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John 7:39 says, “This He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” At the time the Lord Jesus was speaking these words, “the Spirit was not yet”; this means that the Spirit was not there yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When I was young, I was greatly troubled by this word. I simply could not understand how the Spirit could not have been there when Jesus was speaking. Many years later I read Andrew Murray’s book, The Spirit of Christ. Chapter 5 of this book is entitled “The Spirit of the Glorified Jesus.” That chapter shocked me. Through that chapter my eyes were opened to see why the Spirit was not yet there when the Lord Jesus was speaking. Before the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection, the Spirit of God consisted only of divinity. However, after the Lord’s resurrection, many items were compounded into the Spirit of God. Hence, after the resurrection of Christ, the Spirit of God was composed not only of divinity but of many other crucial items as well. At the time of John 7 the Spirit of God was there, possessing merely divinity, but the all-inclusive Spirit, including all the other items, was not there yet.
The Spirit of God was there from the very beginning (Gen. 1:1-2), but the Spirit as the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9), the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19), was not yet at the time the Lord spoke the word recorded in John 7, because He was not yet glorified. Jesus was glorified when He was resurrected (Luke 24:26). After His resurrection, the Spirit of God became the Spirit of the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Jesus Christ, who was breathed into the disciples by Christ in the evening of the day He was resurrected (John 20:22). The Spirit is now another Comforter, who is the Spirit of reality promised by Christ before His death (14:16-17). When the Spirit was the Spirit of God, He had only the divine element. When He became the Spirit of Jesus Christ through Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, He had both the divine and human element, with all the essence and reality of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. Hence, He is now the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ as the living water for us to receive (7:38-39).
Although I was enlightened through the reading of Andrew Murray’s book, I was not able to give others a thorough definition of the all-inclusive Spirit until Exodus 30 was opened to me. In this chapter we have the matter of the compound ointment (vv. 22-33). In typology we have a type of the Spirit of God in the Old Testament, and this type is the olive oil. If you read the Old Testament carefully, you will see that several times olive oil is used to indicate the Spirit of God (Psa. 45:7; Isa. 61:1). According to Exodus 30, four spices were compounded into a hin of olive oil. Thus, in Exodus 30 we do not see simply the olive oil but a compound. A hin of olive oil was the basic element of this compound, and four spices were added to it: myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. When these spices were added to the oil, the oil became an ointment, a compound of five elements, the oil plus the four spices.
In typology numbers are significant. Here in Exodus 30 we have one plus four. In typology the number one signifies the unique God. God, signified by the complete unit of a hin of olive oil, is unique and complete. The number four signifies the creatures. In both Ezekiel 1 and in Revelation 4 we read of the four living creatures. Hence, in the Bible the number four always signifies the creatures. Therefore, in this compound ointment we have God signified by the number one and God’s creatures signified by the number four. This indicates that the compound ointment is a matter of God plus His creature, man. This reveals that the ointment is compounded with both God and man. God, the basic element, is signified by the olive oil, and man is represented by the four spices.
Some of the critics condemn the matter of the mingling of God with man. These critics lack knowledge. God and man are not only mingled but even compounded. In Exodus 30 we have the olive oil compounded with the four spices. When tea is put into water, that is mingling. But when four spices are added to oil to produce an ointment, that is compounding. Compounding involves more than mingling. Compounding implies mingling, but mingling is not as thorough as compounding. Hallelujah, God has been compounded with humanity!
Let us now consider the spices in more detail. Exodus 30:23-24 says, “Take the finest spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred fifty shekels, and of fragrant calamus two hundred fifty shekels, and of cassia five hundred shekels.” The quantity of the first spice, myrrh, is five hundred shekels. However, the quantity of the second and third spices, cinnamon and calamus, is only two hundred and fifty shekels. Put together, the cinnamon and the calamus make one complete unit of five hundred shekels. Like myrrh, cassia, the fourth spice, is in the quantity of five hundred shekels. These three complete units of five hundred shekels signify the Triune God, and the hin of olive oil signifies the unique God. Hence, in this compound we see the three in one and the one in three.
The second of the three complete units of five hundred shekels was split. This points to the fact that the Son, the second of the Godhead, was split on the cross. The splitting of the second unit of five hundred shekels thus implies the death of Christ. The number four of the four spices indicates Christ’s humanity. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 14). This indicates that the Triune God is involved with humanity. When the Word became flesh, the Triune God became involved with humanity. The Triune God was involved with the man Jesus. At a certain time, Christ, the second of the Trinity, was crucified, split, put to death.
Myrrh signifies the sweetness of the death of Christ, and cinnamon signifies the sweetness of the effectiveness of His death. The death of Christ is both sweet and effective. In this compound ointment we have not only divinity and humanity but also the sweet death of Christ and the effectiveness of the death of Christ. This means that when we get this ointment, within it there is the effectiveness of Christ’s death. Calamus is a type of reed that rises high, even shoots high, into the air out of muddy ground. It surely indicates the power of Christ’s resurrection, for Christ resurrected from the mud of death into the heavenly air. He was the real calamus. Cassia signifies the flavor of the power of the Lord’s resurrection. According to some lexicons, in ancient times cassia was used not only as a spice but also as a repellent to repel insects and snakes. Satan, the snake, is afraid of the resurrection of Christ.
In this compound ointment we have the Triune God signified by the numbers one and three and humanity signified by the number four. We also have the death of Christ, the effectiveness of Christ’s death, the resurrection of Christ, and the flavor of the power of Christ’s resurrection. This compound ointment is a picture of today’s compound Spirit. Before the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection, the Spirit of God was not a compound. He had merely divinity, nothing else. But after the Lord’s resurrection, this Spirit of God has been compounded with humanity, with the death of Christ, with the resurrection of Christ, with the effectiveness of Christ’s death, and with the effectiveness of His resurrection. This all has been compounded into one ointment, which today is the Spirit of Christ. Before Christ’s resurrection, the Spirit of God was in existence, but not the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ came into existence immediately after the Lord’s resurrection. After Jesus had been crucified and resurrected, the compound Spirit came into being. In other words, on the day of Christ’s resurrection, the Spirit of God became the Spirit of Christ. In the Spirit of Christ there are many items: divinity, humanity, the effectiveness of Christ’s death, and the power of Christ’s resurrection.
One day in 1954, as I was speaking to the church in Hong Kong, I shared a word about reckoning ourselves dead. I told the people that in the past I had done a great deal of reckoning, but that the more I reckoned myself dead, the more alive I was. If we would not reckon ourselves dead, the self would probably be dormant. But as soon as we try to reckon ourselves to be dead, the dormant self is awakened. Thus, our reckoning did not help us, although it did help to arouse our dormant self. I told those in that meeting that it is not a matter of reckoning, because the genuine effectiveness of the death of Christ today is in the Spirit. The death of Christ can be realized only when we are in the Spirit. If we are not in the Spirit, reckoning will not work, no matter how earnestly we do it. The effectiveness of the death of Christ is not in our reckoning; it is in the all-inclusive Spirit.
Many Christians have been helped by Brother Nee’s book The Normal Christian Life. In this book Brother Nee has a chapter on reckoning. However, the messages in this book were given in Brother Nee’s early ministry. At that time, he told people to reckon themselves dead. Later, however, in one of his messages he said strongly that the death in Christ in Romans 6 can be experienced only in the Spirit in Romans 8. If we do not have Romans 8, we cannot experience Romans 6. He pointed out that the fact of having been crucified with Christ in Romans 6 can be experienced only by the Spirit in Romans 8. I can confirm this by my experience.
The effectiveness of Christ’s death is in the Spirit. This Spirit is like an all-inclusive dose of medicine. Some medicines are all-inclusive, containing some elements that nourish us and other elements that kill germs. The all-inclusive Spirit is an all-inclusive dose. If we take in this all-inclusive Spirit, it will heal us, no matter what our illness is. Within this Spirit is the nourishing element and the killing element. The killing power of the death of Christ today is in the all-inclusive Spirit.
Although, according to my experience, I began to speak this in 1954, I did not have the light on this matter from the Bible. One day as I was considering Exodus 30 the light came. I saw that myrrh, which signifies the death of Christ, was compounded into the Spirit. The Spirit of Christ today is no longer merely the oil; it is the ointment. We do not have simply oil but a compound ointment. In the simple olive oil there was just one item—divinity—but in the compound ointment there are many items, including divinity, humanity, death, and resurrection. All the things of Christ, all that He passed through, and all that He has obtained and attained have been compounded together here into this all-inclusive Spirit. The Bible says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). This means that all of the Triune God plus humanity, the death of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ have been compounded into this life-giving Spirit. Thus, the life-giving Spirit is a compound Spirit. In this life-giving Spirit we have divinity, humanity, the effectiveness of the death of Christ, and the power of the resurrection of Christ.
By your experience you can testify that when the life-giving Spirit moves in you, on the one hand, you are nourished, but on the other hand, something within you is killed. Does not the life-giving Spirit kill something within you? Certainly it does. Perhaps a certain husband is exchanging words with his wife. This exchange of words must be killed. The only thing that can kill it is the effectiveness of Christ’s death in the life-giving Spirit. In the life-giving Spirit there is the killing power. Sisters, have you not experienced such a killing of your temper many times? If you asked me this question, I would say that my self is killed nearly all day long. My stubborn self needs to be killed again and again.
The all-inclusive Spirit is also a repellent. All of us are familiar with the way the odor of insect repellent drives away mosquitoes. Day by day we must put on the life-giving Spirit as a repellent to Satan. When you call on the name of the Lord Jesus, you not only drink of Him; you also put on the life-giving Spirit as a repellent. If the first thing in the morning you do not put on this repellent, the snake will attack you, and you may lose your temper during the day. But if you call on the Lord's name a few times, you will not only drink of the living water, but also apply the repellent. Whenever you do this, the snake will be frightened.
Now we can understand why we are told in John 7 that the Spirit was not yet. Of course, the Spirit of God was there, but the Spirit of Christ as the compound Spirit was not yet. Acts 16:6 speaks of the Holy Spirit, and Acts 16:7 speaks of the Spirit of Jesus (Gk.). Today the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Jesus. In the Spirit of God there is no humanity, but in the Spirit of Jesus there is both divinity and humanity. As Paul was traveling and preaching, he needed not only the Spirit of God, but also the Spirit of Jesus. In our preaching today we also need the Spirit of Jesus, into which His humanity has been compounded.
Romans 8:9 reveals that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, just as Acts 16 reveals that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Jesus. In Acts 16 we have the Spirit of Jesus, indicating that the apostles were suffering in the humanity of Jesus. But in Romans 8 we have the Spirit of Christ, indicating that today we may live in Christ's resurrection. Romans 8 is a chapter on the resurrection life, which is in the Spirit of Christ.
Philippians 1:19 speaks of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This is neither the Spirit only with humanity nor the Spirit only with resurrection, for in the Spirit of Jesus Christ we have both humanity and resurrection. Therefore, the supply of such a Spirit is a bountiful supply. This is not merely the Spirit of God with divine power, but the Spirit of Jesus Christ, including both Christ's suffering humanity and powerful resurrection. When Paul wrote the Epistle to the Philippians, he was in prison and was suffering. Although he was suffering there by the Spirit of Jesus, he suffered with the power of Christ's resurrection and with the expectation of enjoying the first resurrection. This reveals that he was suffering not only by the Spirit of Jesus, but also by the Spirit of Christ. Therefore, he was suffering by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, by the humanity of Jesus and by the resurrection of Christ. This is the all-inclusive Spirit with His bountiful supply.
Whenever I speak about the compound Spirit, I sense that I am short of utterance. I simply do not have the language adequate to express fully what I have seen regarding this matter. The Spirit is no longer merely the Spirit of God. Today the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. In this all-inclusive Spirit we enjoy God, the uplifted humanity of Jesus, the sweetness of the death of Christ, the effectiveness of the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and the power of the resurrection of Christ. All these elements are included in this one compound ointment. Remember that the Spirit of Christ is no longer simply the olive oil; it is the compound ointment. This is the processed Spirit. Certainly compounding is a process. Whenever something is compounded, it passes through a process. Hallelujah, today we do not have a Spirit simply composed of divinity alone but the all-inclusive Spirit compounded with divinity, the humanity of Jesus, the death of Christ, and His resurrection. By our experience we can testify that God, the humanity of Jesus, the effective death of Christ, and the powerful resurrection of Christ are all in the all-inclusive Spirit. This is the Spirit of God compounded with Christ’s humanity, death, and resurrection.
The ointment was composed of five basic elements: olive oil, myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. The quantity of the spices compounded with the olive oil was one hundred times five. In the Bible the number five, composed of four plus one, is the number of responsibility. Both the Ten Commandments and the ten virgins are divided into two groups of five (Exo. 34:28-29; Matt. 25:1-2). Look at your hand: You have four fingers and one thumb for the bearing of responsibility. If you had four fingers but no thumb, it would be very difficult to pick up things. Are you the number four or the number five? If God has been added to you, you are number five. I know that I am number five, because God has been added to me. The significance of the number five is that the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is for the bearing of responsibility. The more you enjoy the all-inclusive Spirit of Christ, the more ability you will have to bear responsibility.
The main point we must see in this chapter is that the very Spirit of God is no longer just the Spirit of God but the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. He is no longer just the olive oil but the compound ointment of five elements. Four spices have been compounded into the olive oil to produce the ointment. According to Exodus 30, the tabernacle and all its utensils were anointed with this ointment. Even the priests were anointed with it. This indicates that the entire church and all the serving ones in the church must be anointed by the compound Spirit.
John 20:22 says, “He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” This is the Spirit expected in John 7:39 and promised in John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26 and 16:7-8, 13. In John 7 the Spirit the disciples were to receive was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. But on the day of His resurrection the Lord came to the disciples by night, breathed into them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” In John 7 the Spirit was not yet, but in John 20 the Spirit was present because Jesus had been glorified. He was glorified in His resurrection; hence, the compound Spirit had come into existence. The Lord’s breathing of the Holy Spirit into the disciples was the fulfillment of His promise of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter. This fulfillment differs from Acts 2:1-4, which was the fulfillment of the Father’s promise in Luke 24:49. There the Spirit as a rushing violent wind came as power upon the disciples for their work (Acts 1:8). Here, the Spirit as the breath was breathed as life into the disciples for their life. By breathing the Spirit into the disciples, the Lord imparted Himself as life and everything into them. Thus, all that He had spoken in John 14 through 16 could be fulfilled.
Just as falling into the ground to die and growing out of the ground transforms a grain of wheat into another form that is new and living, so the death and resurrection of the Lord transfigured Him from the flesh into the Spirit. As the last Adam in the flesh, He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) through the process of death and resurrection. As He is the embodiment of the Father, so the Spirit is the realization, the reality, of Him. It is as the Spirit that He was breathed into the disciples. It is as the Spirit that He is received into His believers and flows out of them as rivers of living water (John 7:38-39). It is as the Spirit that through His death and resurrection He came back to the disciples, entered into them as their Comforter, and began to abide in them (14:16-17). It is as the Spirit that He can live in the disciples and they can live by Him and with Him (v. 19). It is as the Spirit that He can abide in the disciples and they can abide in Him (v. 20; 15:4-5). It is as the Spirit that He can come with the Father to His lover and make an abode with him (14:23). It is as the Spirit that He can make all that He is and all He has to be fully realized by the disciples (16:13-16). It is as the Spirit that He came to meet with His brothers as the church to declare the Father’s name to them and to praise Him in their midst (Heb. 2:11-12). It is as the Spirit that He can send His disciples with His commission, with Himself as life and everything to them, in the same way that the Father sent Him (John 20:21). Hence, they are qualified to represent Him with His authority in the fellowship of His Body (v. 23). It is as the Spirit that Christ does everything today. As the all-inclusive Spirit, He is doing everything with us and in us. God’s economy is entirely involved with this all-inclusive Spirit, who is the compound ointment whose anointing we must experience today.
