We can Enjoy the Supply of the Spirit of Jesus in our Sufferings and Persecution

The Lord Jesus today is the Spirit, in particular, the Spirit of Jesus with the suffering element and the suffering strength to withstand persecution; today we have the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus in our spirit to supply us in our Christian life.

Hallelujah for the Spirit with our spirit!

We believers in Christ often do not know or enjoy the Lord in all that He is to us and in us; we need to come to the Word of God and allow the Lord to shine on us, shine the glorious face of Jesus Christ into us, and guide us into all the reality of what He is in our daily life.

The Triune God is moving and operating behind the scenes, working in oneness in order to dispense all that He is into the believers in Christ.

As long as we simply remain open to the Lord and allow Him to work Himself into us, He as the Spirit will guide us into all the reality of what God is into our being.

The god of this age, however, blinds our thoughts and minds so that we do not see the shining of God on the face of Jesus Christ.

This is why we need to daily turn our heart to the Lord so that any veil may be removed and we can see Him face to face, even with an unveiled face.

Amen, we need to behold the Lord day by day so that He can infuse us with what He is and work Himself into us for the fulfilment of His economy.

The Lord is the Shepherd of our soul; He is in our spirit, He knows what we need, He knows our situation, and He is shepherding us from within.

Though we may go through suffering, trials, and puzzling situations, He still is in us, desiring that we turn to Him and enjoy Him.

When we simply look at the Lord’s face and have our heart turned to Him, we are infused with Him and we’re transformed into His image.

He does all this as the Spirit. The Triune God went through a process in His economy so that He may become the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit.

He is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17), and as the Spirit, He carries out God’s economy, He is leading us into the enjoyment of Himself, and He is transforming us to conform us to the image of Christ so that He may be the firstborn among many brothers.

One particular title of the Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, seen in Acts 16:7; this particular designation of the Spirit is used in conjunction with or related to a particular situation that the apostles were in.

We need to ask the Lord to shine on us and enlighten us to see the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus and apply Him in our daily life, especially in our ministry for the Lord.

The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of the Man Jesus with Humanity to Live a Proper Human Life and Endure its Sufferings

In the Spirit of Jesus, there’s not only the divine element of God but also the human element of Jesus and the elements of His human living and His suffering of death as well.

The Spirit of Jesus is not only the Spirit of God with divinity in Him so that we may live the divine life but also the Spirit of the man Jesus with humanity in Him so that we may live a proper human life and endure its sufferings (Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 1:5).

On one hand, in the Spirit of Jesus there is the divinity of Christ, the divine element of God; on the other hand, as seen in Acts 16:7, in the Spirit of Jesus there’s the humanity of Jesus with the power to endure its sufferings.

In his suffering, the apostle Paul needed the Spirit of Jesus because in the Spirit of Jesus, there is the suffering element and the suffering strength to withstand persecution (Col. 1:24; Acts 9:15-16; 16:7).

The title “the Holy Spirit” was used for the first time at the time the Lord Jesus was conceived (Luke 1:15, 35; Matt. 1:18, 29).

When God wanted to be incarnated, when the time came to prepare the way for Christ’s coming and have a body for Him, the Holy Spirit came in to conceive the Lord Jesus.

Therefore, the title, the Holy Spirit, is involved with the Lord’s incarnation and birth.

The Holy Spirit forbade the disciples to speak the word in Asia (Acts 16:6), and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go into Bithynia.

In a sense, the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus are interchangeable; in another sense, each of these terms refers to different aspects of the Spirit.

The Spirit of Jesus involves more than the Holy Spirit does.

The Lord Jesus as a man was first living a human life and then was crucified and resurrected, and then He ascended to the heavens and has been made Lord and Christ.

The Holy Spirit involves only the incarnation and the birth of Jesus, but the Spirit of Jesus involves His humanity, His human living, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension.

The move of the apostles in their evangelistic work was not strictly by the Spirit of God but rather, it was by the Holy Spirit (who was involved with the Lord’s incarnation and birth) and by the Spirit of Jesus (who was involved with the Lord’s humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension).

This shows that Paul’s move and work in the gospel were not according to the old dispensation in which the Holy Spirit came upon the people and moved them to do certain things but according to the new dispensation, where the Spirit of Jesus operated within them to limit them and interdict them to do things.

Paul and his co-workers were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia and were not allowed by the Spirit of Jesus to go into Bithynia.

This was a new move in God’s New Testament economy in which the apostles experienced and enjoyed the leading and limiting of the Spirit of Jesus, not just the Holy Spirit.

Especially as they met persecution and suffering, the Spirit of Jesus was there to provide the supply for them to suffer persecution. They had the suffering strength to withstand persecution.

We need to daily come to the Lord to obtain the supply of grace from Him.

Day by day we need to ask the Lord to supply us with the measure of grace that we need for that day.

In the grace we receive from the Lord, in the Spirit of Jesus, there’s the suffering element.

The Lord knows what we go through; He knows that we have a certain measure of suffering and persecution assigned to us, so He supplies us with the Spirit of Jesus for our ministry in the Lord.

It is good to bring this matter to the Lord and tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we love You. We open to You. Grant us today’s measure of grace. We need You. Supply us with the Spirit of Jesus for our service to God. Amen, Lord, even in our suffering we need Your Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, to have the suffering strength for withstanding any persecution. Oh Lord Jesus, You see the suffering we go through. You have arranged certain sufferings for us, and we need Your supply as we go through suffering. We take You in right now. We exercise our spirit to enjoy the Spirit of Jesus and allow this Spirit to operate in us and supply us in a bountiful way. Oh Lord Jesus, we don’t want merely to be touched or led by the Spirit but even more, to enjoy and experience the Spirit of Jesus supplying us in our suffering! Live in us a proper human life for the satisfaction of God. Grant us the power to endure all things in You and one with You. Amen, Lord, only You can supply us with what we need to live the Christian life.

We can Enjoy the Supply of the Spirit of Jesus in our Sufferings and Persecution

The Spirit of Jesus mentioned in Acts 16:7 is not just a term; this Spirit involves more than the Holy Spirit, for it includes and involves the Lord’s humanity, human living, all-inclusive death, life-imparting resurrection, and ascension (Acts 1:1-3, 8; 2:23, 32, 36).

Today we need to not only know that the Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus in particular situations and circumstances but even more, enjoy and experience the Spirit of Jesus as the totality and full realization of the all-inclusive Jesus. Amen!

God has an economy, His New Testament economy, which He accomplishes and carries out through the Lord’s incarnation, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension.

When the New Testament mentions the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus, and in particular the Spirit of Jesus, all these matters are included for us enjoy and experience today.

Christ not only died but also resurrected, and He has become the pneumatic Christ; the pneumatic Christ today is the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17).

The Spirit with our spirit is the pneumatic Christ, the consummation of all that God is and all the processes Christ went through.

In the pneumatic Christ, Christ as the Spirit, there are many elements included; in this Christ, there’s the Lord’s incarnation, His humanity, His human living, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension.

This One comes into us to live the Christian life, and He is the only One who is qualified to live the Christian life.

The Spirit of Jesus is the realization of this qualified Jesus, who went through a long process to be consummated as the Spirit.

When the apostles wanted to speak the word in Asia, they were forbidden not by the Spirit of God or by the Spirit of Jehovah but by the Holy Spirit, who carried out the conception of Christ, the Savior.

When they tried to go into Bithynia, it wasn’t the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Jehovah who didn’t allow them but it was the Spirit of Jesus who did not allow them to go there.

The Spirit of Jesus is a particular title of the Spirit which refers to the Spirit which includes humanity, living the human life on earth for thirty-three and a half years, and Christ dying an all-inclusive death on the cross, including the strength to bear the suffering and persecution.

This One is now the Spirit coming to us, coming into us, to be one spirit with us and supply us for our Christian life and service, especially in our sufferings.

The Spirit of Jesus is the totality and the full realization of the all-inclusive Jesus, and this Spirit is for us to enjoy and experience today for us to carry out God’s economy, especially as we suffer persecution and encounter suffering. Amen!

The apostles were moving under the direction and guidance of the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus, and today we can also experience such a Spirit.

God the Father knows where we are, what we are going through, and what we need; especially as we go through sufferings, the supply of the Spirit of Jesus is being allotted to us, and we can partake of this aspect of the Spirit in our spirit.

When we are in a particular situation with a very specific, difficult need, there is the Spirit of Jesus as the totality and the full realization of the all-inclusive Jesus.

This Spirit is applied to us.

We may think that, when there’s suffering, we will be weaker; it is true that we may be weaker, if we are in our natural life, but there’s a suffering strength in the Spirit of Jesus with our spirit.

A good example of such a supply being experienced by a saint is Brother Watchman Nee, who was in prison for twenty years.

There was so much suffering, for he was confined there and there was no way for him to be released, but he was able to say that he maintained his joy. He could do this because the Spirit of Jesus was activated in Him.

Such a supply caused him to withstand the persecution. He was persecuted, tested, and interrogated even in prison, to see if he would still believe in God and in Christ, but he could simply testify that he loves the Lord and believes into Him.

Persecution and suffering did not affect him, for he enjoyed the supply of the Spirit of Jesus in his suffering. He could endure the treatment.

We today can also endure any treatment, no matter what persecution we pass through or suffering we encounter, for the supply of the Spirit of Jesus, the totality and full realization of the all-inclusive Jesus, is applied to us in our spirit.

In our preaching of the gospel today, we need the Spirit of Jesus to face the opposition and persecution.

May we open to this living One in us, enjoy Him, partake of His bountiful supply, and enjoy Him even in our suffering and in the midst of the persecution.

Lord Jesus, thank You for being in us as the Spirit of Jesus with a bountiful supply so that have the strength to go through suffering and persecution. We turn to You. We exercise our spirit to enjoy You, and partake of Your bountiful supply. Amen, Lord, we trust in You and not in our capacity to bear and suffer. We do not rely on ourselves. We put ourselves aside and we want to partake of Your riches in spirit. Hallelujah, the Spirit of Jesus as the totality and full realization of the all-inclusive Jesus is in us to bountifully supply us as we pass through sufferings and persecution. Amen, Lord, we want to live in our spirit and do all things in our spirit so that, even when we pass through suffering for the sake of the gospel, we enjoy the supply of the Spirit of Jesus. Hallelujah, the Triune God passed through the processes of incarnation, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension in order to become the Spirit with our spirit, our bountiful supply for our Christian life and for our serving the Lord in the gospel!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Acts, pp. 371-373, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2024 July Semiannual Training), week 12, The Divine Trinity, the Spirit of Jesus, and the Kingdom of God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The Spirit of God today / The Spirit of Jesus is, / The God-man who died and rose, / Ascending to glory His. / ’Tis from such a Jesus came / The Spirit of Jesus to us, / To make His reality / Experience unto us. / The Spirit of Jesus has / All elements human, divine, / The living of man in Him / And glory of God combine. (Hymns #242 stanzas 1-3)
  – Of the Spirit, born of Spirit— / This the source of Jesus is; / Filled with Spirit, all of Spirit— / This the essence truly His. / In the Spirit, with the Spirit, / As the Spirit Jesus came; / Now the Lord is just that Spirit / And in spirit we’re the same. (Hymns #1123 stanza 1)
  – Blest assurance! God has fully ordered / Every matter by His sovereign hand; / Every person (though we see so dimly), / Every thing’s according to His plan. / Every trial is but the Father’s answer / To the groaning of the Spirit’s prayer; / May He gain in every tribulation, / Until we Christ’s glory fully share. (Hymns #1210 stanza 3)