In chapter 1 we saw that God’s economy is to dispense Himself into us by means of the three persons of the Godhead. Electricity can be used to illustrate the economy of the Trinity. It includes the source, the current, and the transmission. These seem to be three different kinds of electricity, but in reality they are one. The source, the current, and the transmission are the electricity itself. If the electricity did not exist, neither the source, the current, nor the transmission could exist. Just as there is one electricity with three different stages, there is one God with three persons. At one end is the source or the storage of electricity, and at the other end is the transmission of electricity into our homes. Between the two ends is the current. This is an example of three stages of one and the same thing. God as the Father is the source, God as the Son is the course and the very expression of the Father, and God as the Spirit is the transmission of God into man. Therefore, the Father is the Spirit, the Son also is the Spirit, and the Spirit, of course, is the Spirit. The Father is in the Son, the Son is in the Spirit, and the Spirit is in us as the very transmission of God, transmitting constantly all that God is and has in Christ.
In this modern era man has perfected many drugs in the field of medicine. Some drugs are composed of a great number of elements and can be dispensed in one single dose. In just one dose, some of the elements can destroy germs, others can relax the nerves, and still other elements can nourish and refresh the body. This is an all-inclusive dose. Have we ever realized that the Holy Spirit is the best “dose” in the whole world? Just one dose is enough to meet all our needs. All that the Father and the Son are and all that They have are in this wonderful Spirit. Consider how many elements are within this dose: God’s divine nature with Christ’s human nature, His human living with its earthly sufferings, the wonderful effectiveness of His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His enthronement. Such a dose is beyond our imagination. Yet, praise the Lord, every day we can enjoy it. No scientist or medical doctor on earth could analyze this wonderful dose. This dose is what we enjoy in the economy of God, which is nothing else but God dispensing Himself into us.
It is not a matter of learning doctrines. When I was young, I learned all the doctrines about the various dispensations. I was taught that there were at least seven dispensations. But strictly speaking, there is only one dispensation that we need—the economy of God with the dispensing of God Himself. The sixty-six books of the Scriptures are a full record of this one dispensation—the dispensing of God Himself into us. Our urgent need is to partake of Him all the day as the all-inclusive dose in the wonderful Spirit. Let us enjoy God Himself, not the dispensational doctrines.
If you are weak, there is a dose, a wonderful dose, to strengthen you with might and divine power. If you are troubled, the cure is in the dose. One dose of the Holy Spirit will cure all your troubles.
When I was young, I was taught that I had been crucified with Christ and that I needed to reckon myself dead. Thus, from morning until evening I was on the alert to reckon myself dead. But the more I did so, the more I became alive. It did not work, because it was the wrong formula. After many years, one day the Lord opened my eyes to see that the reality of His death is not in my reckoning but in my enjoyment of the Holy Spirit. This is revealed in Romans 8. Romans 6 gives only the definition, but Romans 8 gives the reality of the death of Christ, because the effectiveness of Christ’s death is in the Holy Spirit. The more we fellowship with Christ in the Holy Spirit, the more we will be slain. The dose of the all-inclusive Holy Spirit contains the killing element. When we are in the Holy Spirit, there is no need to reckon ourselves dead, because we are enjoying Him as this wonderful dose. Spontaneously the many germs within us are killed.
Formerly, when I hated a brother, I was told that the “hating I” was crucified and instead of hating the brother, I should love him. After hearing this, I tried to reckon myself dead, but it did not work. The more I reckoned myself dead, the more I hated him. Then one day while fellowshipping with the Lord, I was filled with His Holy Spirit. How the tears flowed! I knew that the killing power was within me, killing my hatred and my pride. Automatically, love mingled with tears welled up from my heart for this brother. What was this? This was the killing element in the wonderful dose, the effectiveness of Christ’s death in the Spirit.
Within this Spirit of Jesus there is an all-sufficient supply. The word supply in Philippians 1:19 is a special Greek word referring to a bountiful or all-inclusive supply. The Spirit of Jesus is an all-inclusive supply in which all our needs are met. What do we need? Do we need comfort? No one can truly comfort us—not even our children, our parents, or our dear wife. Real comfort comes from the indwelling Spirit of Jesus. When we fellowship with Jesus in this Spirit and when we live in this wonderful Spirit, we automatically have inward comfort. Regardless of the outward environment, there is inward rest and comfort.
We may say, “I do not know what to do. I need guidance.” Living guidance is in the Holy Spirit. When we fellowship with the Lord and walk in the Holy Spirit, we will spontaneously have inward light for guidance. Everything—including guidance—is in the Holy Spirit. Today He is in us as the all-inclusive dose. We need not ask or cry. We need only to take Him, enjoy Him, and praise Him.
For example, a sister was in trouble and did not know what to do. Although she had no clear guidance, she went to the Lord and said, “Lord, I praise You that I have no guidance. I praise You that I do not know what to do. I praise You that I am in darkness.” What happened? The more she praised, the more she was in the light. Let us do the same thing. When we are weak, let us go to the Lord, saying, “I praise You, Lord, that in this situation I am weak.” By contacting Him, we will see what a wonderful Spirit He is, dwelling within us to be the bountiful and all-sufficient supply.
Too many doctrines in Christianity are distracting the Lord’s people from the Lord Himself, causing them to miss the mark of God’s economy. What is this mark? It is simply the all-inclusive Holy Spirit dwelling in our human spirit. During the whole day we need to learn how to contact and follow the Holy Spirit. We need to learn how to fellowship and deal with Him. Christianity teaches us to deal with forms, regulations, and doctrines. Christians even read the Scriptures in a wrong way, since they make little or no contact with the Holy Spirit in their reading. They merely learn doctrines in black and white letters. We need to read the Scriptures by exercising our spirit to contact the Holy Spirit, not by merely using our eyes to see the words and exercising our minds to understand the teachings. From morning to evening we must deal with the One who dwells in us, for He is the bountiful supply of the Lord Jesus.