The Spirit also operates the gifts in each one of the members of the Body of Christ. “The one and the same Spirit operates all these things, distributing to each one individually as He purposes” (1 Cor. 12:11). The Spirit not only distributes and manifests but also operates. To operate is to move, to function. The life-giving Spirit works within us to make us proper, functioning members in the Body.
In 1 Corinthians 12 the Triune God is involved in three particular things-gifts, ministries, and operations (vv. 4-6). The gifts by the Spirit are to carry out the ministries, the services, for the Lord. The ministries for the Lord are to accomplish the operations, the works, of God. This is the Triune God moving in the believers for the accomplishment of His eternal purpose to build up the church, the Body of Christ, for His expression.
We have emphasized the fact that the gifts in chapter twelve are much related to our speaking. Whenever we speak, the Spirit operates. We may think that we are the ones functioning and speaking; actually, the Spirit is the one who functions. As we speak, the Spirit functions, the Lord ministers, and God operates. Our speaking, therefore, is of great importance. If we do not speak, the Spirit does not function, the Lord does not minister, and God does not operate. In a very real sense, the Triune God is waiting for us to speak something for Him.
The Spirit desires to function, the Lord wants to minister, and God intends to operate. But this depends on our exercising our spirit to speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord. Our speaking is crucial to God’s operation. The more we speak by exercising our spirit, the more the Spirit will function, the Lord will minister, and God will operate. When we speak, the Spirit functions. When the Spirit functions, the Lord ministers. When the Lord ministers, God operates. Therefore, the functioning, ministering, and operating of the Triune God depend on our speaking. Both in the meetings and in our practical daily living, the Triune God responds to our speaking in our spirit by functioning, ministering, and operating.
The Spirit also warns the believers. “Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of trial in the wilderness” (Heb. 3:7-8). This particular warning is related to the Sabbath rest. The speaking Spirit often warns the church.
In the book of Revelation we see that the Spirit speaks to the churches (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 14:13). Revelation 2:7 says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” At the beginning of each of the seven epistles in chapters two and three, it is the Lord who speaks (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). At the end of all seven epistles it is the Spirit speaking to the churches. This is a strong indication that the actual speaker is the Spirit. This proves that Christ and the Spirit are one. First we have Christ speaking. Then we are told that the Spirit is the one who speaks. The speaking Christ is the Spirit. Whatever Christ speaks, that is the speaking of the Spirit. Christ is the speaking Spirit. The Spirit is the Lord, and the Lord is the Spirit.
If the speaker in Revelation 2 and 3 were only Christ without being the speaking Spirit, He could not speak words into our spirit, and His speaking would not be very subjective and touching. But, as our experience testifies, if we are open in our spirit to the Lord as we read these epistles, the Spirit will speak something of Christ into us. Because the speaker is not the objective Christ but the subjective Spirit, He speaks not only in the letters of the Bible but also in our spirit. Once we hear His speaking, something indelible is wrought into us. It is a marvelous fact that our Christ today is the speaking Spirit.
On the one hand, each of the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3 is the word of the Lord to a particular church; on the other hand, it is a word of the Spirit to all the churches. Hence, every church should give heed not only to the epistle written to her particularly but also to all the epistles written to the other churches. Because the Spirit today is speaking to the churches, not to a religion, denomination, or group of seeking Christians, we need to be in the churches in order to be rightly positioned to hear the Spirit’s speaking. When we are in the church and among the churches, we have the right position and angle to hear the speaking of the Spirit. Now we all need an ear to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
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