As believers in Christ, we have a mingled spirit of faith, for the divine Spirit mingled Himself with our spirit and infused faith into our spirit; having the same spirit of faith, we believe and we also speak. Amen!
God desires to be expressed and represented; for this, He created man in His image and according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26-28).
Man’s creation was not a minor thing, nor was it just another work that God did; God made us in His image and with His likeness, and He gave us His dominion over all things.
The main way we can express and represent God is by our speaking.
When God created man, He put in man two marvellous things: first, He put a spirit in man, and second, He gave man the ability to speak.
How can we express and represent God if we don’t speak for God? How can we be God’s expression and representatives if we don’t speak God’s words?
Yes, we do need to express God by our actions, and our daily living has to match what we believe and speak.
However, God expresses Himself by His word, and we express God by speaking His word.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1); God Himself is the Word, and as the Word, He was incarnated to be a man.
Christ expressed and represented God not only by His living and work but most importantly by His words.
He did not speak of Himself; He spoke of God, and whatever He heard God speak, that’s what He also spoke.
For us as men created in God’s image and regenerated with His life to express and represent God is not to try our best to express Him in our living and to zealously go to church and do what the Bible tells us to do.
We simply need to be in the Word of God, receive the Word by means of all prayer and petition, allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly, and speak the word of God by the exercise of our mingled spirit of faith. Amen!
When we exercise our spirit of faith to contact the Lord, enjoy Him, and partake of Him in His word, the word of God becomes living and operative in us.
On one hand, the word of God divides the spiritual and earthly things in us, causing the Lord as light to shine on anything of the self, the flesh, the natural man, and the soul-life.
On the other hand, the word of God imparts more of God’s element into us so that we may receive His life and grow in His life, for His living word is spirit and life (John 6:63).
As we receive and enjoy the word of God by faith, we grow in the divine life, and Christ has a way to increase in us.
Then, when we speak, we exercise our mingled spirit of faith to speak in faith, by faith, and to infuse faith into others.
Realizing that our Mingled Spirit is a Spirit of Faith – we have a Mingled Spirit of Faith!
2 Cor. 4:13 contains a unique phrase in the Bible, “spirit of faith”; having the same spirit of faith according to that which is written, “I believe, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak.
Hallelujah, our mingled spirit is a spirit of faith – we have a mingled spirit of faith! What does it mean, and how can we experience this in our daily life?
In 2 Cor. 4:7 we are told that we have a treasure in our earthen vessels, which treasure is Christ Himself; this Christ is the radiance of God who was radiated into our being.
Christ is the treasure in our spirit. Also, there’s something called “the putting to death of Jesus” working around us to tear down our natural man, our outward man, so that the life of Christ may be manifested in us (v. 10-11).
When we see this, when we realize that Christ is the treasure in our earthen vessel and that the death of Jesus is applied to us so that His life may be manifested in us, we will realize that our spirit is a spirit of faith, even a mingled spirit of faith.
In Psa. 116:10 the psalmist had a spirit of faith – he believed, therefore he spoke; similarly we today, we believe and therefore we also speak.
What we speak is not merely doctrine or a reciting of verses from the Bible; it is the experience of Christ in His death and resurrection.
Faith is in our spirit, our spirit is a spirit of faith; the spirit of faith is a mingling of the Holy Spirit with our regenerated spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).
This is something quite wonderful yet very mysterious in the divine and mystical realm.
Henry Alford wrote concerning the spirit of faith, “Not distinctly the Holy Spirit, – but still not merely a human disposition: the indwelling Holy Spirit penetrates and characterizes the whole renewed man.” Wow!
So our spirit of faith is not just the Holy Spirit and not only the human spirit, but the penetration or mingling of the Holy Spirit with our spirit to permeate, saturate, and characterize our whole renewed inner man.
When Alford says, human disposition, he actually refers to the human spirit. The Holy Spirit mingles with our human spirit and is with our human spirit (Rom. 8:16).
Marvin Vincent in his word study of the New Testament says something similar, “Spirit of faith: not distinctly the Holy Spirit, nor, on the other hand, a human faculty or disposition, but blending both.”
There’s a blending of the divine Spirit with our human spirit, and the result is what we call the mingled spirit.
Faith is of the spirit; therefore, the spirit is of faith. Some saints may want to fellowship with the elders, thinking they don’t have enough faith, but the brothers have more faith.
But we all need to realize that we have a mingled spirit of faith, for our spirit is of faith!
Faith is in our spirit, and when we exercise our spirit, we simply believe. The spirit of faith is the Holy Spirit mingled with our spirit.
We should not take this for granted; rather, we should treasure God’s word and remain in the Word of God, enjoying the Lord in His word through the exercise of our spirit.
We need to realize that, when we’re in our mind, there are only doubts and questions, but when we exercise our mingled spirit, we are infused with God as faith.
May the Lord make us men of faith, men who exercise their mingled spirit of faith to believe the word of God and speak by faith!
Lord Jesus, thank You for our mingled spirit of faith! Hallelujah, God the Spirit is mingled with our spirit, and our mingled spirit is of faith! Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit to believe the divine facts in the word of God. We exercise our spirit of faith to believe and speak! Cause us to appreciate our mingled spirit of faith. Keep us turning to our spirit, dear Lord, to enjoy You and partake of You, to experience You and speak You forth. Hallelujah, the Holy Spirit is mingled with our human spirit to make our spirit a spirit of faith, and we can believe and speak by faith with the exercise of our spirit of faith! Amen, Lord, we believe, therefore we also speak!
We need to exercise our Mingled Spirit of Faith to be Infused with God and Speak for God
Faith is truly a wonderful thing, a miracle in our being. It is a wonder that a Christian believes in God; it is a miracle for a human being to believe in someone they have never seen, touched, or heard.
Our act of believing can be illustrated with the act of taking a picture with a photo camera.
The camera has a lens outside and a film or a memory card within; the scenery is outside the camera, and there is light present also.
When we click the shutter, the light shines onto the film and imprints the scenery onto the film or memory card.
This exposure describes the operation of faith. When we hear the gospel, when the good news in the Word of God is presented to us as the scenery, there’s a “click” in us, and the divine scenery is imprinted into us.
Our spirit is the film, the Holy Spirit is the heavenly light, and the gospel is the scenery.
When we hear the gospel once, twice, or even three or five times, there’s a click, click, click, within us, and the divine scenery is imprinted within us.
This is faith, and this activates our spirit and makes our spirit a spirit of faith.
By this faith, we can go anywhere to tell people that Jesus is the Savior, He is so good, and He is full of love and kindness.
Others may not believe this, but we know it is true, for we believe. We cannot explain how and why, but we have the divine scenery infused into us, and we just believe. This is faith.
We believe that Jesus is our Savior, He is real, and He lives in us; therefore, we speak this by faith.
We must exercise such a spirit to believe and to speak like the psalmist about the things we have experienced of the Lord, especially His death and resurrection.
We need to exercise our spirit of faith to believe in the facts revealed in the Bible.
We need to exercise our mingled spirit of faith to believe in the fact that God is love, in the fact that God’s grace is sufficient, that Christ is able to save us to the uttermost, and that we have been made full in Christ.
We withstand the devil by being firm in our subjective faith in God’s protecting power and loving concern. Hallelujah for our mingled spirit of faith!
![In 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul speaks of the treasure in earthen vessels, the very Christ as the radiance of God who was radiated into his being. Following this, he says that the putting to death of Jesus was working on the apostles and that the life of Christ was manifested in them (vv. 10-11). At this point he mentions the same spirit of faith [v. 13]. In the ancient time the psalmist had the spirit of faith (Psa. 116:10). Now the apostles also had the spirit of faith. They believed, therefore they also spoke… They spoke their experience. It was not just a certain doctrine, a certain point concerning the Triune God, but the experience of the death, life, and resurrection of Christ. Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, vol. 3, “The Divine Speaking,” p. 301](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/In-2-Corinthians-4-7-Paul-speaks-of-the-treasure-in-earthen-vessels-the-very-Christ-as-the-radiance-683x1024.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "In 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul speaks of the treasure in earthen vessels, the very Christ as the radiance of God who was radiated into his being. Following this, he says that the putting to death of Jesus was working on the apostles and that the life of Christ was manifested in them (vv. 10-11). At this point he mentions the same spirit of faith [v. 13]. In the ancient time the psalmist had the spirit of faith (Psa. 116:10). Now the apostles also had the spirit of faith. They believed, therefore they also spoke… They spoke their experience. It was not just a certain doctrine, a certain point concerning the Triune God, but the experience of the death, life, and resurrection of Christ. Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, vol. 3, “The Divine Speaking,” p. 301")
When we exercise our mingled spirit of faith to believe the divine facts in God’s word, they become real to us, and God is made real to us in our experience.
We should not wait for us to feel something – we should simply exercise our spirit of faith to believe God and His word.
Like the psalmist did in Psa. 22:1-22, we need to exercise our spirit of faith to believe and speak the things we have experienced from the Lord, especially His death and resurrection.
We believe, therefore we speak. If we don’t speak, our faith is suppressed; if we speak what we believe, faith increases in us, and faith is also infused into others.
When we speak what we believe, when we speak the word of God by the exercise of our mingled spirit of faith, faith grows in us and faith is infused into others also.
We can be bold to declare the divine facts because we have the spirit of faith.
We speak not by our mind, not what makes sense in our logical mind nor anything philosophical according to our thinking but we speak the word of God by the exercise of our spirit of faith.
May we spend time with the Lord day by day to be infused with faith through His word, and may we exercise our mingled spirit of faith to speak what we have seen and enjoyed of the Lord to infuse faith into others also.
Lord Jesus, we exercise our mingled spirit of faith to believe the divine facts revealed in the Word of God! Amen, God is love, God’s grace is sufficient, and He is able to save us to the uttermost! We believe that we have been made full in Christ, and we are under God’s protecting power and cared for by His loving concern. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit of faith to believe and to speak the word of God in faith! We believe that Jesus Christ lives in us. We believe that Jesus is a living Person who lives in us, and He is living through us today! Amen, Lord, we turn from our mind to our spirit, where faith is, and we believe into You and speak by faith!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, vol. 3, “The Divine Speaking,”, chs. 2-4, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, God’s Economy in Faith (2022 spring ITERO), week 5, entitled, Speaking by the Spirit of Faith.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Dear Lord Jesus, with our tongues— / We gladly confess Thy name, / To the glory of the Father God above. / For to us to speak Thy praise, / Is the enjoyment of our days; / Calling JESUS is to call the One we love! (Hymns #1086)
– Come let us speak till the kingdom of the Lord comes down. / Yes, let us speak till the kingdom of the Lord comes down. / Why hold your peace? / The Word release. / Let us speak until the kingdom of the Lord comes down. (Hymns #1294)
– We believe, we believe, / We believe, therefore we speak. / We believe, we believe, / We believe, therefore we speak. / Turn away from all of the doubts in your mind / To your mingled spirit of faith. / Pray to contact God as the Spirit within, / For He Himself is your way. / Speaking is the way / To build up the saints. / Speak life! Speak the truth! / Speak and you’ll be filled! (Song on, We believe, we believe)
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Faith is a wonder, a miracle, within us. Every genuine Christian has such a wonder, a miracle, within him… We have illustrated this by the action of a camera. The camera has a lens outside and film within. Opposite the camera there is scenery. Also, light is needed. When you click the shutter, the light shines onto the film. There is an exposure, and a picture is produced. This exposure describes the operation of faith. We are just like a camera. The gospel described in the New Testament is the scenery, the Holy Spirit is the heavenly light, and our spirit is the film. When you hear the speaking of the gospel once, twice, even four or five times, there is a click within you. Whatever is described in the speaking would then be in your spirit. No one could ever remove it from you. That is faith. Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, vol. 3, “The Divine Speaking,” pp. 301-302
Our mingled spirit is a spirit of faith. When we hear the word of God, there is an infusion of Christ into us, and He is imprinted and transfused into us.
Then, we can exercise to speak by the Spirit of faith to others to infuse Christ into them.
I enjoyed the same thing this morning. Our mingled spirit is a spirit of FAITH
Yes brother, we must be speakers, for we do not worship dumb idols. We worship a speaking God.
Like God, we should always be ready & wiling to teach & announce what we have learned concerning Jesus in the word and in our experience.
We overflow by speaking to others.
Speaking for the Lord is the way to become spiritual.
The more we speak, the more we are filled in the spirit. May we never allow the enemy to silence us.
Whether in or out of season, let’s make a joyful noise to the Lord and speak Him forth. May we fill the earth with the knowledge of our Christ
The reason why we are living in this spoiling world is just to be part of the work in God’s economy. We are clothing to Him to speak out boldly with power like a police man wearing his uniform and standing at the side of the road to use his authority.
So, we are called to be his witness.
God is not a silent God! He speaks. As reborn sons, we need to speak His word to others so that they can bring glory to Him.
I am also touched by the oneness of His body! As long as the life giving Spirit, The Triune God, is in each one of us, this one life makes us one. We are many parts of the one body!
Amen, brother, we are witnesses of christ and as witnesses of Christ we have to be those who speak what we have witness and know about this christ to others to our family, to our friends, to our neighbours and work colleagues.
in order for us to do this we need to be equipped in the word and spend time in the word so that we can be ready to proclaim the word in season and out of season
Aaaaaamen!
Yes my brother that is so true; thank Abba Father for the expression of His love towards us through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
My brother because of the faith and the love of God that constrain me to love Him, I find myself imagining what it could be like to live and have His presence in this chaotic world continually, I am not saying that we have not got the Lord in time and space; Paul prayer was that Christ can be formed in us, there is so many things that affect us family life, work, the soulish things of the flesh(emotions).
The Lord remind us also that we are in the world but not of the world. It is so wonderful when we fall we can turn to our mingled spirit and stand in faith of the love of God.
This is why I imagine what it would be like to live the reality continually of the formed Christ that Spirit of peace may we be obedient and be filled in spirit, overflow with the word so we can speak His word to give life to the dry bones.
When we speak in the Holy Spirit and by the spirit of faith, we build up the church.
May we be revolutionised to have meetings with everyone speaking for the church to be build and a preparing Bride ready to emerge to meet Christ the Husband!
The more we speak for the Lord, the more our inward being is filled with Him.
Then we would have the boldness to stand in the meetings to exercise our spirit of Faith.
Aaaaameeen! Thank You Lord!!!
Amennn!!!
We can be today’s witnesses speaking in season or out of season the word of God! We must be able to testify clearly, definitely, and adequately for the Lord and concerning our dear Lord Jesus.
How we need the word of God to dwell and abide in us richly.
How we need for us to be filled in spirit.
Lord make us and cause us to be Your speaking people.