Day: January 23, 2022

A PERSON ENJOYING GOD AS THE SPIRIT

Let us now consider a person who absorbs the Spirit, that is, a person who enjoys God. We have a certain feeling when we breathe fresh air; we have a feeling of enjoyment. Similarly, whenever we touch the Spirit by breathing Him in, we have a certain feeling. We are convicted; we feel judged and condemn ourselves because the Spirit is the lamps of fire burning before the throne of God (4:5). He is also the eyes of the Lamb (5:6). In Revelation 1:14 the eyes of the Lamb, who is the Son of Man, are like a flame of fire that shines, exposes, and judges. When the Spirit is touched by man and received into man, He becomes a shining and enlightening within man. He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). When we touch the Spirit, we cannot escape being convicted. When we breathe in the Spirit, we cannot fail to be enlightened. He is the lamps of fire burning before the throne. The throne is for judgment and for ruling. Hence, the lamps before the throne are the Spirit of judgment from God. This means that when the Spirit touches man, He shines the light of God’s throne into man, and man sees his unrighteousness and corruption. Whenever we touch the Spirit, we feel convicted. Once God touches us, the lamps before the throne shine within us, we become bright, and our inward condition is exposed even if we were dark and confused. As the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of conviction, the Spirit judges and convicts us. God is holy and cannot dwell with evil. Once a man touches Him, a sense of conviction comes, and his true inward condition is exposed. God’s Spirit shines in man as lamps of fire, and He searches man’s inward parts with His flaming eyes. Everyone who has experienced this knows that when he touches the Spirit, he is connected to God and is transparent before God. He senses that God’s flaming eyes are searching through his innermost parts. Nothing can be hidden from God; nothing can hide us from Him. We sense that our entire being is brought into the light. In the light we see our sins, we are aware of our mistakes, we are convicted of our evil and corruption, and we condemn and judge ourselves. The more we condemn ourselves, the more our spirit breathes in God, and the happier we feel. This is truly wonderful. The more we condemn and judge ourselves, the happier we are inwardly, and the more we enjoy the Spirit’s presence and God’s infilling. Eventually, spiritual songs and praises well up within us. Condemnation and conviction are turned into praising and thanksgiving because we are filled with the Spirit, just as if we were drunk with new wine.

When the Spirit shines within us, exposing our condition, we should condemn ourselves and confess our sins, breathing them out. We may cry, “Lord, I was wrong in this matter, and I have sinned in that matter. I have sinned against my parents, my children, and my spouse. I am wrong at work. I am wrong in the church. There is nothing in me that is right.” This is what it means to breathe out. A person who has never breathed out in this way has never breathed in God; he has never been saturated with God. When the Spirit comes, He convicts the world concerning sin, concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment. Therefore, when we touch the Spirit, we breathe out our sins. Not only so, whenever we breathe out, we also breathe in. How much we breathe out determines how much we can breathe in. We breathe out our sins, and we breathe in the Spirit. We breathe out the self, and we breathe in Christ. We breathe out corruption, and we breathe in the riches of God. God is in Christ, and Christ is in the Spirit. We cannot help but breathe out and breathe in when the Spirit, as the lamps and the eyes of the Lamb, judges and condemns us. We breathe out our corruption and the self, and we breathe in the Triune God. In this breathing out and breathing in, we find comfort, joy, peace, power, light, wisdom, healing, and utterance. We have everything. What we need, we find in Him because He is what we need.

The Spirit has been poured out. He has been “exhaled” and has been sent forth into all the earth. He is everywhere, and He pervades everything. He is even in us, waiting for us to breathe Him in. When we breathe Him in, we eat and drink Him. This is to absorb Him and enjoy Him. When we enjoy Him and possess Him in this way, we will spontaneously live out Christ; we will live out God. This is what it means to enjoy God.

GOD BEING ENJOYED BY MAN IN THE SPIRIT

One day Jesus told His disciples that He was going to die. When they heard this, they were surprised. He had been with them for only a short time, and they had only recently come to know Him as the Christ, the Son of God, the very embodiment of God Himself. Now He said that He was going to die. For Him to die meant that He would go away, and this meant that everything would change. The disciples were worried. But the Lord told them not to be troubled, because it was expedient for Him to go. In fact, if He did not go, He would not be able to come again. This was a strange word. If I had been Peter, I would have asked the Lord, “Why are You saying that You must come again? You are already here.” We need to consider the Lord’s word.

If Brother Hwang wants to serve me fresh fish, he will show me a live fish, but then he needs to take the fish away to prepare it. Although I have seen the fish, it still must go away. Brother Hwang may say to me, “Unless I take the fish away, it will be raw, and there will be no way for you to eat it. Once I take it away and cook it, I will bring it back for you to eat.” When the fish came the first time, it was outside of me. When it comes the second time, it will be able to be inside of me. In order for it to come again, it must first go away. There is no need to be troubled or saddened by its going away, because we will enjoy it when it comes back.

When the Lord spoke of His going in order to come again, He seemingly said, “If I go away, the world will no longer see Me, but I will come back. And when I come back again, I will be edible and drinkable. When I come again, I will be the Spirit and enter into you and be with you always. Not only so, when I come back, you will live, just as I live, and you will know that I am in My Father and you in Me and I in you.”

Before He spoke such a word, He prepared a supper in which He broke bread with the disciples, and He said to them, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And He took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you” (Matt. 26:26-27). Seemingly, He was saying, “If I do not go, I will not be able to come back to you. I need to be crucified, not merely to accomplish redemption for your sins but in order that you can eat Me.” Poor Christianity! It only sees that the death of Christ is for redemption. It does not see that Christ’s death is even the more for eating. When the children of Israel killed the passover lamb, they did not merely shed the blood of the lamb for their redemption. They also ate the meat of the lamb as their food. In the same way, when the Lord Jesus went to the cross, His death was not merely for redemption through the shedding of His blood. It was so that we could eat Him, drink Him, and enjoy Him.

Thank the Lord that our Passover Lamb has been slain. The Christ who has come to be our food has been crucified and resurrected. In His resurrection He is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is now wonderful and mystical. All that God is and all that He has passed through are now in the Spirit. In incarnation, divinity entered into humanity, and in resurrection, humanity entered into divinity. Humanity is now in the Spirit. Now everything of the Lord is in the Spirit. Because of this the Spirit is not so simple. We should realize that all the fullness of God is in the Spirit. The Spirit has been given, He has been poured out, and He has been breathed out. Everything is now in the Spirit. Everything has been prepared and is available. There is no further need to do anything. We should just eat.

Let me repeat. In resurrection the Lord became the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost this Spirit was poured out. The Bible says that the Spirit has even been sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6). Previously, God was only in unapproachable light. Then one day He came forth and appeared on the earth, but He was still limited by time and space. When He was in Samaria, those in Jerusalem could not see Him. When He was in Judea, those in Galilee could not see Him. Then He died, resurrected, and became the Spirit. Today this Spirit has been poured out and sent forth into all the earth. Our God is now in the Spirit. Today He is like the air, filling the entire earth. He is omnipresent; He permeates everything and is present everywhere. Therefore, anyone can contact Him and receive Him.

Human beings need food and drink, and they also need air. Of these three things, air is the most available. God has become so available and enjoyable to us that it is enough to just breathe Him in as air. God is Spirit, and everything related to Him is in the Spirit. In the original Greek text, spirit and breath are the same word. Today the Spirit is like the air that we breathe. He is everywhere; He permeates everything and is omnipresent. When He comes to us in a strong way, He can be compared to wind, and when He comes to us in a gentle way, He can be compared to breath. When we can hear or feel the movement of air, it is wind, but when we cannot hear or feel its movement, it is breath. God has been processed to the extent that He is available in every place; no one can be deprived of Him. He is just as available as air; we can breathe Him in. There is no need for us to exert any effort to breathe Him in. What a blessing this is!

CHAPTER TEN

HOW GOD BECOMES MAN’S ENJOYMENT 
IN THE SPIRIT

Scripture Reading: Col. 2:9; John 14:16-20; 16:7-8; 1 John 2:27; 3:24; 4:13; 5:20; Rev. 4:5; 5:6

THE NEED TO BE IN SPIRIT TO ENJOY GOD

We will continue to consider the way to contact God. In other words, we will consider how to eat God, drink God, and enjoy God. We have pointed out repeatedly that God is Spirit. Moreover, everything that He has passed through and attained is now in the Spirit. Both His incarnation, which joined God with man, and His death and resurrection, which brought man into God to be united with Him, are realized in the Spirit. He is in the Spirit, and He even is the Spirit. We must now contact this Spirit. Therefore, He clearly said that we need to contact Him with our spirit. Only when we are in spirit can we contact the Spirit. The more a man uses his mind to consider, ponder, and make judgments, the less he touches God. Our contact with man requires that we be sincere and truthful, but our contact with God requires that we turn to our spirit. Since our God is Spirit, and He is in our spirit, we can contact Him only with our spirit when we turn to our spirit.

We should pay attention to the word spirit and how it is used. First, God is Spirit. Second, as Spirit, God enters into our spirit. Third, we have to turn to our spirit, and fourth, we must contact God with our spirit. In summary, because God, who is Spirit, has entered into our spirit, we need to turn to our spirit and contact Him with our spirit. We need to repeatedly remind the brothers and sisters that in order to contact God, touch Him, eat Him, drink Him, and enjoy Him, we need to be clear concerning these four points. Whether or not a person can touch God depends altogether on learning the lesson of turning to our spirit and touching God with our spirit. We may have heard a thousand messages but not touched God. Learning the lesson of turning to our spirit is a secret that enables us to touch God, making it easy for us to absorb and enjoy God. All experienced believers know this reality.

GOD MAKING HIMSELF AVAILABLE 
IN THE FORM OF FOOD FOR MAN TO ENJOY

God has given Himself to us to be our food. He wants us to eat Him, to take Him in as food for our life. How does God present Himself to us in order to be eaten by us? God makes it possible for us to eat Him by means of a process. For example, if we want to eat chicken, no one would expect us to eat a live chicken; rather, the chicken needs to be processed. Before it can be eaten, it needs to be killed, and its feathers need to be removed. Then it needs to be washed, cut into pieces, and cooked until it is tender. In the same way, God cannot be eaten by us without being processed. This is not so simple, because God dwells in unapproachable light. He is great and glorious. If the God who dwells in unapproachable light manifested Himself to us in His majesty, glory, and unapproachable holiness, what would we do? Would we still be comfortable sitting here, or would we all prostrate ourselves before His face?

This is not my imagination. There are many examples of this in the Bible. When Daniel saw God, his strength left him, and he fell before God. When the apostle John, who had reclined on the Lord Jesus’ breast, saw the Lord’s glory on the island of Patmos, he fell at His feet as if dead. It would be impossible for us to eat God if He remained in a state of unapproachable light. There would be no way for us to come near to Him. Even if He gave Himself to us as food, in this condition it would be impossible for us to eat Him because we would all be fearful and would fall down on our faces. It would be impossible for us to eat Him. Thus, it is not easy for God to make Himself available for us to eat.

We should thank the Lord that He presented Himself to man as food in the form of the tree of life with the fruit of life when He created man. Because God presented Himself to man in the form of food, Adam had no reason to be afraid when he saw the tree of life.

This is why I repeatedly say that I am afraid that God’s children have never considered this matter. God has given Himself to us to be our food. He has given Himself to us in the form of food, in the way of life. In this form man is not threatened; rather, God is warm, affectionate, and easily accessible.

We should not think that God’s making Himself available applies only to the tree of life in Genesis 2. One day God became flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. When He came, He came as a man. But when He presented Himself to man, His way and presence suggested that He was a piece of bread. He wanted man to receive Him in the form of food. He did not come as a dignitary with outward glory. He did not convey a sense of loftiness or greatness, and it was easy for people to approach Him. It was natural and easy for people to contact Him. No matter how evil or unworthy a man might have been, there was no sense that he would be rejected. He came in the form of food, as a piece of bread.

One day the Lord Jesus went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman came and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David!” The Lord said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs” (Matt. 15:22, 26). Since the Gentile woman knew only that the Lord was a descendant of the royal house of David, she addressed Him repeatedly as the Son of David. However, the Lord’s answer indicated that He was a piece of bread, because He said that the children’s bread should not be given to the dogs. Although some of us may not understand the Lord’s words, it was very clear to the Jews. The Jews considered the Gentiles to be dogs and that only the Jews were the children of God. The woman did not know that the Lord Jesus had come as a piece of bread. She considered Him only to be the Lord and the Son of David even though He had already declared that He was the bread that came down out of heaven when He spoke by the seashore. When the people heard that word, they did not understand. When He spoke with the Gentile woman, He repeated that He was a piece of bread given for the satisfaction of God’s children, the Israelites, but He would not be given as food to Gentile dogs. The Lord said this purposely to test the woman. After hearing this, she was enlightened in her heart by the Holy Spirit. She was not provoked by the Lord calling her a dog, but she wisely responded to the Lord’s word, acknowledging her lowliness and unworthiness by pointing out that even a dog could eat the crumbs which fall from the master’s table.

When the Lord spoke to the woman, He was at the border of the land of Israel. The land of Israel was like a table. When God sent His Son to the land of Israel, it was like putting a piece of bread on the table. Although the Israelites were God’s children, they were not proper. They despised the bread and pushed it around until it reached the edge of the table and eventually fell off the table. The Lord spoke this word at a time in which He was being rejected by the Israelites and, therefore, had to retreat to the region of the Gentiles. At that time He was like crumbs that had fallen from the table. The Canaanite woman responded by recognizing that she was a dog under the table and that the Lord Himself, as bread, had fallen under the table. He was no longer in Jerusalem, because He had been chased away by those in Jerusalem and was now in the Gentile land. He had been pushed from the table by naughty children and was now in the land of the dogs. She pointed out that He was no longer the bread on the table but crumbs under the table and that even though she was a dog, dogs eat crumbs under the table. Using the Lord’s own words, the woman forced Him to make Himself available to her.

This shows how the Lord makes Himself available for man to eat. He is no longer One who dwells only in unapproachable light. He is no longer the One who dwells only in majesty and glory. He is no longer the One who is only in the third heaven. When He came down from heaven, He emptied Himself. When He descended from heaven to earth, He had no attractive form or beautiful appearance, much less any outward majesty. He was very simple and humble; He was a piece of bread good for food.

When the Lord came to man in the form of food, He had no outward splendor, majesty, or glory. He came in a humble way to be man’s food. Anyone could touch Him and draw near to Him. If there ever has been a man who was nonthreatening, that man was the Lord Jesus. When He was on earth, I do not believe there was one person who could say, “Although I would like to meet You, I am afraid of You.” We cannot find such a person in the Bible. Even the weak women could come to Him and speak in a free way. They were not afraid of Him at all. Even the smallest child was not threatened by Him. No one was afraid of Him, not those who were evil, gravely ill, or leprous. Because our Lord came as food, He manifested Himself to man in a most nonthreatening way. He wanted man to be fully at ease in taking Him as food and drink.

Although He appears to man as bread for food, the Bible says that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily (Col. 2:9). We should never underestimate the Lord. He did not have an attracting form or beautiful appearance. His outward appearance was neither significant nor threatening. However, He was not void of content. The Bible says that all the fullness of the Godhead, that is, all the fullness of God Himself, dwelt in Him. The fullness even dwelt in Him bodily. The fullness of the God of glory and of majesty, who is most holy and transcendent and who is in unapproachable light, dwelt in the man Jesus. In this Jesus, who is our food, all the fullness dwells. We should know Him to this extent.