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Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 2:4, 7; 3:15; 2 Tim. 3:7, 15-16
Today the whole earth needs the truth of the Lord that is in His Word. Regrettably, however, the Bible, the divine Word, has not been fully opened to the world. Thus, it has not been possible for people to fully know the truth of the Lord. At the most, Christians are able to boast that the holy Word of God has been published into many languages and propagated over the whole earth. Yet they are not able to say that after reading the Bible, regardless of which language, they have been able to truly understand the deep mysteries within it. They have been able to understand the superficial meanings of the things revealed in the Bible according to their own culture, philosophy, tradition, customs, ethics, living, and morality but have had no way of comprehending the mysteries of the truths in it. The mysteries of the truths in the Bible are very deep and profound. We need the enlightening of the Spirit of God to understand them, and we also need to spend time to dig them out (cf. 1 Cor. 2:10-14).
The truths in the holy Word of the Lord were completed approximately two thousand years ago, but over a period of a little more than one thousand years, they seemed to slowly vanish. Only in the last few centuries have the truths again been released little by little through the zealous and careful study of many lovers of the Lord. This is what we refer to as the Lord’s recovery. The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of all the truths in the Bible that were lost. Thus, the recovery of the truth is one of the great pillars in the Lord’s recovery. The Lord’s recovery depends upon the recovery of the knowledge of the truth.
The New Testament says repeatedly that we should know the truth. Moreover, when referring to this matter, Paul repeatedly says that we should come to the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:25; 3:7; Titus 1:1). This means that we must know not just a small part or one aspect of the truth but rather the truth in its entirety and in all its aspects. Paul also says that the church is the pillar and base of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). This implies that the truth in the Bible is like a large building that is not one-sided but complete on all sides with a foundation and a roof. If we are going to spread the Lord’s recovery today, we must know the truth and be able to expound the truth. For this reason we must know every side of the truth without any biases or particular leanings.
The truth not only has many sides but also includes many crucial items. For example, the Bible speaks about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the believers, the church, the kingdom, and the New Jerusalem. The Bible begins with God, then continues with God’s creation, man’s fall, God’s redemption, and God’s entering into man to be man’s life for man to be regenerated, sanctified, renewed, transformed, conformed to His own image, and ultimately brought fully into glory. In the midst of all these matters, the Bible also shows us the believers and the corporate church. This corporate church brings in the kingdom, consummating in the ultimate expression, which is the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth. All these aspects are included in the truths of the Bible.
Considering the deeper and more detailed truths, the Bible speaks about the two aspects of God’s complete salvation: redemption and salvation. The aspect of redemption includes forgiveness, cleansing, justification, reconciliation, and acceptance; the aspect of salvation includes His coming to regenerate, sanctify, renew, and transform us so as to conform us to His image and ultimately to bring us into His glory. This is God’s complete salvation. We must diligently learn all these things, obtain the knowledge of them, and be able to speak them clearly to others.
The above points merely show the different aspects of the truth, not the mysteries of the truth in their entirety. What are the mysteries of the truth in the Bible? What is the central mystery of the Bible? In brief, in the holy Word of God there is a central mystery. This central mystery is that the Triune God wants to dispense Himself into man. Our God is the Triune God, and He wants to dispense Himself into His chosen ones to be their life and everything. This is the kernel, the core, of the mystery in the Bible.
Unfortunately, many Bible readers do not and cannot see this point. For example, when they read Genesis 1, all they can see is that God created the heavens and the earth, that He then created all the living things, and that He finally created man. However, they do not see that the purpose of God’s creation of man was to make it possible for Him to dispense Himself into man. They may realize from their reading that God created man according to His image, but they do not understand at all why God created man according to His image.
God created man in His own image so that He would be able to put Himself into man. Romans 9 says that God made man to be a vessel (v. 23). A vessel is a container made to hold something. For example, to hold a round object, a vessel for round objects must be made; to hold a square object, a vessel for square objects must be made. A vessel is made in the shape of the object it is to contain. The hand has five fingers; thus, for a glove to be worn by the hand, it must resemble the five fingers of the hand. When a glove is made, it is made with five fingers so that one day a hand can be inserted into the glove. In the same way we are “gloves” made to contain God. We were created in God’s image and likeness so that one day God could be put into us.
Furthermore, Genesis 2 continues to show us that when God created man, He breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life. This breath of life became man’s spirit (v. 7; Job 32:8). After reading this, many people do not understand why God created man with a spirit. However, little by little it has been uncovered to us through the books of the Bible that the human spirit is for contacting and containing God. For example, we all have a stomach. The stomach is a container to contain food. Man’s body requires food for nourishment; however, for the food to be put into man, there needs to be a container. Hence, God created man with a stomach. The stomach holds the food that has been eaten, and then through a metabolic process the nutrients are transported through the blood to become the elements within man.
The Lord Jesus said that He is the bread of life and that he who eats Him shall live because of Him (John 6:48, 57). Like the Jews in those days, many Christians are puzzled when they come to this portion of the Word, having no idea what the Lord meant. When I was newly saved and came to this portion of the Word, I also wondered, “After we eat the Lord as the bread of life, where is He in our being?” Of course, He could not be in our stomach. I asked different ones but was not able to get an explanation. Some told me that the Lord’s being the bread of life refers to the words written in the Bible and that to eat the Lord is to read and take in His written words. Hence, I tried my best to put the Lord’s written words into my mind. I did not feel, however, that I had eaten of the bread of life. On the contrary, the more I read, the more I became perplexed. Formerly, I did not know what the Bible was all about. After reading it with my mind, I gained knowledge but had no sense that I had received any supply within. Therefore, after many years I still did not know the meaning of eating the Lord.
Then one day I read Paul’s word to Timothy: “The Lord be with your spirit” (2 Tim. 4:22). At first, I did not understand what it was for the Lord to be with my spirit. First, I wondered how the Lord could be with my spirit since He is in the heavens. Second, I really did not understand what my spirit was. I knew that in my body there was a stomach and intestines and that in my head there was a brain, but I did not know what my spirit was. I really did not understand. Subsequently, I read that the Lord had said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). Again I did not understand how words could become spirit. Then I read John 3 where the Lord told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus thought that to be born anew was to return to the mother’s womb, so he said, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” The Lord answered that to be born anew is to be born of water and the Spirit because that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (vv. 3-6). The more I read, the more I became puzzled. When the Spirit entered into my spirit, I was regenerated. Then where was my spirit? What was my spirit? After reading those verses, I was absolutely confused and without a clue as to what they referred to.
After many years I gradually began to see the clear light and was able to thoroughly understand the revelation, realizing that God Himself is Spirit (4:24). Our God is triune; He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. However, the Father, Son, and Spirit are not three different Gods but one God. One day this God became flesh and came to the earth as a man. It was not just the Son who came, but the Son came with the Father and the Spirit. Therefore, in incarnation it was not just the Son who came, but the Father, Son, and Spirit all came together.
Most Christians have the concept that when the Son came, He came alone, leaving the Father in the heavens. However, the Gospel of John says clearly that the Son came with the Father. John tells us that while the Lord was on the earth for over thirty years, He was never lonely, because the Father was always with Him (8:29; 16:32). Not only so, John also says that the Son was in the Father and that the Father was in the Son (14:10-11). The Father’s being with the Son is easy to understand and describe. For example, when the Son went to Galilee, the Father went with Him; when the Son went to Jerusalem, the Father went with Him; and when the Son went to the cross, the Father was also there with Him. This is very easy to describe. However, it is impossible to describe the Son’s being in the Father and the Father’s being in the Son. The coinhering of the two is truly a mystery.
In John 14:8 Philip came forward and said, “Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us.” The disciples had been with the Lord, beholding Him for three and a half years. They had often heard Him speak about the Father yet had never seen Him reveal the Father to them. They thought that if the Lord would simply show them the Father, they would be satisfied. This is similar to the way we believe into the Lord. We also feel that if the Father were to come to us, we would definitely rejoice. However, the Lord was amazed by Philip’s question, saying, “Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how is it that you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?” (vv. 9-10). This statement indicates that the Son and the Father are one. Therefore, when a person sees the Son, he sees the Father. Not only so, the Son is in the Father, and the Father is in the Son.
Following this, the Lord said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter” (v. 16). Then He also said that the Comforter is “the Spirit of reality, who proceeds from the Father” (15:26). The word from in Greek has the sense of from with. In other words, the Comforter does not come alone but comes with the Father. Moreover, since the Father is in the Son, the Son also comes. The result is that when the Spirit comes, the Father, Son, and Spirit all come. This is the Triune God.
Most Christians think that the Father is in the heavens and that when the Son resurrected and ascended, He also went to the heavens, sat down at the Father’s right hand, and then sent the Spirit down upon the believers so that they could prophesy and speak in tongues. However, the Gospel of John says clearly that the Son is joined to the Father, that the Son sends the Spirit from the Father, that the Spirit does not come alone but comes from the Father and with the Father, and that since the Father is joined to the Son, the Spirit also comes with the Son. When a sinner repents on earth and prays to the Lord, calling on His name, immediately the Spirit comes, bringing the Father with the Son. It is impossible to thoroughly explain such a mystery.
When God was incarnated, the Son came with the Father and the Spirit. In addition, the Son died on the cross and on the third day resurrected. When He resurrected, Paul says that He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Just as His resurrection is a mystery, so His becoming the life-giving Spirit is also a mystery. Although we cannot comprehend this, it is a fact. As the life-giving Spirit, He is omnipresent—He is both in the heavens and on the earth. This life-giving Spirit is God Himself—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. When this Spirit comes to us, it is the Triune God coming to us. When this Spirit enters into us, it is the Triune God entering into our spirit. When we confess our sins, repent, and call on the name of the Lord, we sense that something changes inwardly. This change is the entering in of the Spirit. Once the Spirit enters, we feel bright and fresh within. Our spirit is revived, enlivened, and strengthened.
For this reason, when we repent, confess our sins, and believe into the Lord Jesus, immediately we sense an inward joy and are completely changed. Formerly, there was darkness within us, but once we called on the name of the Lord Jesus, immediately there was light. Formerly, we felt oppressed within, but once we called on the Lord, we were liberated. Formerly, we were evil to the uttermost, being hateful and full of complaints. We may have even thrown dishes, hit the table, and kicked the chairs. However, once we believed in the Lord Jesus, calling on His name, immediately we felt that the people and things around us all changed and became quite lovable. We also became the most happy people. Why is this? There is no other reason except that the Spirit entered into us. This Spirit is God, the Creator, and our Redeemer, who shed His blood and died on the cross for us. When we pray and call, “Abba, Father,” we feel sweet within. Who is this “Abba, Father”? He is the Spirit. Who is this Spirit? He is the Triune God. This is the mystery of the Triune God in us.
In this way the Triune God dispenses Himself into us and also lives in us. Therefore, daily we must breathe Him and pray to Him. Our prayer is just like our breathing. Daily we must also exercise our spirit to receive Him, to eat Him. To eat Him is to receive Him. When we pray and read the Word, we are breathing the spiritual air and eating the spiritual food. Both the spiritual air and the spiritual food are the Spirit. Thus, the result is that we are filled with the Spirit. When we are filled to the extent that we overflow with joy, we will say, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ” (Gal. 2:20).
It is amazing that we are filled inwardly with the Spirit, yet we would say that the One who lives in us is Christ. This proves that Christ is the Spirit within us. “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” This is what many of us have experienced. Consequently, we are inwardly filled with joy, satisfaction, light, and zeal to such an extent that we are even beside ourselves and become “crazy,” telling whomever we meet about the Christ in us. By this speaking, the gospel goes out. When we are beside ourselves, we do not care about east or west or heaven or earth, and we are neither shy nor fearful. Wherever we go, we speak to others about Jesus, telling them that Jesus is the most wonderful One. Why is this? This is because we are not only filled with the Spirit within but also have the outpouring of the Spirit upon us. Hence, once we open our mouth, others will be moved because we have the Spirit inwardly and outwardly.
Nevertheless, this is not to say that we have two Spirits, one inside and one outside. We have only one Spirit. The Spirit within us is the essential Spirit, whereas the Spirit outside of us is the economical Spirit. The essential Spirit within us makes us joyful, crazy, zealous, and fearless; the economical Spirit outside of us supplies us with authority as we preach, causing our listeners to be subdued so that they must believe. Since we are filled with the essential Spirit inwardly and with the economical Spirit outwardly, we are completely mingled with the Triune God in spirit. God is Spirit, and this Spirit is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In other words, this Spirit is the Triune God—the Father, Son, and Spirit—completely filling us and enveloping us. The Spirit who fills us inwardly, the essential Spirit, is like living water for us to drink (John 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 12:13). The Spirit who fills us outwardly, the economical Spirit, is like a mantle of power for us to put on (Luke 24:49; 2 Kings 2:9, 13-15).
The essential Spirit is for our living and enjoyment. When we call on the name of the Lord and enjoy Him, He fills us as the essential Spirit. Then we become ecstatic, burning, and bold, feeling that Jesus is the best. We do not desire anything else but the Lord Jesus. Then when we speak with boldness, proclaiming the name of the Lord, the economical Spirit is poured upon us, covering us to be our authority and power for our ministry and work.
We can see that some people speak with much authority. Actually, the secret is in the Spirit. Before speaking, these people usually exercise their spirit by calling on the Lord in order to be fed within. Then when they come to the meeting, they release their spirit. The more they speak, the crazier they become. Finally, the economical Spirit is poured out upon them so that people receive whatever they speak. This is because they are filled with the Spirit and mingled with God. They have God inwardly and outwardly, in every part of their being.
Real Christians are people who are united and mingled with God. In the past twenty to thirty years we have published many books speaking about this very matter. I hope that we all would really get into the truth and then go to our relatives and friends to speak the truth. We must speak Christ to people, and we must be “crazy” toward them, telling them that everything else is poor and that Jesus is the best. We should all be “crazy” Christians of this kind who are full of Jesus and full of the Spirit.
Today we enjoy the Lord as the Spirit in our spirit. There will be a day in the future when the Lord will come back to transfigure our body. This will be the redemption of our body. At that time He will come forth from us as glory, and we will also enter into glory (Phil. 3:20-21). Then we will be with Him in the millennial kingdom, enjoying His joy, His presence, His glory, and His authority for a thousand years (Matt. 25:21, 23; Rev. 20:4, 6). After a thousand years of being beside ourselves, a condition that will be full of glory, we will arrive with the Lord at the ultimate manifestation—the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the ultimate expression of the mingling of God and man—God living in man and man living out God’s glory.
This is the central mystery in the Bible. This central mystery is that the Triune God is working Himself into tripartite man so that God and man can be mingled and become one—God in man and man in God. This is a mystery that cannot be described with human words. We absolutely believe that in that day when we are in the New Jerusalem, we will all be “crazy” and beside ourselves because we will all be exulting without end.
Although the millennial kingdom and the New Jerusalem have not come, today in the church life we can have a foretaste in miniature. When we call on the Lord, speak the Lord, and enjoy the Lord, we become beside ourselves and are filled with the Triune God inwardly and outwardly.
For this reason we must speak the truth of the central mystery in the Bible everywhere. We should no longer speak the superficial gospel of peace and prosperity. Do not tell others that if they are suffering, they should believe in Jesus so that they will have peace, or that if their business is bad, they only have to believe in Jesus and pray to Him, and then they will get rich. That is not the gospel. The proper gospel is to tell others that the only God, who is the Triune God—the Father, Son, and Spirit—became flesh, died on the cross to accomplish redemption, and resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit. This life-giving Spirit is the processed Triune God. He went through incarnation, death, and resurrection to become the all-inclusive Spirit. When man repents and believes into Him, immediately He enters into man to be man’s life and life supply. He is in man as the essential Spirit and upon man as the economical Spirit. In this way He becomes one spirit with man, and man also becomes one spirit with Him. The result is that man possesses real joy, satisfaction, and the true meaning of human life. This is the high gospel that we should announce everywhere.
When we preach and speak in this way, the essential Spirit will fill us inwardly, and the economical Spirit will fill us outwardly. In other words, we will have the Spirit within and without. We will become one spirit with God and will be filled with God. At this juncture the life we live will be a life of love, light, holiness, and righteousness, and we will spontaneously live out God’s image. This is true spirituality, true holiness, and true overcoming. Ultimately, this is glory, which will expand to become the kingdom, consummating in the New Jerusalem. This will be the completion of the truth of God’s central mystery.
Prayer: Lord, we truly worship You for clearly revealing to us all these divine mysteries. Lord, You are God, the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, yet You have worked Yourself into us. Lord, we really praise You. Today You are one with us, and we are also one spirit with You. As the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, You dwell in our regenerated spirit, daily sanctifying us, renewing us, transforming us, and conforming us to Your image. One day You will come out of us in glory, and You will also bring us into glory. Lord, we worship You. What a blessing this is! What a mystery this is! What a glorious economy this is! Lord, bless this word by bringing all the saints into the mysteries of the truth so that we may daily learn this truth, speak this truth, and teach others regarding this central mystery in the Word. Amen.
