The Holy Spirit is the One who brings in the Triune God for our experience and enjoyment. Therefore, we should also know Him that we may richly experience Him.
I. THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION
OF THE TRIUNE GOD
1) “Baptizing them into... the Father and... the Son and... the Holy Spirit”(Matt. 28:19).
In the divine Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God, is listed last, showing that He is the ultimate expression of the Triune God.
II. THE TRIUNE GOD
REACHING AND ENTERING
INTO THE BELIEVERS
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1) “The Father... will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever; even the Spirit of reality”(John 14:16-17).
It says here that the Holy Spirit is the Triune God reaching man, that is, the Triune God becoming the Spirit to reach man and be with him forever.
2) “The Spirit of reality... shall be in you... and I [the Son] in you”(John 14:17 , 20).
This word further shows us that the Holy Spirit, who reaches us with the Father and the Son, will also enter into us. This indicates that He is the Triune God entering into the believers. When He enters into us, the Father and the Son enter into us (John 14:23).
III. WHAT THE HOLY
SPIRIT IS
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1) The “Spirit of God”(Gen. 1:2), participating in God’s work of creation.
2) The “Spirit of Jehovah”(2 Chron. 20:14), participating in God’s relationship with man (Gen. 2:7).
3) The “Holy Spirit”(Luke 1:35), participating in Christ’s incarnation to sanctify man unto God.
4) The “Spirit of Jesus”(Acts 16:7), participating in the birth, the living, and the sufferings of Jesus.
5) The “Spirit of Christ”(Rom. 8:9), participating in the resurrection of Christ and the impartation of life.
6) The “Spirit of Jesus Christ”(Phil. 1:19), participating in the birth, living, and death of Jesus, as well as in the resurrection of Christ and the impartation of life, with a bountiful supply that the believers may be saved in all things.
7) The “Spirit of life”(Rom. 8:2), “the life-giving Spirit”(1 Cor. 15:45), participating in Christ being man’s life and giving man life.
8) “The Spirit... for the Spirit was not yet [before the resurrection of Christ], because Jesus was not yet glorified [through resurrection]”(John 7:39).
The Spirit here is the issue of the Holy Spirit having passed through all the items of what He is, mentioned above. Thus, He is the all-inclusive and consummated Spirit as the ultimate expression of the Triune God to reach and enter into those who believe into Christ.
9) The “seven Spirits”(Rev. 1:4), referring to the sevenfold intensified Spirit, that the church in desolation may receive the sevenfold riches of grace and power.
Oh Lord you are the Spirit! You are so rich and available. You are one with me. We can not be closer. How near and dear you are to me! The Lord really brought this truth out and emphasized it in the 60’s and 70’s. I would say It was the foundation of Brother Lee’s (this is what we called him at that time) ministry at that time. This is the Spirit who is bringing us out of the world and religion. It is the Spirit that leads the church. “Now the Lord is that Spirit”. We must experience Him now as our life and everything. This is the highest human living and it is worth dying for both spiritually and literally.
Wonderful hymn! The Chinese Hymnal has a 6th verse:
The center of my being art Thou;
My heart became Thy home.
Now stage by stage, from glory to glory
All that I am transform.
Caleb Lin translated this in about 1999, and I polished it into metric, rhyming form. At one time everyone in Wilmington had a slip of paper with this verse pasted into their hymnal. Now, few paper hymnals are used.
In this chapter we want to see the availability of Christ. Christ is so available and ready for us to enjoy Him at any time and in any place. The chorus of hymn #539 in our hymnal says:
O Lord, Thou art the Spirit!
How dear and near to me!
How I admire Thy marvelous
Availability!
THE PROCESSED TRIUNE GOD EMBODIED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
I appreciate stanza 3, which says that a buried grain does not die but lives and grows. Life arises from death alone. How wonderful this is! Where are we today? We are on the cross. When we are on the cross, we are in the Spirit of resurrection. Galatians 2:20 says, "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." The Christ who lives in me is the consummated, compound, all-inclusive, life-giving, indwelling, sevenfold intensified Spirit. This is what Hymns, #539 refers to:
O Lord, Thou art in me as life
And everything to me!
Subjective and available,
Thus I experience Thee.
O Lord, Thou art the Spirit!
How dear and near to me!
Many pastors, missionaries, theologians, and professors oppose us for teaching that, according to 1 Corinthians 15:45, Christ as the last Adam in the flesh became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection. Even two co-workers have opposed us in this matter. One of these co-workers, who eventually became an opponent, said that he did not believe that Christ the Son could become the life-giving Spirit. On one occasion this person told me that he believed that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit were three Gods. When I heard him say this, I told him that he was teaching the heresy of tritheism. I went on to point out that the Bible tells us that God is uniquely one. The other co-worker was troubled by three hymns I had written on Christ as the Spirit (Hymns, #493, 539, and 745). He admitted that the Bible does say that Christ became the life-giving Spirit, but then he warned me that if we preach this, Christianity will reject us. I said, "Brother, I came to this country with the burden to preach and teach this. Since you agree that it is according to the Bible to say that Christ became the life-giving Spirit, please give me the liberty to teach this truth."
After I came to the United States thirty-two years ago, I was filled with the burden to speak concerning Christ as the last Adam becoming a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). In 1963 I wrote some hymns in our hymnal which declare this truth (Hymns, #493, #539, #745).
We have spoken the truth concerning Christ being the Spirit in many messages. I am happy to hear the saints at the Lord's table praise the Lord for becoming the life-giving Spirit. This shows that we have received the spiritual education of this divine truth. In our hymnal, there are also a number of hymns which speak of Christ being the Spirit (Hymns, #490, 491, 493, 539).
Christ is in the believers as the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2a, 9b). He is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:45b). When I came to this country about thirty years ago, I began to tell people that Christ is the Spirit. There are a number of hymns we wrote in our hymnal concerning experiencing Christ as the Spirit (see Hymns, #493, #539). Brother Nee wrote some of these hymns, which stress that the very Christ, whom we experience today as the life that we live, is the Spirit (#490, #491, #492).
Among those hymns related to Christ, the ones I like the best are hymn #501, "O glorious Christ, Savior mine"; hymn #499, "Oh, what a life! Oh, what a peace!"; and hymn #539, "O Lord, Thou art in me as life and everything to me!" After singing these hymns, I am full of enjoyment, touching the Spirit and receiving the life supply. Where can you find this kind of hymn among Christians today?
Christ had two becomings. As God He became flesh, and as flesh He became the life-giving Spirit. From 1933 until 1963 I had the burden to come to the United States particularly to tell the Christians here that the very Christ in whom they believe is the Spirit today. When we were compiling our hymnal in 1963, I could not find any collection of hymns in Christianity that included songs about Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, I decided to write some hymns on this matter. Today a number of our hymns written by Brother Nee and by me speak of the Lord being the Spirit (see Hymns, #489-493, 539). The chorus to Hymns, #539 says, "a Lord, Thou art the Spirit! / How dear and near to me! / How I admire Thy marvelous / Availability!" Another short chorus says,
Now Christ is the life-giving Spirit;
Now Christ is the Spirit today.
Now Christ is the life-giving Spirit;
So turn to your spirit and say—
O Lord, Amen,
O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!
O Lord, Amen,
O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!
The chorus of #539 in Hymns says: "O Lord, Thou art the Spirit!/How dear and near to me!/How I admire Thy marvelous/Availability!" The Lord today is not only approachable but also available. If food is only approachable to us, this is not sufficient. The food has to be available for us to eat so that we can become one with the food. Approachability is not so good as availability. Today in God's New Testament economy, God is not only approachable but also available to us. The Lord said, "I am the bread of life...he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me" (John 6:35, 57). To eat is to take Him, the available One, as our food. He also said that we need to drink of Him as the living water (John 4:10, 14). In the book of John, all the items concerning Christ are not just approachable. All of them are available—good for us to enjoy, that is, good for us to eat and drink.
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O Lord, Thou art in me as life
h53941O Lord, Thou art in me as lifea11291dfc8532334a955d56d4e4938d95c8e605c7f8e3838f0095e14b7e12411626e6ad9c3f2785ehttps://www.hymnal.net/enencomplete lyrics archive