It is so wonderful to see the unbelievably grand subject and reality of the Spirit in the Bible. This Spirit is the Spirit of God, who today is the compound Spirit. It took many years of study by many teachers of the Bible to get to the revelation concerning the Spirit that we have today, and Andrew Murray in particular wrote concerning the Spirit of Jesus Christ in His book, The Spirit of Christ.
The Spirit that God poured out on Pentecost was something new – it was not the “old Spirit of God” but a Spirit that man has never seen or experienced; it was the Spirit of the glorified Jesus who was incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and exalted.
This Spirit is the bearer and communicator to us not only of the life of God but of the life of God that was interwoven and mingled into the human nature in the person of Jesus.
From His nature, as it was glorified in His resurrection and ascension, the Spirit came forth as the Spirit of His human life, glorified into union with the divine, to make us partakers of all that He has personally wrought and acquired, attained and obtained!
Christ perfected in Himself a new holy nature on our behalf, and now as the Spirit in resurrection He can communicate and transmit what previously was not in existence – the Spirit of the glorified Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God and yet truly the Spirit of man.
In this Spirit there’s divinity, humanity, human suffering, the all-inclusive death Christ suffered on the cross, His resurrection, and His ascension and enthronement – all these have been “compounded” and mingled together in the Spirit, and such a Spirit is now with our spirit!
Wow, to see this highest revelation concerning the Spirit revolutionizes our Christian experience, and praying over the Lord’s word on this brings us into the proper and genuine experience of the Spirit!
“The Spirit was Not Yet” (John 7:39) – He was not yet Compounded before Christ’s Resurrection
Even though we all know from the very first verse of the Bible that the Spirit of God is there, in John 7:39 we are told that “the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified”. This verse puzzled many Bible translators and expositors to the point that some wrongly translated it as “the Spirit was not yet given”.
The fact that the Spirit was not yet means that the Spirit who was the compound Spirit, the all-inclusive, compound, Spirit of Jesus Christ, was not yet in existence before Christ’s resurrection.
When Christ resurrected, He became the all-inclusive, life-giving, compound Spirit who has not only the divine element but also incarnation, human nature, perfect human living with its sufferings, crucifixion, and resurrection; all these were added into the Spirit to make it a “compound Spirit” which John calls “the Spirit” (Exo. 30:22-25; Phil. 1:19; John 7:39).
Jesus was glorified when He was resurrected (Luke 24:26), and through and in His resurrection Christ as the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of the glorified Jesus, the compound Spirit, to enter into us as His believers to flow into us and flow out of us as rivers of living waters (see 1 Cor. 15:45; John 7:37-39).
The Lord Jesus never taught concerning the Spirit in a doctrinal way but in an experiential way, whether He spoke of “the Spirit” in John 7 or “the Spirit of reality, another Comforter” in John 14. The Spirit in John 7 is for us as the believers in Christ to drink and flow!
The Spirit is not for us to create a theology around but for us to drink and take in, and for us to flow out to others! The Spirit is here to quench our thirst and to quench many others’ thirst.
Thank You Lord for becoming the Spirit, the all-inclusive, life-giving, compound Spirit for us to drink and flow! Hallelujah, through and in His resurrection Christ became a life-giving Spirit, and now this Spirit is in our spirit for us to drink, partake of, be filled with, and flow out for others to have their thirst quenched! Lord, thank You for being processed and consummated to become a compound Spirit with all the elements of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection for us to drink and flow!
The Spirit of Reality is the Realization of what God the Father and God the Son are
In John’s writings, before the Lord Jesus went to the cross, we see that He said that He will not leave His disciples orphans but He will send them another Comforter, the Spirit of reality, who will be with them and in them and will guide them into all the reality of what the Father and the Son has and is (see John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13).
Christ was the first Comforter, and when He left, He became and sent the Spirit of reality to be not only with but also in His believers to guide them into all the reality. The Spirit actually IS the reality, and as the realization of what the Father and the Son are, He guides us into all the reality.
This is the indwelling Spirit, the another Comforter, which basically is Christ as the Spirit coming to us to be with us, guide us, make God real to us, and remind us of all the words of Christ.
The Lord today is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17); the Spirit is not some “power” that He sent to be with us but it is He Himself in another form. The last Adam, the Redeemer, is the life-giving Spirit dwelling in us, living in us, and abiding in us forever.
Jesus did not merely walk and work in Palestine, died on the cross, but He went through death and resurrection and ascension, and He poured Himself out as another Comforter, the Spirit of reality, the Holy Spirit, so that we can breathe Him in! Hallelujah, Christ is the Spirit and He is so available: no matter where we are and in what condition we’re in, we can call on the name of the Lord!
All that the Father is and has is embodied in the Son (Col. 2:9), and all that the Son is and has is declared to us as reality through the Spirit (John 16:13-15). The Spirit of reality declares to us all that the Father is and has and all that the Son is, has, and has accomplished, so that the Triune God may be mingled with us and be wrought into us. Hallelujah!
Thank You Lord for not leaving us orphans but sending to us the Spirit of reality as another Comforter. Hallelujah, the Lord is now the Spirit to be available to us to breathe in, enjoy, and live by! Thank You Lord for going through death, resurrection, and ascension, to become and pour out the Spirit of reality to guide us into all the reality! Praise the Lord, the Spirit now declares to us all that God the Father and Christ the Son are and have for our enjoyment! Praise the Lord!
The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of a Man with Abundant Strength for Suffering
In Acts 16:6-7 we see that the apostle Paul with his co-workers were led by the Holy Spirit to go preach the gospel, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go to certain places.
This is very interesting: what is this “Spirit of Jesus”? The Spirit of jesus is the Spirit of the man Jesus, the Spirit of the man who was persecuted, suffered, and had abundant strength to face suffering and persecution to accomplish God’s purpose.
“The Spirit of Jesus” is the Spirit of a man with abundant strength for suffering; when we preach the gospel and suffer persecution, we need to experience the Spirit of Jesus who is strengthening us inwardly to suffer persecution and go on in the Lord.
All that Jesus Christ passed through – including His sufferings and His death – are in the Spirit, and the Spirit of Jesus today now lives in us so that we can live a proper human life and endure its sufferings.
The way for us to face the sufferings of the human life is to experience the Spirit of Jesus and its strengthening. The way for us to die to ourselves and to the world is not to commit suicide but to turn to our spirit, where the Spirit of Jesus is and lives.
Thank You Lord for being the Spirit of Jesus with abundant strength for suffering. Praise the Lord, we have the Spirit of Jesus living in us so that we can live the proper human life and endure its sufferings! Lord, keep us turning to our spirit by calling on Your name so that we may experience You as the Spirit of Jesus strengthening us abundantly in any times of sufferings! Oh Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus, we turn to You right now! We need You!
The Spirit of Christ is the Totality of the All-Inclusive Christ with His Death and Resurrection
In Romans 8:9 the Spirit of Christ is mentioned; based on the next two verses, the Spirit of Christ is the totality, the aggregate, of the all-inclusive Christ with His all-inclusive death and resurrection.
The Lord Jesus Christ didn’t just go through death but also entered into resurrection, and as the Spirit of Christ He has the element of resurrection and applies it to our being.
If we have the Spirit of Christ and enjoy Him day by day, this Spirit applies the resurrection of Christ to our being until one day our entire being will be filled with the divine life, and even our mortal body will be transfigured to be the same as Christ’s glorious body!
By the Spirit of Christ, we partake of Christ in His resurrection life and power, His transcendency, and His reigning authority. The Spirit of Christ is in us – He is in our spirit, joined to our spirit, and when we exercise our spirit and turn to our spirit, Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension is applied to our being.
Whenever we turn to our spirit, we are transported to the third heavens in God’s presence! We don’t need a rocket or a spaceship to take us to the heavens: we simply need to turn to our spirit, and we are int he heavens in an instant!
When we are depressed or down, we have no excuse to remain like this: we have the button to press and be transported into the heavens. Whenever we say, Oh Lord Jesus, You are the Spirit of Christ! – we are brought to the third heavens with Christ in His ascension!
Oh Lord Jesus! We love to call on Your name and be transported to the heavens into the presence of God! Remind us to call on Your name whenever we are down, low, or depressed, and when we are happy, content, and joyful – no matter what, keep us calling on Your name! Lord Jesus, You are the Spirit of Christ, the totality and aggregate of the all-inclusive Christ with His all-inclusive death and resurrection! Hallelujah, we can now partake of Christ in His resurrection life and power, His transcendency, and His reigning authority!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Minoru Chen’s sharing in the message for this week, and The All-inclusive Spirit of Christ (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 10 (week 34), The Compound Spirit.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# Jesus is the living Spirit, / Our reality; / We enjoy Him just by calling / In simplicity. / Jesus is the living Spirit, / We must now proclaim; / He is rich unto all men / That call upon His name. (Hymns #1142)
# As Christ is God’s embodiment, / Expressing God as life divine; / So is the Spirit unto Christ, / Revealing Him in life sublime. / The fulness of the Father God / In Christ the Son dwells bodily; / And all the riches of the Son / Are Spirit, our reality. (Hymns #243)
# The Spirit of Jesus has / All elements human, divine, / The living of man in Him / And glory of God combine. / The suff’ring of human life, / Effectiveness of His death, / His rising and reigning too / Are all in the Spirit’s breath. (Hymns #242)
About aGodMan
Why was it that when the apostle Paul would go to a certain place to preach the gospel, “the Spirit of Jesus” did not allow him? Why does the Scripture not say “the Spirit of God” instead of “the Spirit of Jesus”? There must be some reason. When we look into Acts 16 and see the environment of that chapter, we realize the need of the Spirit of Jesus. In this chapter there is much suffering and persecution. Paul was even put into prison! In such a situation “the Spirit of Jesus” was really required. Jesus was a man who continually suffered intense persecution while He was on earth. Therefore, “the Spirit of Jesus” is the Spirit of a man with abundant strength for suffering. He is the Spirit of a man as well as the Spirit of suffering strength. In persecution while preaching the gospel, we do need such a Spirit—“the Spirit of Jesus”! (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1965, vol. 1, “The All-inclusive Spirit of Christ,” p. 563)
Such a Beautiful illustration!