In His economy, God is moving not only among men but also in man to deify man for the fulfilment of His economy to have His corporate expression; by living in the mingled spirit, we fulfill God’s economy.
The key is the mingled spirit, for when we live, walk, and do everything in the mingled spirit, we fulfil God’s economy. Amen!
Our God is not only the living God, the God who does things for us and among us; He is also the God of resurrection, and as such a One He is working Himself into us to make us the same as Christ in life and nature but not in the Godhead.
When we look at the book of Job we are left with this great question of two parts, What is God’s purpose in His creating man, and, what is God’s purpose in dealing with us?
The great answer to this great question is God’s economy, the eternal economy of God.
The purpose of God in creating man in His image and according to His likeness, and the purpose of God in dealing with His people, is so that He would work Himself into His people to be their life, nature, and everything so that they would be His corporate expression.
We all know God as the living God, for He is sovereign in arranging things in our environment to work out for good for us, and He has done things to protect us, cover us, help us, and take us on.
However, the outward acts that God does for us as the living God may not affect us inwardly; we may be quite impressed and touched for a while with what He has done for us, but inwardly we still remain the same.
It is similar to the children of Israel who have seen the mighty acts of God, but inwardly they were still rebellious and sinful.
What we need is an inward reconstitution, and inward remodelling, rebuilding and reconstructing; for this reason, God uses the matter of suffering to cause us to open to Him so that He may have a way to work Himself into us.
As the God of resurrection, He comes in to add His element to our being; He is not only working on our behalf and doing things for us but rather, He is adding His element to our being and He is mingling Himself with us inwardly to make Himself the same as us and make us the same as He is in life, nature, and expression, but not in the Godhead.
And the key to this, the key to the mingling of God and man and for the move of God in man for the fulfilment of God’s economy, is our mingled spirit.
We may complain to God when we go through sufferings, and this is normal; many times, our complaining may be the best prayer, the most pleasant prayer to God, for as we are complaining God is working Himself into us a little more.
As long as we open to the Lord and speak with Him, pray, open to Him, and talk to Him, He has a way to work in us. As we pour out our complaint before God, being intimate with Him and talking to Him personally, we empty ourselves out, and He has a way to work Himself into us.
God’s Move to Deify Man in His Economy to Obtain His Corporate Expression is in the Mingled Spirit
In Gal. 3:14 we see the blessing of Abraham, which is the Spirit; this Spirit is the aggregate, the totality, of the divine blessing of the gospel given to us.
This blessing is the all-embracing and all-inclusive blessing given to us by God, including redemption, regeneration, the divine life, righteousness, justification, sanctification, transformation, and renewing.
Everything we need is in the Spirit as the blessing of the gospel, and this Spirit is in our spirit, mingled with our spirit, to be the mingled spirit.
The move of the Triune God to deify man for the fulfilment of His economy is altogether in the mingled spirit, the divine Spirit mingled as one with our human spirit (see 1 Cor. 6:17; Rev. 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10; cf. Job 12:10; 32:8).
We are joined to the Lord as one spirit, and our Christian life is a life in the mingled spirit; the more we turn to the Lord and live in the mingled spirit, the more He has a way to accomplish His economy.
The more we grow in the divine life and the more we go on in our Christian life, the more we treasure our mingled spirit.
The more we pass through the tunnels of suffering, the more the matter of our spirit becomes less doctrinal to us; our mingled spirit is a reality, and calling on the name of the Lord is something very precious to us.
The more we go on with the Lord and pass through different things such as difficulties and sufferings, the more we treasure calling on the name of the Lord, and turning to our spirit becomes something real and daily, even a moment-by-moment matter.
We have life and live by Christ, so we should also walk by Him (Gal. 5:25; Rom. 8:4); we should do everything and be everything by the Spirit with our spirit, with the Spirit, in the Spirit, and through the Spirit.
Hallelujah, the Spirit as the all-inclusive grace is with our spirit!
We must treasure the two spirits mingled as one spirit, and we must realize that in our spirit we’re the receiver of all that the divine Spirit is and has and has accomplished!
So when we turn to our spirit, when we contact the Lord, and when we live in the mingled spirit, the Lord makes His home in us, transforms us, and does everything in us.
In our Christian life, we should live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit; we need to take care of our mingled spirit, doing everything by exercising our spirit in order to experience the divine Spirit living in us, making His home in us, and transforming us (Gal. 5:16, 25; Phil. 3:3; Rom. 8:4, 6; 2 Cor. 2:12-14; Mal. 2:15-16).
May we take heed to our spirit, pay attention to our spirit, learn to turn to our spirit, and practice living in the mingled spirit day by day, so that God would accomplish His economy by making us the same as He is in life and nature but not in the Godhead!
When we live in the mingled spirit – the divine Spirit mingled as one with our human spirit – the Triune God is moving in us to deify us for the fulfilment of His economy so that He may gain His corporate expression.
Thank You Lord for our mingled spirit – the divine Spirit mingled as one with our human spirit! We turn to our spirit and we want to live in the mingled spirit. Hallelujah, the Spirit as the blessing of the gospel is in our spirit, and we can exercise our spirit and live in the spirit to receive and enjoy all that God is, has, and has accomplished! Amen, Lord Jesus, we want to pay attention to our spirit, take heed to our mingled spirit, and learn to live in the mingled spirit so that You may fulfil Your economy to deify us, making us the same as You are for Your corporate expression! We want to do everything in the Spirit, live by the Spirit, and walk by the Spirit to experience the divine Spirit living in us, making His home in us, and transforming us!
Living in the Mingled Spirit and Doing Everything according to the Spirit to Experience Christ and become the Body of Christ, His Corporate Expression
As believers in Christ, our human spirit is mingled with the divine Spirit, and the divine Spirit lives in us to do everything in us.
There’s another Person living in us; the divine Spirit lives in us to pray, read the Bible, speak God’s word, love our spouse, live the Christian life, visit sinners, and preach the gospel.
Our Christian life should be a life in the mingled spirit; such a living is the mingling of the processed Triune God with the regenerated tripartite man.
When we realize that the Spirit is in us to be everything to us and do everything in us, we will not take any action apart from the all-inclusive Spirit.
In every situation, we should not do anything apart from the Spirit, neither should we meet any need apart from the Spirit.
We need to learn to touch the divine Spirit in our spirit. In this way, we live in the intrinsic significance of the Christian life and the Christian work for the fulfilment of God’s economy (Zech. 4:6; 2 Cor. 3:3, 6; Rom. 1:9; 7:6; Phil. 3:3).
Situations may come, persons may ask for help, and problems may arise, but in all these things we need to one with the Lord in spirit to meet the need, living in the mingled spirit and doing everything in the Spirit to experience Christ and be part of His expression on the earth.
If we try to face a situation apart from the Lord, there’s no way for us to get through that situation!
Actually, to be a Christian and an overcomer is not merely difficult – it is impossible; only the processed and consummated Triune God living in us as the all-inclusive Spirit in our spirit can be a Christian, and only He in us can be an overcomer (Luke 1:37-38a; 2 Cor. 4:18; Rom. 8:2).
We may try really hard to be a good Christian and overcome, but in the end, we will realize we can’t make it; it is only the Spirit in our spirit who can live the Christian life, and only by living in the mingled spirit can we express Christ in our daily life.
It is impossible for us to be a Christian apart from the mingled spirit; it is impossible for us to be an overcomer apart from the Spirit in our spirit.
May we be like Mary who, after hearing the amazing news that the Son of God will be conceived in her and admitting that it was impossible, she said, Behold the slave of the Lord; may it happen to me according to Your word.
In our daily living, we need to practice living in the mingled spirit, not facing any situation or meeting any need apart from the Spirit.
In our married life, when we’re about to say something to our spouse, it is good to wait for a period of time and contact the Lord, until we have the assurance that our speaking is the move of the Spirit.
When we act hastily, when we simply react to what is happening, and when we’re quick to respond in ourselves to the things taking place, we live as a descendant of Adam, not paying attention to our spirit.
But we as Christians need to realize that the Spirit lives in us, and when we speak it shouldn’t be us who is speaking but the Spirit speaking, and when we do something it should be the Spirit doing that thing.
When we move, Christ moves in us; when we speak, He speaks in us; when we go somewhere, He goes with us, and when we deal with something, He is with us.
Actually, He is speaking, moving, going, and dealing with things, and we should live in the mingled spirit, being one spirit with the Lord.
If we are those living in the mingled spirit, this kind of life is a constituent of the church; however, if we don’t move in the Spirit’s move and we don’t have the Spirit in our move, this brings in death into the church. Oh, Lord!
As long as we do everything according to the Spirit, we can experience all that Christ is and has.
In the mingled spirit we can experience Christ’s incarnation, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension with the outpouring of the Spirit.
When we live in the mingled spirit, we will become the church of God, the Body of Christ, the new man, and the vine and the branches as the organism of the Triune God, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem (see Phil. 1:19; Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:16-21; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:15; 4:4, 23-24; John 15:1-11; Rev. 3:12; 19:7-9; 21:2, 10). Hallelujah!
And this will be our experience for eternity, for in Rev. 22:17 the Spirit and the bride say, Come, Lord Jesus, in oneness; it’s not the Spirit with the bride but the Spirit and the bride, one with the bride.
Today we are practicing being one with the Lord, doing everything according to the spirit, and living in the mingled spirit; the result is that we become the church of God, the organism of the Triune God, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem!
Lord Jesus, we want to do everything according to the Spirit so that we can experience Christ’s incarnation, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension! Hallelujah, the all-inclusive Spirit is in our spirit to live in us, move in us, and take care of all things through us. Keep us turning to You, Lord, and keep us living in the mingled spirit so that we may live in the mingling of God with man for the corporate expression of God. We want to practice living in the mingled spirit day by day, not doing anything apart from the all-inclusive Spirit. Save us from acting hastily or being quick to speak, act, and deal with others; may we turn to You, contact You, and be one with You in our living of the Christian life. Amen, Lord Jesus, may our living be in the mingled spirit for You to live in us and be expressed through us!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Job, msgs. 12, 16, 24, 28 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes (2020 winter training), week 1, The Great Question in the Book of Job and the Great Answer.
- Hymns on this topic:
– In spirit we must pray and serve, / In spirit touch the life divine, / In spirit grow, in spirit build, / That Christ thru us may fully shine. / Lord, to the spirit I would turn / And learn to truly contact Thee; / Thy Spirit thus will flow with mine / And overflow eternally. (Hymns #611)
– A Person, Thou hast come in us, / Into our spirit now, / And quickened us until we know / Our inner man art Thou. / O praise Thee, Lord, we sense Thee thus, / Forever inwardly; / Thy Person in each one of us / Is our reality. / And now the corporate life we live— / Christ in His Body known; / Where every portion adds more Christ. (Hymns #1182)
– It’s by our mingled spirit, Lord, / That we can shine with Thee, / And be a golden lampstand now / For all the world to see. / It’s not by forms or rituals, / Mere Christianity; / It’s by our Christ enjoyed as life / We all can shine with Thee. (Hymns #1262)
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