We must realize that we are one with this all-inclusive Spirit. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” The Lord, as we have seen, is this all-inclusive Spirit. If we are joined to the Lord, we are joined to this Spirit. Therefore, we are one with this all-inclusive Spirit. All He is and all He has, all that is in Him, is ours. He is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17; 16:13), that is, the Spirit of reality-the reality of God, of man, of the Father, of the Son, and of all the elements to which we have referred. Today He is within us as the foretaste (Rom. 8:23, “firstfruits” means “foretaste”) through whom we enjoy all the riches of Christ with all the fullness of God.
In 2 Timothy 4:22 we have a wonderful word-“The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit!” Since the Lord Jesus Christ is the all-inclusive Spirit, this word means that the all-inclusive Spirit is in our spirit. He is so wonderful and marvelous; yet He is within us! He is so all-inclusive and bountiful; yet He is in our spirit! He is so rich, yet so available to us. It is so easy for us to contact Him and apply Him. If we just turn to our spirit, we will meet Him! If we just exercise our spirit a little, we can apply Him!
Although this all-inclusive Spirit is so bountiful, so rich and powerful, so all-inclusive, He works within us in a very silent, normal and ordinary way. He is also called the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). With any kind of life there is a natural element which is so ordinary and silent. Look at the trees and the flowers. How silent they are! How natural they are! They grow a little today and a little tomorrow, and many wonderful and beautiful things come out of this gradual growth of life. The riches and beauty of life spring forth in such a silent, natural and ordinary way. This is the way the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ works within us. Our only need is to cooperate, to go along with Him. We must learn to take care of the deep, inner registration. We need not expect the extraordinary. The more gentle and ordinary, the better! We must be faithful to Him and attend to the small, inner sense of Himself. We must be obedient and submissive to His inner working. Then day by day and moment by moment we will experience the riches of Christ.
Many times I have had just a little sense, just a small feeling very deep within me, telling me to do a certain thing. This sense is so silent, so normal, and seems so human. I have doubted that it is of the Lord and thought it must be something from myself. Yet while I am doubting, the sense within continues. It is not so strong, but it is so constant. Finally, I have to obey; there is no other choice. Even while I am about to do it, there is still a lingering doubt that it is of the Lord. However, when I completely obey what I have sensed deep within, it proves to be wholly of God!
This is the way the all-inclusive Spirit of the New Testament works within us. If we cooperate with Him, we will experience His reality and will gradually be saturated with Him. The process seems so slow, but it is so steady. Do not expect the Lord to give you some supernatural experiences. There are such experiences, but they are not normal. The normal way for us to experience Christ by His all-inclusive Spirit is in such a silent and ordinary way. If we go along with Him in this way, we will be saturated and permeated with Him. We will be transformed from glory to glory into the image of the Lord.
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