine Spirit is in our human spirit (John 4:24; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22). Many Christians who have been saved, redeemed, and regenerated do not realize that they have a human spirit. Some believe that the spirit and the soul are synonymous, and others say that the spirit is the same thing as the heart. However, if we are going to realize the spiritual things and understand the secret and mystery of God, we must realize that we have a spirit (Job 32:8; Zech. 12:1). It would be impossible for us to grow physically if we did not realize that we have a stomach and thus never exercised or used our stomach. In order to grow, we must use and exercise our stomach every day to take food in and digest it. God purposely created us with a stomach so that we could take food in for our growth. In the same principle, there is an organ within us called the human spirit which God created for the purpose of receiving Him.
Our physical body is very complicated and is composed of many different organs. In particular, we have specific organs which give us the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. These organs are our eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and body. If you are in a meeting and try to use your eyes to listen to the message, you will not believe that there is someone speaking, because you are using the wrong organ to substantiate the speaking. If someone is showing you different colored objects, and you are trying to “hear” the colors with your ears, you will not believe in those colors, because you are using the wrong organ. If there is an odor in the room, and your nose is not functioning because you have a cold, you will not sense the odor. You cannot see, touch, or hear the odor; only your nose can sense the odor.
Thus, the principle is that in order to substantiate a certain thing, you need the proper organ with which to substantiate it. You cannot substantiate color using the ear or substantiate sound using the tongue. In the same way, God is Spirit; He is a spiritual substance. He is so real, yet if we do not use the right organ to substantiate Him, He will not be real to us. Since God is a spiritual substance, we must substantiate Him with a spiritual organ — our human spirit.
God created us with ears so that we could substantiate sound, and He created us with eyes so that we could substantiate the visible things. Even more, God created us with a spirit (Zech. 12:1; Prov. 20:27). Thus, besides the five senses of our physical body, we have a spiritual sense, the sense of our spirit. Our spirit is not the same as our heart or our mind. Our spirit is the organ by which we sense, receive, contain, and express God. Once we realize that we have a human spirit, we can locate God, because today God is in our spirit. On the one hand, Christ has ascended and been exalted to the heavens, but on the other hand, Christ the Lord as the Spirit is in our spirit (Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22).
The way we can express and manifest God is by opening and releasing our spirit. If we release our spirit, the very God who is in our spirit will automatically be released, because He has committed Himself to our spirit. To illustrate, suppose I put a key in a brother’s hand. If the brother closes his hand and never opens it, the hand becomes a prison to the key, and the key cannot be released. As long as he holds the key fast, no one can see the key, and the key cannot be released. However, once he simply opens his hand, the key is released. There is no need for him to exercise his arms, legs, feet, head, or any other part of his body. All he must do is open his hand, and the key will be released.
In a similar way, God today is in our spirit, but most of the time our spirit remains closed while our mind and mouth are open. When we come together to meet, we know how to exercise our mouth, but we do not know how to exercise our spirit. Consequently, our mouths are open and active to gossip and talk about other people, but our spirit is closed. Then when someone suggests that we pray, everyone closes his mouth. The reason for this is simply that we do not know how to exercise our spirit. If we were those living in the Lord and walking in His presence, we would shut our mouths if we heard someone gossiping or speaking vain things. Furthermore, if given the opportunity to glorify, exalt, and express the Lord, we would pray, sing a hymn, and release our spirit.
My only burden is that the Lord would impress us that as Christians who are seeking the Lord, we must realize the secret and mystery of our relationship with the Lord, which is the matter of the exercise of our spirit. We must open our spirit, exercise it, and use it. The most helpful way to exercise our spirit is to pray, but sometimes it is even better to sing. We may sing something short, such as a chorus, in a loud way, or we may sing something long, such as a psalm, in a quiet way. Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 both mention psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. In terms of length, psalms are the longest, hymns are shorter, and spiritual songs, which are like the choruses of hymns, are the shortest. Many times in the meetings we should sing a short chorus with our spirit and from our spirit.
We should each have some choruses memorized so that we can sing them all the time in our spirit and with our spirit. When the young people want to exercise, they often play basketball, baseball, or football. That is the best way for them to exercise their body. However, in order to play, they need a ball. Similarly, the best way for us to exercise our spirit is to sing, but we need a “ball.” We need to have some choruses in us so that we can sing them all the time. Then we must exercise to sing, not merely from our mouth but from our spirit and in our spirit.
Recently, we have been working to prepare a hymnal. If the Lord is willing, it would be good if He raised up some saints to compose some songs on the book of Ephesians, perhaps a song for each chapter. Then when the saints come together, they could use these songs to sing the whole book of Ephesians. In addition, it would be wonderful to have songs on Romans 8 and Colossians 1. Many Christians today sing the Old Testament psalms, but that is not up to the standard of the New Testament. Very few people have composed songs on the New Testament revelation.
We must learn to sing, because the more we sing, the more we get out of our mind and forget about our circumstances. The more we sing, the more we are in the spirit and the more our spirit is open and released. This is not my thought or opinion; this is the thought of the Holy Spirit and the thought of the apostle Paul. In Ephesians 5:18-19, Paul says that we should be filled in spirit, speaking to one another by singing. If we speak to one another by singing a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song, our spirits will be exercised and the Spirit will come out. We should not try to sing in a musical way but in a spiritual way. We should even forget about the music, the meter, and the rhyme. I am not a musician or an expert singer; I cannot sing that well. However, whether I sing well or not, I must sing. We must learn how to praise the Lord by singing. We need to read, study, and be able to recite some hymns. This way we can sing on the street or in the car. This matter is revealed not only in the New Testament but also in the Old Testament. When the people of Israel came together to worship God in the Old Testament, they sang as they were on their way to Zion (Psa. 133:1-3). If we sing while we are coming to the meeting in the car, the meeting will be in the heavens. We must learn to exercise and open our spirit by singing.
We must realize that God’s intention and purpose for us is not that we would do something for Him but that we would be a vessel to contain and express Him. As long as we contain and express God, we will be in a proper condition. Today many Christians are talking about overcoming and being victorious over sin. However, we will never overcome sin by focusing on victory over sin. If we forget about sin and instead sing and praise all the time, we will be in the heavens, sin will not be able to touch us, and we will have the victory over sin. Many people are seeking to know the Lord’s mind and will. However, if we would sing, the Lord’s will would be clear to us in our spirit. The right way for a Christian to take is to exercise the spirit, contact God, receive the Lord, and express Him. If we have this, we will have everything, including victory over the world, sin, and the self.
The Lord’s purpose is that we would express Him. Let us forget everything else and simply learn how to exercise our spirit by praying, praising, and singing. If we do this, the Spirit, who is the Lord Himself, will automatically be released from our spirit. Then we will grow every day and will be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:2). It is not by teaching, doctrine, or knowledge that we grow but by the exercise of the spirit. Thus, we must learn how to exercise our spirit so that we may continually grow and experience, enjoy, and partake of Christ. If we do this, we will be in Him all the time. This is the meaning of abiding in the Lord. This message is not a teaching or a doctrine. Rather, it is like a map to show us the way to drive. If we do not actually drive, the map is of no use, but if we begin to drive, this map will be very useful. We must learn to exercise our spirit by praying, praising, and singing.
