COOPERATING WITH THE UNITING SPIRIT

The uniting bars are not the Holy Spirit alone but the Holy Spirit with the human spirit. In the Epistles it is often difficult to decide whether the Greek word for spirit should be rendered with a capital letter or a lowercase letter. In other words, it is difficult to determine whether the Greek word refers to the Holy Spirit or to the human spirit. Often it denotes the mingled spirit, the Holy Spirit mingled with our spirit. Therefore, the uniting bars are not only the Triune God added to man to bear responsibility; the Spirit represented by these bars also includes the human spirit. This means that if our spirit does not cooperate with the uniting Spirit, the oneness cannot be realized in a practical way. The uniting Spirit is actually the mingled spirit. In this mingled spirit there is both divinity and humanity, both gold and acacia wood.

Whether or not the uniting Spirit can actually join us into one depends on whether or not we are willing to cooperate with this Spirit. If the Spirit does not have a way to pass through us, there can be no oneness. In order for the uniting Spirit to pass through us and thus join us with others, we need to receive the cross, for the uniting Spirit always crosses the standing boards. If we are willing to receive the cross, our spirit will cooperate with the uniting Spirit. Then the Spirit with our spirit will join us to another believer in Christ. We are joined into one by our spirit cooperating with the crossing Spirit. However, most of the time we are not willing to be crossed by the Spirit.

The uniting Spirit is seeking to cross through us to others. The question is whether or not we are willing to go along with Him. Whenever our spirit is one with the crossing Spirit, we experience the uniting Spirit. Every time we walk according to the Spirit, we experience the crossing of the Spirit. We stand, but we are crossed by the Spirit. The Spirit will never cross through us unless our spirit goes along with Him. When our spirit agrees with the crossing Spirit, we have the uniting bar. This is the unique way to keep the oneness. This understanding of the uniting bars is confirmed by our experience.

STEPS TO ONENESS

There are several steps to the oneness portrayed in the tabernacle. First, we have the initial Spirit, who is the regenerating and sealing Spirit. Then we have the process of transformation by which we are transformed into acacia wood. Along with transformation there is the overlaying of the wood with the divine nature. Furthermore, the Spirit is continually endeavoring to cross us, to pass through us. In order for this to take place, our spirit, with our mind, will, and emotion, must go along with Him. Only then do we have the uniting bars, the five bars in three rows to unite the believers into one. When we have all these aspects, we have the oneness in the Triune God revealed in John 17. This means that we have the building in the overlaying and uniting gold.

CROSSED BY THE UNITING SPIRIT

We need to emphasize the importance of being crossed by the uniting Spirit. The uniting Spirit not only strengthens us in standing; it also crosses us. Something passes through us not vertically but horizontally. Although we are standing, we still need to be crossed. The standing Spirit must also be the crossing Spirit. If we are willing to be crossed, it means that our spirit goes along with the crossing Spirit. The Spirit will never join us to others without this willingness. The uniting Spirit cannot unite me to you unless your spirit is willing to cooperate with the Spirit. When the uniting Spirit comes to me, it comes with the spirit of another brother, and when it goes from me to still another, it goes with my spirit. The uniting Spirit cannot unite us Himself. He must have the cooperation of our spirit. This means that we must be willing to be crossed by Him.

If we see this matter, then we will realize why, even after more than nineteen centuries, the oneness for which the Lord prayed in John 17 has not yet come into existence. Among today’s Christians there is little transformation or overlaying with the divine nature. Furthermore, there is little crossing of the Spirit and little cooperation of the human spirit with the divine Spirit. Hence, there is no oneness. But what about the situation among us in the Lord’s recovery? We need to ask ourselves how much we have of transformation, the overlaying with the divine nature, the crossing of the uniting Spirit, and the cooperation of our spirit with the uniting Spirit. Are you willing to allow the Spirit to cross through you? Yes, you may be standing firmly for the Lord’s testimony as one of the boards, but are you willing to be crossed by the Spirit? Can the Spirit pass through you? Many times the Spirit cannot pass through us because we are not willing to be crossed by Him. Is your spirit willing to go with the Spirit to another saint? Please do not think that the Spirit of God Himself alone can unite us. No, He needs our spirit to go along with Him. This is the meaning of keeping the oneness of the Spirit with all lowliness, meekness, long-suffering, and with bearing one another in love.

THE UNITING BOND OF PEACE

Ephesians 4:3 speaks of the uniting bond of peace. This bond of peace is the cooperation of our spirit with the uniting Spirit. Years ago when I read Ephesians 4:2 and 3, I paid attention only to the matter of keeping the oneness of the Spirit. I did not consider all the related matters mentioned in verse 2. Eventually, I came to see the relationship between these two verses. I can testify assuredly from my experience that we have the uniting bond of peace only when our spirit goes along with the Spirit. Certain brothers may come together, but there may be no peace among them. They will not have the uniting bond of peace until their spirits are willing to go along with the crossing Spirit. This is the way to keep the oneness of the Spirit, and this is also the proper understanding of the uniting bars in the tabernacle. The uniting bars are the mingled spirit, the divine Spirit mingled with the human spirit to become the uniting bond of peace. This is the way to have the genuine building.

WILLING TO BE CROSSED BY THE UNITING SPIRIT

As believers in Christ, we all have the initial Spirit. We are also undergoing the process of transformation and of being overlaid with the divine nature. But I am concerned that when the crossing Spirit comes to us, many are not willing for Him to cross through. We need to say, “Lord, my spirit is willing to go along with You. I am willing for You to cross through me.” If you have this willingness, you will immediately and spontaneously have the uniting bars, and you will experience the practical oneness. The Holy Spirit with your spirit will pass on to the spirit of another saint. This will in turn help other brothers and sisters to be willing for the uniting Spirit to cross them.

The uniting Spirit crosses through all the members of the Body when the spirits of the members are willing to be crossed by Him. Through this willingness and this crossing, we have the oneness. It was in this way that the entire tabernacle was brought into one. This is the oneness for the building, the dwelling place of God.

If you consider the picture of the tabernacle in the light of John 17, you will see the truth concerning oneness. To have such a oneness we need the initial Spirit, we need the transformation into acacia wood, we need the overlaying with gold, and we need the crossing of the uniting Spirit according to the willingness of our spirit to cooperate with Him. Then we will have the oneness and the building. This building is God’s dwelling place with man on earth.

THE SPREADING OF THE SEALING SPIRIT

After we are regenerated, the sealing Spirit begins to spread throughout our being. With some of us this spreading may take place very slowly. Nevertheless, it is going on. Many of us can testify that the spreading of the gold has increased since we came into the Lord’s recovery. As we pointed out in the foregoing chapter, being overlaid with gold always goes along with transformation, for the gold overlays only acacia wood. The golden nature of God will never overlay our fallen nature, but will overlay only our regenerated and transformed nature. Our fallen nature is corrupt wood, but our regenerated and transformed nature is acacia wood. This is confirmed by our experience and by observing the experience of many other saints.

We have received not only the seal of the Spirit but also the sealing of the Spirit (see Life-study of Ephesians, Message 12). This sealing is spreading in our being, overlaying us with gold. From the time we were regenerated, we have had something very precious within us. By reading the Word we have come to see that this precious substance is the divine nature added to us with God the Spirit. Day by day this Spirit with the divine nature is spreading within us. The more we pray, have fellowship with the Lord, read His Word, and tell Him that we love Him and want to be one with Him, the more we sense that something is spreading within us and overlaying us with gold.

THE UNITING SPIRIT

Although we may have the initial Spirit and some experience of being overlaid with gold, we still need to go on to the uniting Spirit. After the boards, the rings, and the overlaying gold, we still need the bars. Without the bars the forty-eight boards cannot be one, for it is the bars that hold them together. What do the bars signify? Since we are the boards, the bars cannot represent us. Furthermore, the rings signify the Triune God, and the gold covering the boards signifies the spreading of God. Just as the rings are a symbol of the initial Spirit, the bars are a symbol of the uniting Spirit. The boards stand upright, and the bars unite them by crossing them horizontally.

Now we need to consider some details of the bars as the uniting Spirit. The first thing we should notice is that the bars that unite the boards are in three groups of five. With the initial Spirit, on each board there were three rings signifying the Triune God. Now with the bars there are three groups of five, also signifying the Triune God. Furthermore, in every group of five bars there were three lines, the middle line, which reached from end to end, and the top and bottom lines, which were each composed of two bars joined at the midpoint. There were three sets with five bars in each set, each set was arranged in three lines, and on each standing board there were three rings. The number three, therefore, indicates the Triune God.

We have pointed out that each set of bars contained five bars. The number five is composed of four plus one. One denotes the unique God, and four denotes the creatures. Therefore, the number five signifies the Triune God added to His creatures. The uniting bars are the three-one God added to His creatures. The uniting Spirit today is simply the Triune God, the three-one God, added to His creatures.

In the Bible the number five signifies responsibility borne by the man with God added to him. For this reason the Gospel of Matthew speaks of five wise virgins and five foolish virgins. Also, the Ten Commandments were put on two tablets, with five commandments inscribed on each tablet. We cannot bear the responsibility ourselves, and God will not bear it Himself. On the contrary, the bearing of responsibility is a matter of incarnation, of God added to man. This is the significance of the number five. Therefore, the bars signify the three-one God added to His creatures to bear responsibility. What a wonderful definition this is!

KEEPING THE ONENESS

We come now to a rather difficult question: Why do the uniting bars have acacia wood within? For us, the standing boards, to have acacia wood overlaid with gold is quite understandable. But what does it mean to say that the uniting Spirit has humanity, typified by acacia wood, overlaid with divinity, typified by gold? Some Christian teachers have pointed out that the uniting bars signify the uniting Spirit, but no one has explained why in the uniting Spirit there is acacia wood.

Ephesians 4:2 and 3 help us to understand this matter. Verse 3 speaks of being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. Although the oneness is the oneness of the Spirit, it is a oneness that we must keep. The keeping of the oneness is our responsibility, not the responsibility of the Spirit. Here we have both divinity, the oneness of the Spirit, and humanity, the keeping of the oneness. If we have the oneness of the Spirit without the keeping of the oneness, we will be short. Therefore, we need to be diligent to keep the oneness. The keeping of the oneness spoken of in verse 3 is related to the virtues mentioned in verse 2. We must keep the oneness of the Spirit by having lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering and by bearing one another in love. Lowliness, meekness, long-suffering, and the bearing love are all human virtues signified by the acacia wood within the uniting bars. Therefore, in order to keep the oneness of the Spirit, we need a humanity with certain virtues.

Such virtues are not the product of our flesh or natural man. Rather, they originate from our spirit, not from our soul. Hence, this is a spiritual meekness, a spiritual lowliness, a spiritual long-suffering, and a spiritual bearing in love.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE INITIAL SPIRIT 
BECOMING THE UNITING SPIRIT (2)

The oneness mentioned by the Lord in His prayer in John 17 is mysterious, for it is a oneness realized and practiced in the Triune God. Thank the Lord for the clear picture of this oneness in the building of the tabernacle in the Old Testament. The building of the tabernacle in Exodus corresponds to the oneness in John 17. The Lord prayed that all His believers would be one so that God could have a dwelling place on earth. The tabernacle was such a dwelling place. The oneness seen in the tabernacle is simply the building of the tabernacle.

The tabernacle had forty-eight boards. Because these boards were built together to be the dwelling place of God, the tabernacle is a clear picture of the oneness in the Triune God. This oneness is not in the acacia wood out of which the boards were made; it is in the gold that overlaid them. The wood and the gold signify the Christian’s human and divine natures. The human nature is signified by the acacia wood, and the divine nature, by the gold. Each board was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Because we Christians are both wooden and golden, we are wonderful.

We have seen that acacia wood signifies not our fallen nature but our transformed and uplifted nature. We have been regenerated, and now we are undergoing the process of transformation. Day by day a change is taking place in our nature. This change is transformation. Although I have not been fully perfected yet, I can testify boldly that a great change has taken place within me since I became a Christian. This is not a mere change in behavior but a change in nature. As we are being transformed into acacia wood, we are also being overlaid with gold. We worship the Lord and give Him praise that daily He is overlaying us with Himself as the gold. Our oneness is in this gold.

THREE ASPECTS OF ONENESS

This oneness has three aspects. The first aspect, the initial aspect, is with the golden rings. I am quite certain that the golden rings were attached to the boards before the boards were overlaid with gold. Thus, the first step was to attach the rings to the boards, and the second step was to overlay the boards with gold. The third step was to make the uniting bars, which held the forty-eight boards together and brought them into oneness. This oneness is the building, which is the dwelling place of God.

Without the picture of the tabernacle, we cannot adequately understand the oneness spoken of in John 17. Since my youth I have devoted much attention to John 17. But because I was short of experience and did not see the picture of the oneness portrayed in the tabernacle, I did not have an adequate understanding of the Lord’s prayer for oneness in John 17. But now, after years of experience and even of suffering, I can say that the oneness for which the Lord prayed in John 17 is the very oneness seen in the tabernacle. By considering the picture of the tabernacle, we can have the proper understanding of the practical oneness for which the Lord Jesus prayed.

ONENESS IN THE TRIUNE GOD

This oneness is in the Triune God. The boards were one in the gold, and the gold signifies the nature of God. We have pointed out that on each board there were the three rings signifying the Triune God, who is the sealing Spirit we have received. This Spirit is not merely the Spirit of God, but the Spirit of God with the Father and the Son. In John the Lord Jesus said that the Spirit would be sent from the Father (15:26). The Greek preposition rendered “from” should actually be rendered “from with.” This means that the Spirit is sent not only from the Father but also with the Father. After He sent the Spirit, the Father did not remain in the heavens. No, when the Father sent the Spirit, the Spirit came to us with the Father. Therefore, to have the Spirit in us is also to have the Father in us. In like manner, the Son is with the Father. From eternity to eternity the Son has always been and always will be with the Father. Therefore, to have the Spirit in us is also to have the Father and the Son in us. Hence, we have the Triune God as the three rings. The Father is embodied in the Son, and the Son is realized as the Spirit. Therefore, when we have the Spirit, we have the Father and the Son. This is the initial Spirit, the sealing Spirit, we have received as the rings. This life-giving Spirit has regenerated us and now is dwelling in us.