CHAPTER NINE
LEARNING OUR SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES
IN THE DISPENSING OF THE DIVINE TRINITY
Concerning the dispensing of the Triune God, there are a few more crucial verses—2 Corinthians 13:14 and Revelation 1:4-5.
THE DISPENSING OF THE TRIUNE GOD
VERSUS THE CULTIVATION OF RELIGION
The dispensing of the Triune God is the basic requirement for spiritual experiences. We cannot be separated from this dispensing even for a single day. Whenever we stay away from the dispensing of the Triune God, our spiritual experiences are empty and worthless. We have to know that not only Chinese Confucianism has its so-called moral cultivation, but even the other religions in the world, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, also have their so-called moral cultivation. In religion, self-mortification is a common practice, and moral cultivation is also considered necessary. For this reason, if a Christian pursues so-called spirituality apart from the dispensing of the Triune God, his pursuit is a kind of religious cultivation.
Whether in Buddhism, Hinduism, or Confucianism, the principle of seeking perfection in ethical pursuits is the same: it is the exercise of self-control. On the positive side, this is to control one’s emotions and to not do things according to the dictates of one’s heart. On the negative side, this is to restrain one’s lusts and to not indulge oneself in sinful things. Wang Yang-ming was the most famous one among the moral cultivators of the different schools in China. In the Catholic Church the most well-known ones were the mystics, including Madame Guyon, Father Fenelon, Brother Lawrence, and Thomas à Kempis, who were raised up three hundred years ago and who all had their form of moral cultivation. Among this group of people, Madame Guyon was the most spiritual one; however, if you read her autobiography, you will find that she had a very strong will, within which there was a considerable measure of her own natural element. [416]
OUR SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES
NOT BEING ACCORDING TO THE FLESH
BUT ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT
At its inception the Lord’s recovery in China was deeply influenced by the mystics, especially in the experience of pursuing spiritual life. In the first thirty years there was much exercise and practice in this matter. Later we found that without the Spirit, that kind of exercise is just like the practice of having strict, ascetic rules in religion. I use the expression the Spirit, because today the light of revelation is very clear, showing us that the Spirit is the Triune God processed and dispensed into us. The Triune God who has been dispensed into us has an abbreviated title, or we may say a general title—the Spirit. Paul wrote fourteen Epistles on the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity in which he concluded that we must walk “by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16, 25; Rom. 8:4). We should not forget this word: our spiritual experiences are not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
In Romans 8:4 the word spirit denotes the mingled spirit, that is, our regenerated spirit mingled with the Holy Spirit to be one spirit. In this mingled spirit the main component is the Holy Spirit. Today in the Lord’s recovery we all know that this Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, the all-inclusive Spirit, the life-giving Spirit, and at the same time, Christ Himself. He is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God and the ultimate reaching of the Triune God to man. Once He reaches man, He enters into man’s spirit to be mingled with man’s spirit as one. This is the spirit referred to in Romans 8:4. Today we do not walk according to anything other than such a mingled spirit.
The word spirit is not that simple in the Chinese translation. Around A.D. 700, Christianity spread to China from Persia, where it was called Nestorianism. Today there is still a Nestorian tablet with an inscription on it that contains the expression ching-feng, which literally means “pure wind,” referring to the Holy Spirit. The Persians knew that pneuma, the Greek word for spirit, could also be rendered as “wind,” so, due to their inadequate knowledge of the Chinese language, they translated it as such. John 3:8 says, “The wind blows where it wills,” showing that the Lord also referred to the Holy Spirit as “wind.” As a result, the Persians called the Holy Spirit the wind. Today people obtain the “extract” of different substances to use [417] as medication or for nourishment. It is wonderful that in English, extract can also be called spirit. For example, in English, strong alcoholic liquor produced by distillation can be called “spirits.”
Our God is so great, so mysterious, so wonderful, and so “extractive,” so He had to use a word that is comprehensible to us. Thus, He said that He is Spirit (4:24). God as the Spirit today is not the same as the Spirit two thousand years ago. Two thousand years ago, God—who is Spirit—was not yet processed, but today after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, God as the Spirit has already passed through four major steps—incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. Two thousand years ago He had not entered into this process. He had only objectively passed through creation. Then over nineteen hundred years ago He Himself became flesh, lived the human life, was crucified, and resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). God became flesh, was born as a man, and walked on the earth. His name was Jesus; hence, Jesus was God. When He was put to death on the cross, He was still God. When He was buried and resurrected, He was still God. Today such a One is the life-giving Spirit.
The Spirit is the “wind” in John 3, but in chapter 20 He is referred to as “breath” (v. 22). In the evening on the day of the Lord’s resurrection, He breathed the Holy Spirit as the holy breath into the disciples. This is an exceedingly mysterious matter, which has been missed by Christianity. Christianity calls the Holy Spirit the “Holy Ghost,” considering Him something objective and vague rather than as a definite person. However, the Bible reveals to us that the Spirit is definite and substantial like “wind” and “breath.” This Spirit is the mysterious God.
This mysterious God has been consummated as the Spirit, and this Spirit is just His “extract.” Today physicians heal their patients by giving them medicines. Every pill is an “extract,” a substance obtained through a refining process. There may be seven or eight elements blended together in one pill: some for killing germs, some for nutrition, and some for strengthening the immune system. Similarly, the One who is mingled with our spirit is the “extract” of God, the “distillation” of God. This One includes everything, so He is called the all-inclusive Spirit. In this Spirit there is divinity, humanity, the experience of human living, the element of crucifixion, and also the element of resurrection. The subject of Romans 8:4, [418] where it speaks of “the spirit,” is the all-inclusive Spirit coming to mingle with our spirit to be the mingled spirit. This is really a mystery.
What does it mean to be saved? To be saved means that a person repents, confesses his sins, and receives the Lord Jesus, with the result that the “extract” of God enters into him to regenerate him. Once he is regenerated, he has God’s life and God’s nature, as well as God’s element, that is, God Himself. This God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The entire God, the complete God, enters into man. Henceforth, man should live and walk according to this Spirit. This is why in the Epistles Paul says that we should live, walk, and have our being according to the Spirit. When we walk according to the Spirit, we are victorious, spiritual, and sanctified. When we walk according to the Spirit, we live Christ and express God. When we walk according to the Spirit, we have life, light, holiness, love, and righteousness. When we walk according to the Spirit, we have everything, that is, all positive things. All human virtues and divine characteristics are in this One and are this One. The Spirit is holiness, righteousness, love, life, and light. The Spirit is all-inclusive.