EXCERPTS FROM THE MINISTRY

LIFE-STUDY OF ROMANS

MESSAGE FIFTY-SIX

DESIGNATION BY THE MINGLED SPIRIT

We have seen that the gospel of God is the gospel of sonship. This means that God’s intention is to produce many sons through the gospel. For the producing of these many sons, the economy of the three Persons of the Godhead is involved. The Father as the source is in the Son, who is the course, and the Son as the embodiment of the Father is now in the flow of the Spirit. The Spirit is thus the current of the Triune God. Just as electrical current is electricity in motion, so the Spirit of the Triune God is God in motion. Hence, the Spirit of God is for the application of God to us.

THE FLOWING OF THE DIVINE CURRENT

Apart from the Spirit as the current, the flow, there is no way for God to be applied to us. God is rich and all His riches are for us; but there is the need of the Spirit as the current for the application of the riches of God to our experience. This flow of the Spirit is the anointing, the moving, of the ointment within us. All that God is in Christ and all that God has accomplished, obtained, and attained in Christ are in this current, this flow, this anointing. Now in our spirit we have the flowing of the divine current, the moving of the ointment. Within us there is something that is constantly in motion. This moving element includes divinity, humanity, Christ’s human living, the effectiveness of His death, the power of His resurrection, the fragrance of His resurrection, His ascension, enthronement, headship, lordship, authority, and kingdom. Thus, the anointing within us is an all-inclusive ointment. Praise the Lord that this current is flowing within us!

APPLYING THE HEAVENLY ELECTRICITY

We also have seen the importance of our spirit in applying the current of the Triune God. Our spirit is like a switch. By exercising our spirit, we switch on the heavenly electricity which has been installed into us. If we did not have a switch or did not know where the switch was, we would have no way of applying electricity. In the same principle, apart from the switch of our spirit, we have no way to apply the heavenly electricity. Praise the Lord that we have a switch and that we know where it is! The switch is in the inner chamber of our being, that is, in our spirit. The simplest way to switch on the current is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus.

EXERCISING OUR SPIRIT

In 1:9 Paul said, “For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son.” The place to serve God is not the mind; it is our spirit. People rarely say “my spirit.” They speak of their heart, their soul, their mind, their emotion, and their will, but not of their spirit. However, Paul was a person who served God in his spirit. We need to develop the habit of saying “my spirit” or “our spirit.” As 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God.” We need to speak more about our spirit, turn to our spirit, and use our spirit in all things.

The reason certain ones do not pray or function in the meetings is that they do not exercise their spirit. Many seem to leave their spirit at home when they come to the meetings. How different they are from Paul, who could attend a church meeting in his spirit even when he was not physically present (1 Cor. 5:3). We do not function in the meetings because we do not exercise our spirit. Likewise, we have many failures in our daily living because we fail to use our spirit. For example, we lose our temper or become depressed because we do not exercise our spirit. In the same principle, we may be unable to know the will of God or to obtain life from the Word because our spirit is dull from lack of exercise. All our problems are solved and all our needs are met through the exercise of our spirit. All that God is and all that He has accomplished are in the all-inclusive Spirit who has been installed in our spirit. Therefore, by turning to our spirit and by exercising our spirit, we may obtain the full supply to meet our need.

WHAT WE NEED TODAY

Through many years of experience and suffering, I have learned that what we need today is not the knowledge of doctrine, but the exercise of our spirit so that we may experience the application of the Triune God in the flow of the Holy Spirit. After I was saved, I joined a group of Christians who emphasized the objective study of the Bible. I remained under their influence as a willing learner for more than seven years. But one day as I was walking on the street, the Spirit within said to me, “You know so many teachings, but look how dead and unfruitful you are. In the past several years you have brought almost no one to the Lord.” My heart was smitten, and I cried to the Lord for His mercy. I admitted that I was wrong. Early the next day, I climbed a mountain near my home, and there I cried out to the Lord to have mercy on me because of my deadness. The Lord was merciful, and from that time He caused me to seek Him in a consistent way. After that, brother Watchman Nee visited my home town and stayed with me for a while. His visit was a turning point in my life. My eyes were opened to see that the Christian life is not a matter of knowledge, but absolutely a matter of life and the Spirit. However, it took me a long time to become entirely free from the influence of dead knowledge. Once this kind of knowledge gets into us, it is hard to get it out. Therefore, when I say that what we need today is not mere knowledge but the contact with the living Spirit, I know what I am talking about.

All that Christ is, all that He has accomplished, and all that He has obtained and attained are in the all-inclusive Spirit. This Spirit contains everything we need: resurrection, power, life, guidance, light, love, humility. Furthermore, this wonderful all-inclusive Spirit has been installed in our spirit. Hallelujah, the living Christ who is the all-inclusive Spirit is in our spirit! We can apply this wonderfully rich One simply by using our spirit.