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After leading new believers to experience Christ as life, we need to lead them into a deeper experience. We should lead them to experience the Holy Spirit and the cross, that is, to experience the Spirit of life and the cross. Thirty years ago we were not clear concerning the experience of the Spirit of life and the cross. Based on our study, knowledge, and experience of the truth in the Bible in the last thirty years, this matter has become clear to us. Our experience of the Spirit of life and the cross must be simultaneous; we cannot have one without the other. If we live Christ and experience Christ as life, we will see that the Christ whom we experience is the Spirit of life.
Before 1949 we rarely used the phrase the Spirit of life in our publications. At that time we saw only the law of the Spirit of life in Romans 8:2; we did not see the life-giving Spirit in 1 Corinthians 15:45. In resurrection the Lord became the life-giving Spirit. The terms the Spirit of life and the life-giving Spirit are slightly different in meaning. The emphasis of the Spirit of life is related to the truth, whereas the emphasis of the life-giving Spirit is related to experience. We did not see this point until we left mainland China and came to Taiwan.
From the ministry of Brother Nee we see that in order to experience the death and resurrection of Christ, we must experience life. In his latter ministry Brother Nee spoke strongly on this point, saying that without the experience of life, one can never experience the cross. He said that the fact of our co-death with Christ in Romans 6 can be experienced only in the Spirit of life in Romans 8. In chapter 6 we have the fact of our co-death with Christ but not the experience. Our co-death with Christ can be experienced only in the Spirit of life in chapter 8. Brother Nee’s speaking helped me greatly. Through his speaking I was able to see further concerning the life-giving Spirit and to see that this life-giving Spirit is an all-inclusive Spirit.
However, at that time Brother Nee did not say that the effectiveness of Christ’s death is in the Spirit of life. Neither did he say that the Spirit of life contains the element of Christ’s death. In his ministry he did not point out that the Spirit of life is the all-inclusive Spirit, the compound Spirit.
To compound is to combine several elements so as to form one substance. Before the Lord was incarnated, the Spirit of God was simple, containing only one element, divinity. When the Lord was incarnated, divinity was mingled with humanity, and humanity was mingled with divinity. Therefore, at the conception of the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God had a new title—the Holy Spirit. Previously, the Spirit of God merely possessed divinity, but after incarnation the Lord brought divinity into humanity so that divinity was mingled with humanity. As the One who was conceived of the Holy Spirit in a human virgin and as the God-man who possesses both the divine nature and the human nature, the Lord Jesus lived a human life for thirty-three and a half years. Then He went to the cross, passed through death, entered into resurrection, and ascended into heaven. Hence, after the Lord’s incarnation, several elements were added to the Spirit of God. These elements include the Lord’s human living and His all-inclusive death on the cross. His death terminated all of the old creation and released the divine life.
The Lord entered into resurrection after His death; hence, the element of resurrection was also added to the Spirit of God. Now the Spirit of God has the elements of incarnation, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension. John 7:39 says, “The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” The Spirit, as spoken of in this verse, was “not yet” until Jesus passed through death and was glorified in resurrection. This Spirit is the life-giving Spirit spoken of in 1 Corinthians 15:45: “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” As the last Adam, Christ was incarnated, lived on earth, died, and was resurrected. In resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit.
For thirty years we have studied the Spirit. The Spirit is the compound Spirit and also the all-inclusive Spirit because the elements of divinity, humanity, human living, the all-inclusive death, resurrection, and ascension have been included in the Spirit. Hence, Philippians 1:19 speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This Spirit can supply whatever we need.
In order to experience Christ, we must know that Christ is the life-giving Spirit with many elements; He is the compound Spirit. In our experience the all-inclusive compound Spirit manifests mainly the element of the all-inclusive death, that is, the cross of Christ. This compound Spirit manifests a particular function: it kills everything that is not Christ. As we experience this all-inclusive Spirit, everything in us that is not Christ will be killed. To experience such a killing is to experience dying with Christ.
Romans 6:6 says, “Our old man has been crucified with Him [Christ].” Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ.” Ever since the time of the Reformation, all Christians who pursue the Lord know this truth. Martin Luther even wrote some articles concerning Galatians 2:20. However, not many Christians have been able to comprehend in their experience that the Christ who indwells the believers as their life is the Spirit of life. Mrs. Penn-Lewis said that in order to experience the death of Christ and the cross of Christ, we must first experience the inner filling of the Holy Spirit. In other words, when our spirit is filled with the essential Spirit, we experience the death of Christ. However, Mrs. Penn-Lewis did not point out why we experience the death of Christ when we have the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Not until these last thirty years did we see that within the Spirit of life there is a very important element. That element is the death of Christ. Hence, this Spirit has a killing function.
In a pharmacy some medications are compounds. These medications contain not just one but many ingredients. When a person takes a tablet, he receives all the ingredients with their many functions: one ingredient may kill bacteria, another may strengthen him, and still another may provide nutrients to meet the various needs of his body. This is an example of the compound Spirit. This Spirit contains many elements.
The type of the holy anointing oil in Exodus 30 clearly shows the various aspects of the compound Spirit. The holy anointing oil is composed of one hin of olive oil mingled with four spices. This holy anointing oil is a type of the all-inclusive Spirit.
More than fifty years ago I learned from the publications by the Brethren that the holy anointing oil in Exodus 30 is a type of the Holy Spirit. However, the Brethren did not point out that the holy anointing oil includes four spices. When these four spices are mingled with the olive oil, the oil becomes an ointment. According to this type there was only the Spirit of God, typified by the olive oil, before the tabernacle was built. It was not until the tabernacle was being built that God instructed Moses to prepare the holy anointing oil by adding four spices to one hin of olive oil, which typifies the Spirit of God, in order to make the holy anointing oil that was to anoint the tabernacle. The tabernacle denotes the Lord Jesus, who is God incarnated to tabernacle among us (John 1:14). Hence, from the incarnation of the Lord Jesus until His resurrection, the four elements—typified by the four spices—were mingled with the Holy Spirit.
This holy anointing oil, a compound ointment of olive oil and four spices (Exo. 30:23-24), is a full type of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit of the processed Triune God, whom Christ became through His death and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:45; John 7:39; Phil. 1:19). The significances of the ingredients of this compound anointing oil are as follows: (1) flowing myrrh, a spice used in burial (John 19:39), signifies the precious death of Christ (Rom. 6:3); (2) fragrant cinnamon signifies the sweetness and effectiveness of Christ’s death (8:13); (3) fragrant calamus, from a reed that grew upward in a marsh or muddy place, signifies the precious resurrection of Christ (Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1; 1 Pet. 1:3); (4) cassia, used in ancient times to repel insects and snakes, signifies the power of Christ’s resurrection (Phil. 3:10); and (5) the olive oil as the base of the compound ointment signifies the Spirit of God as the base of the compound Spirit (Gen. 1:2). Since the number four signifies the creatures (Ezek. 1:5), of which man is the head (Gen. 1:26), and the number one signifies the unique God (Deut. 4:35; 1 Tim. 2:5), the four spices signify the humanity of Christ in God’s creation, and the one hin of olive oil signifies the unique God with His divinity. Thus, the blending of olive oil with the four spices signifies the compounding, the mingling, of God and man, of divinity and humanity, in the compound Spirit (cf. Lev. 2:4). The olive oil and the four spices were all prepared through a process of either pressing or cutting, signifying that the Spirit of God became the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9) through Christ’s sufferings (Matt. 26:36). Furthermore, the measure of the four spices, being three complete units of five hundred shekels each with the middle five hundred shekels being split into two parts, signifies the Triune God in resurrection, the second, the Son, having been “split” by His death on the cross. Since in the Bible five is the number for responsibility (25:2), the five elements in the compound ointment and the three units of five hundred shekels of the four spices signify the Triune God in resurrection as the power, the capability, for bearing responsibility. Since the numbers three and five are related to God’s building (Gen. 6:15), these numbers in the compound ointment signify that in the compound Spirit there is the element for God’s building. Based on the above significances, the compounding of the four spices with the olive oil to make an anointing oil signifies the mingling of the above-mentioned elements with the Spirit of God through the process of Christ’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to produce the compound Spirit for the building of God’s eternal dwelling place. The ointment in Exodus 30 signifies that the Spirit of God became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Furthermore, “the Spirit” spoken of in John 7:39 is the compound Spirit. This compound Spirit is an ointment. An ointment is not only oil. This is also the anointing spoken of in 1 John 2:27. A picture is worth a thousand words. Through the picture of the holy anointing ointment in Exodus 30 we are able to know the compound Spirit thoroughly.
In these years the Lord has led us in a complete way to know the Holy Spirit. Not only has He led us to know that the life-giving Spirit is the compound Spirit; He has also led us to see the seven Spirits (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6), the Spirit that is intensified sevenfold in function. The Lord has also shown us the essential and the economical aspects of the Spirit. We have a complete revelation concerning the Spirit of God according to the Bible. The Spirit is the resurrected Christ.
Bible expositors have called Christ in resurrection the “pneumatic” Christ. After Christ entered into resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit. Hence, 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” Concerning the Spirit, in John 7:38-39 the Lord Jesus said that out of the innermost being of those who believe into Him would flow rivers of living water, but the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. The Spirit that was not yet in John 7:38-39 is in 2 Corinthians 3:17, where Paul says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” The Christ who passed through death and entered into resurrection is the Spirit. Hence, when we experience Christ as our life, we experience the all-inclusive Spirit, and an important element in the all-inclusive Spirit is the cross.
How do we know that the cross is an important element in the all-inclusive Spirit? In Exodus 30 the first of the four spices is myrrh, which signifies the Lord’s death. The first ingredient is always the primary ingredient. When we experience Christ as our life, the element of Christ’s death in His life spontaneously has a killing effect within us. For example, when we lose our temper or argue with our wife, we are in our emotion and will, that is, in our soul. Since we know that we should live in our spirit, not in our soul, we turn to our spirit. As soon as we turn to our spirit and touch the Christ within us, this pneumatic Christ will kill our old creation and our flesh and put us on the cross, thus calming us down. This is to experience the life-giving Spirit and the cross of Christ.
For two thousand years those who truly love the Lord and fellowship with Him have had such experiences. Regrettably, they did not have the light that we have today in order to analyze and clearly explain this experience. This is similar to the fact that two hundred years ago no one knew what vitamins were, and even though there was no research related to vitamins, people nonetheless received vitamins from their food. In Shantung Province there was a fishing village near the sea. The people in that village had excellent vision. Later it was discovered that their excellent eyesight was the result of their regularly eating a particular fish in their diet. At that time people did not know the benefits of that fish. Not until the advancement in medicine did we learn that this fish contained a rich supply of vitamin A. Even though the people in that village did not know about vitamin A, they nevertheless received the benefit from this vitamin, and as a result, they had excellent eyesight.
Although in the past many saints who truly loved the Lord and fellowshipped with Him did not know the phrase in spirit, they experienced fellowshipping with the Lord in spirit. They fellowshipped with Him continually, and consequently they experienced the killing of the flesh. This is to experience the killing element in the life-giving Spirit. We do not need to repeatedly recite, “I am crucified with Christ. I am crucified with Christ.” Such recitation is ineffective. After hearing or reading a message on being crucified with Christ, a brother may try to practice this. When he is about to explode and the old man is being expressed, he may say that he is crucified with Christ. However, if his wife continues to nag at him, he will be impatient. He will no longer be able to act as if he is on the cross. Since the cross is only a word on his lips, he will eventually lose his temper.
Being crucified with Christ is not the result of repeatedly reciting Galatians 2:20. Being crucified with Christ is the result of turning to our spirit and experiencing Christ as our life. Christ is the life-giving Spirit, and in the Spirit is the element of Christ’s death that will kill every negative feeling within us. When a person is sick, he does not repeatedly say that his germs must be killed. If he takes an antibiotic, it will operate in his blood stream, and the germ-killing ingredient in the antibiotic will spontaneously kill the germs in him. Similarly, we do not have to crucify ourselves with Christ. When we are in our spirit, we will spontaneously experience the death of the cross.
We must experience the all-inclusive Spirit and the all-inclusive death of Christ. Many saints in the Lord’s recovery have a heart to pursue the Lord but may not have definite experiences of the Spirit of life and the cross of Christ. This has not become a habit in their living. Only when this is our experience can we lead others into this experience. Then it will not be so easy for us to lose our temper. Furthermore, we will be those who are truly one spirit with the Lord. In His all-inclusive death we can be one spirit with Him. When we are one spirit with Him in His death, we will also be one with Him in His resurrection and ascension.
When we experience the all-inclusive Spirit and the all-inclusive death of Christ, our growth in life will deepen. Then we will be able to lead others into these experiences. If we are short in experience, we will not have a thorough understanding, even if we have read many spiritual books. My fellowship with you is brief but succinct. The process advancing from preaching the gospel, which leads new believers to salvation, to bringing new believers into the realm of ascension has to be accomplished by continually experiencing the all-inclusive Spirit and the all-inclusive death of Christ.
