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Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:2; Judg. 3:10; Matt. 1:18, 20; 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Col. 1:15, 20; Rom. 6:6; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; Exo. 30:22-30; 1 John 2:27; Eph. 1:23; Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6; Rom. 8:4, 13; Phil. 1:19
Prayer: Lord, we worship You that You are God, You are the speaking God, and You are the revealing God. We thank You from the depths of our being that from the time You raised up Your recovery in China, You have been speaking to us and giving us revelation continuously. We truly worship You today that You have brought us to the high peak of Your revelation to show us something that most people have not seen. Through all these years, Lord, You have opened up the revelation in Your Word. Due to our dullness, however, we have been very slow in our progress so that after seventy years the church has just arrived at this situation today. We truly look to You to enable us to speak this mystery that cannot be expressed with human words. This is the mystery of mysteries and the revelation of revelations.
Be with us and anoint us. We trust in Your Spirit. Let us not only see the light in Your Word but also receive the supply in Your Spirit. Pour out Your Spirit at this time and anoint us so that You may spontaneously unveil us, illuminate us, enlighten us, and speak to us — not only to the whole meeting corporately but also to each one individually. We have a deep realization that You, our Lord, often meet the needs of many by the same speaking. O Lord, perform a miracle, a wonder, again among us right now. Cleanse us with Your precious blood. By the blood of the Lamb we overcome our accuser daily and stand before our righteous God. Amen.
In this message I have a deep feeling to speak to you a mystery. Actually, in the past thirty years, little by little, I have already spoken to you concerning this mystery. Some of the items were spoken in one conference, and others were spoken in another conference. Some were spoken thirty years ago, and others were spoken just last week. The main points of the mystery that I want to fellowship with you were already made known to you and printed in books. In these thirty years I have given thousands of messages, of which forty to fifty were on this mystery, which is the mystery of mysteries, but I did not point it out to you in a thorough way.
What is this mystery concerned with? In the previous chapter we saw God’s eternal economy. Now we need to go on further to see that God’s economy needs to be carried out. Any kind of enterprise requires two steps: The first step is to make a product, and the next step is to distribute it. When a company plans to manufacture something, first it has to make the product, and then it has to promote the sale of the product. One is production, and the other is application. The entire Bible covers God’s economy in these two aspects: its accomplishment and its application. The accomplishment of God’s economy is a very crucial item, but this time we will not touch it. In this chapter we need to see how God applies His economy after it has been accomplished.
The application of God’s economy is altogether hinged on one word — Spirit. The application of God’s economy is dependent on the Spirit. In the Bible the Spirit first refers to the Spirit of God (Gen. 1:2). Afterward, the Bible shows us that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Jehovah (Judg. 3:10). Then the New Testament goes on to show us that the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jehovah, is the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18, 20), the Spirit who is separated from the common things and thereby is sanctified, made holy. This matter is very deep. Holy refers to God’s nature because God’s nature is holiness. When holiness is applied to us, that is God imparting His holy nature into us and thereby making us holy. Without God’s element, how can we be made holy? In chemistry, if a certain element is missing, it is not possible to obtain the desired result.
How marvelous it is that the name of God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (28:19). Such a name, however, is not disclosed in the Old Testament; rather, it is somewhat concealed. For example, 2 Samuel 7:12-14 reveals that David would have a seed, who would call God “Father” and God would call Him “Son.” So you see the Father and the Son were there. In the Old Testament the Spirit was clearly mentioned as “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of Jehovah.” In the Old Testament the name the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is concealed, unlike in the New Testament, in which this name is referred to in plain words.
After He passed through the processes of incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection, the Lord Jesus sanctified and uplifted His humanity into divinity. Thus, He was begotten to be the firstborn Son of God and became the life-giving Spirit. In His resurrection this life-giving Spirit has regenerated God’s chosen ones. After He accomplished these things, He came back to His disciples in His resurrection and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:18-19). It was not until this time that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit were referred to with plain words. The way the Lord Jesus spoke this word and the time, the place, and the situation of His speaking show that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are very much related to God’s economy. Without the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, there would be no possibility for God’s economy to be accomplished or applied. Without the Father and the Son, how could there be God’s economy and how could it be accomplished? Furthermore, without the Spirit, how could God’s economy be applied?
The origination, the accomplishment, and the application of the economy of God cannot be separated from the Triune God. God’s economy was planned by the Father; hence, its origin, its source, is the Father. God’s economy was accomplished by the Son; hence, its accomplishment is with the Son. God’s economy is applied by the Spirit; hence, its application is with the Spirit. The Son accomplished what the Father planned, and the Spirit applies what the Son accomplished. Hence, the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is revealed at a particular time according to the need of a particular divine matter.
The Bible never speaks of the Triune God as an empty doctrine. It refers to the Spirit of God at the restoration of God’s creation. At that time the earth was waste and empty, and the Spirit of God was brooding over the surface of the waters (Gen. 1:2). Later, in God’s relationship with man, the Spirit of God was called the Spirit of Jehovah. Then, at the time of God’s incarnation, there was the need of the Holy Spirit for His flesh to be set apart and sanctified from the common things. Therefore, the Holy Spirit came (Matt. 1:18, 20). After thirty-three and a half years the Lord Jesus accomplished God’s economy through His death and resurrection. However, after the accomplishment of God’s economy there is still the need of application. Therefore, the Lord charged His disciples to go forth and disciple the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Spirit (28:19). When it was time for the application of God’s economy, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit were fully revealed. All of this shows us that it was for such a need and on such an occasion that the Triune God was revealed.
Remember that the Triune God is never an empty doctrine and has absolutely nothing to do with vain, theological doctrines. The Triune God is not for our doctrinal understanding or theological study but for Him to be experienced by us. Second Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” This shows us that the Triune God is not a mere doctrine; He is for our experience. We cannot know the Triune God by doctrine; we can know Him only by our experience. If you have not experienced regeneration, you can never know that this God touches people so that they may receive Him and be regenerated.
After the revelation of the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — the Spirit comes to apply. We need to see that the application of God’s economy is altogether by the Spirit, the last One of the Divine Trinity. Never consider that the Spirit is of no importance, thinking that as the last One among the three, He is not the “head” but the “tail.” It is not so! Among the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, there is no difference between the first and the last. The Spirit as the last One of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is the consummation. The Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God. God is not three; He is one yet three. With whom is the consummation of the three? It is not with the Father, who is the initiation; it is neither with the Son, who is the course. The consummation of the Triune God is with the Spirit. The Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God.
In the New Testament, from Matthew through Revelation, whenever something concerning God’s relationship with man is mentioned, the Spirit is also mentioned. The source is the Father, the course is the Son, and the consummation is the Spirit. Therefore, the Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God. Then why is it that before the resurrection of Christ the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit was not revealed? It is because the economy of God was not yet accomplished. Before Christ’s resurrection the economy of God was merely a plan; it was not yet accomplished. After Christ came and accomplished God’s economy through His death and resurrection, it was time for the application; therefore, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are mentioned. The plan is the commencement, the accomplishment is the process, and the application is the consummation. The consummation is with whom? Not with the Father, nor with the Son, but with the Spirit. This does not mean, however, that since the consummation is with the Spirit, it has nothing to do with the Son or the Father. Because the Son is the embodiment of the Father, and the Spirit is the realization of the Son, the Spirit as the consummation includes the Son as well as the Father. In mathematics, 25 plus 15 plus 30 equals 70; 70 as the sum includes 25, 15, and 30. Likewise, the consummating Spirit includes the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all consummated in the Spirit.
We need to take a deeper look at the consummated Spirit. This is the main point that I want to fellowship in this chapter. Genesis 1 refers to the Spirit of God, but that was not the consummated Spirit; the Spirit of Jehovah and the Holy Spirit were not the consummated Spirit either. It was after the resurrection of Christ that the consummated Spirit of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit were revealed. This Spirit is different from the Spirit of God in Genesis, the Spirit of Jehovah in the Old Testament, and the Holy Spirit in Matthew 1. This Spirit is the consummated Spirit. God’s economy has been accomplished, and now it needs to be applied. The application is with the consummated Spirit — not merely the aggregate Spirit but the ultimately consummated Spirit.
Now we want to see how the consummated Spirit was completed by being processed. First, we must see that the Spirit of God in Genesis 1 did not have humanity, neither did the Spirit of Jehovah nor the Holy Spirit in Matthew 1. The Holy Spirit in Matthew 1 only brought divinity into humanity, but humanity had not yet entered into divinity. Hence, the Holy Spirit did not have the human element.
Very few people in Christianity today have seen that God possesses humanity. Most people consider that this kind of teaching can lead to heresy. They reason that since God is God, how could He possess humanity? However, we have seen that this is a tremendous revelation in the Bible. From the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jehovah in the Old Testament to the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the New Testament, God was merely God, and there was no humanity in divinity. Then how was humanity wrought into divinity? This required God to first become a man to bring divinity into humanity and to be joined with humanity. He Himself became a man and lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years during which time He fully and clearly expressed God by the Holy Spirit. After He fully expressed God, He went to the cross and ended the old creation through His death (Col. 1:15, 20; Rom. 6:6). Then He was raised from the dead, and in His resurrection He fully brought forth the new creation. In this resurrection He first sanctified, uplifted, His humanity and brought it into divinity; thus, He was begotten to be the firstborn Son of God. At the same time, through His resurrection all the God-chosen people of the old creation were regenerated (1 Pet. 1:3); moreover, He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b).
Christ’s becoming the life-giving Spirit is a tremendous “becoming.” The Spirit of God became the consummated Spirit by passing through the processes of incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection. He first put on humanity and then in His resurrection brought humanity into divinity; out of this came the life-giving Spirit. This life-giving Spirit went through all these processes. Without the processes of incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection, the Spirit of God would have remained merely the Spirit of God without any change. The Spirit of God became the life-giving Spirit by passing through the various processes with the various elements added. Therefore, the word became involves a great deal. I hope that in the Lord’s recovery all these revelations can be released clearly.
Very few in Christianity today have seen this matter; rather, some do not fully believe in what 1 Corinthians 15:45b says: “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” This, however, is a word in the Bible that we have to believe. Thank the Lord that He has clearly revealed all these points, one by one, to us all these years. Today the life-giving Spirit is the consummated Spirit. Hence, John 7:39 says that the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified in resurrection. Obviously, the Holy Spirit was there, and the Spirit of God also was there in Genesis 1, so how could it be that the Spirit was not yet? This is because at that time there was only the old creation without the new creation, for Christ was not yet resurrected. Then, at the commencement of the new creation in the resurrection of Christ, the Spirit came into being. That which was originally the Spirit of God has become the Spirit in the resurrection of Christ. This is referred to in 2 Corinthians 3:17: “The Lord is the Spirit.” The Spirit, who is revealed to us in 2 Corinthians 3, is carrying out the work of transformation in the believers. We are being transformed because we have the Lord as the Spirit within us. This is why 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that we are being transformed into the same image as the Lord, even as from the Lord Spirit.
Exodus 30 is a record concerning the building of the tabernacle, but in verses 22 through 30 God suddenly charged Moses to make the holy anointing oil. The way was to take one hin of olive oil and compound it together with four spices; thus, the oil became an ointment. There was one hin of olive oil — the number one denotes God, referring to the element of divinity. There were four spices — the number four denotes man, referring to the element of humanity. Hence, the mingling of these two is divinity plus humanity. Furthermore, humanity involves four items: myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. In brief, myrrh signifies the precious death of Christ; fragrant cinnamon signifies the sweetness and effectiveness of Christ’s death; calamus, which is a reed that grows in a marsh or muddy place and is able to shoot up into the air, signifies the precious and transcendent resurrection of Christ; and cassia signifies the power and the effectiveness of Christ’s resurrection.
In this holy anointing oil the aspect of divinity is not as involved as the aspect of humanity. Why? Because Christ came to be a man, and, as a man, He died and resurrected. His death produced an effect, and so did His resurrection. The holy anointing oil with four ingredients indicates that Christ has four elements: He died, and therefore there was the effectiveness of His death; He resurrected, and therefore there was the power of His resurrection. These are four elements. Hence, in the mingling of divinity with humanity, humanity also has these four elements. The holy anointing oil as a type clearly portrays that the Spirit today has divinity, humanity, death with its effectiveness, and resurrection with its power. All these items were compounded together to become the holy anointing oil. In the New Testament, 1 John 2:27 says that we have received the anointing from the Lord; this anointing is the compound Spirit typified by the holy anointing oil.
After Christ accomplished God’s economy, the compound Spirit applies it to the people chosen by God. How does He do it? He comes to be mingled with us. He as the compound and consummated Spirit contains the elements of divinity, humanity, death, the effectiveness of His death, resurrection, and the power of His resurrection. When this Spirit comes into us, God comes in, Christ as a person comes in, His death with its effectiveness comes in, and His resurrection with its power comes in. This is an all-inclusive dose that consists of the supply of God, the supply of Christ, the problem-solving and killing effect of Christ’s death, and Christ’s resurrection with its power. This is the power to guard against and repel the poison of insects and snakes. In the dwellings of the Jews in ancient times, people were often hurt by snakes and insects. Therefore, they put some cassia in their houses for their own protection. Cassia emits an odor that repels snakes, centipedes, and scorpions. This indicates that the resurrection power of Christ can repel Satan, the evil spirits, and demons.
Today all that is in the consummated Spirit has been received by us. Because of this, the Spirit has brought forth the church, which is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22b-23). The Body of Christ and the Spirit are inseparable. Ephesians 4:4 says, “One Body and one Spirit.” Here the Body and the Spirit are joined together. The Spirit brought forth the church, but soon after that, the church became degraded. Hence, the Spirit became the seven Spirits to meet the needs of the degraded church (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6). This is what the entire book of Revelation shows us.
God is one, but He is also three — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father planned, the Son came to accomplish what the Father planned, and in the Son’s accomplishment the life-giving Spirit was brought forth. This Spirit, who is the transfigured Christ in resurrection, is the consummation of the Triune God. In the degradation of the church, this consummated Spirit became the seven Spirits. God is one yet three, and the three consummated in the life-giving Spirit in resurrection. These three became the one consummated Spirit in the resurrection of Christ. This consummated Spirit became the seven Spirits to meet the needs of the church. God is one yet three, the three are one in resurrection, and then one became seven, the seven Spirits, for the church’s need. The seven Spirits are not seven separate Spirits; They denote the sevenfold intensified Spirit. The one Spirit has become the sevenfold intensified Spirit.
Where are we living today? Hallelujah! We do not live only in the one Spirit, nor do we live merely in the Triune God. We live in the seven Spirits. In the seven Spirits there are God, man, the death of Christ with its effectiveness, and the resurrection of Christ with its power. Hence, the New Testament tells us that we should live and walk not only in the Spirit but also according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4). The Spirit includes God, man, Christ’s death with its effectiveness, and Christ’s resurrection with its power. When you follow this Spirit and walk according to this spirit, all the negative things in you are killed. Therefore, Romans 8:13 says that by the Spirit we should put to death the practices of the body. We ourselves cannot die; we die by receiving the Spirit as the ointment for anointing. The ointment applies the effectiveness of Christ’s death to us to produce an effect in us. Today when we use medicated ointment, it kills the germs in us. At the same time, there is the supply in the Spirit as the anointing ointment. Hence, Philippians 1:19 says that this Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, has the bountiful supply. The negative aspect is the problem-solving by killing, and the positive aspect is the bountiful supply. Both aspects are in the consummated Spirit.
Lord, we worship You that You are such a God; You are the consummated Spirit to be the God whom we worship. You are not the same as the God in Judaism; You are also different from the God in Mohammedanism. You are such a processed and consummated Spirit. You are one God, yet You are also three; in resurrection You are one in becoming the consummated Spirit; and for the need of the church You have become the sevenfold intensified Spirit. We truly worship You and thank You. In creation You are the Spirit of God; in God’s relationship with man You are the Spirit of Jehovah; in God’s incarnation You are the Holy Spirit; for the bringing forth of the church, You, as the Holy Spirit, became the life-giving, consummated Spirit; and for the needs of the church, You, as the life-giving Spirit, became the sevenfold intensified Spirit. Today we are in this Spirit. This is our Lord, this is our God, this is our Redeemer, this is our Savior, and this is our Master, the One whom we serve. We truly desire to live in You as such a God, that is, to live in the Spirit, according to Your heart’s desire.
