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.