The chorus of the Chinese Hymns, #212 says,
Blowing! Blowing! The Holy Spirit, the great wind, blowing!
Covering! Covering! The Spirit, the great cloud, covering!
Burning! Burning! The holy fire burning!
Glowing! Glowing! God’s electrum glowing!
The wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum are the content of chapter one of Ezekiel. In 1961 I had a study with the church in Taipei on the book of Ezekiel. I gave many messages just on chapter one alone. Ezekiel begins with a storm wind from the north (God’s dwelling place). The wind brings a great cloud, and as the cloud covers, the fire begins to burn. Then once the fire burns, the electrum begins to appear. This section of the Old Testament is a prophecy with a type. The Spirit we have received today is a great wind, a great cloud, and a great fire, and within there is also the electrum. He is the wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum.
Therefore, when we receive the Spirit today, we become people who are always of wind, cloud, and fire. These three things—wind, cloud, and fire—are constantly creating events in the universe. Whenever wind and clouds are stirred up in the world’s political situation, war breaks out and fire begins to burn. However, the fire’s burning always brings out something good—the electrum. Therefore, do not be afraid of war. History proves that whenever there is war, the electrum is produced. This is the doing of the Lord Jesus. When the situation is suitable and the opportunity comes, He will blow the wind from the throne. When the wind blows, the cloud follows. Then there is shaking in the world situation: war breaks out and fire is burning everywhere. After the burning, the electrum is produced. This is what is meant by the Chinese proverb: “When the snipe and the clam fight, they both become captives of the fisherman.” The Lord Jesus is the “fisherman” who “captures” much electrum as a result of wars.
In 1950 the church in Hong Kong was considering to buy a piece of land in Tsim Sha Tsui to build a meeting hall. At that time, Brother Watchman Nee first helped to form a group to carry out acquisition and construction and then charged the brothers, saying, “Whatever Brother Witness tells you concerning the land, listen to him and quickly buy it.” The brothers then took me to see the land. At that time it was still a vegetable garden. When I saw it, I said that Tsim Sha Tsui would become the center of Hong Kong and Kowloon because it is conveniently located near the ferry. Therefore, we bought the land in a short time. It was just as I had predicted. When the brothers asked me how much land they should buy, I said they should buy at least twelve thousand square feet. The brothers lost faith when they heard this, because the total cost of the land was approximately fifty thousand U. S. dollars. That amount is insignificant at the present time, but at that time it was exceedingly high. Because of this, they asked me if they could reduce the purchase by one-half. I laughed and said, “This is your business; do not ask me for a reduction. Still, I have to say that if you do not buy it now, you will regret it later, and when you do want to buy it, you will not be able to.” They thought they had my approval, so they went and bought six thousand square feet. Once they started to build, however, they realized that they had bought too small a portion of land. Therefore, they went back to buy more but were able to buy only another three thousand square feet.
I relate this story to illustrate that the world situation is ever changing to produce the electrum. However, the Lord will not gather the electrum Himself. He wants us to do it. If we hesitate and delay, we will suffer loss. We have been “blown” to America by the great wind. Some may have thought that they came just to study for a degree or to make a business investment. It never occurred to them that they would settle here permanently. This was their view; it was not the Lord’s view. He sent us here by the wind and carried us here by the cloud. He did this so that we could preach the gospel here to gain the electrum!
Let us not listen to what Christianity teaches nor care for what Pentecostalism practices. We need to come back to the Bible itself. The New Testament clearly reveals that this One who became flesh, passed through human living, entered into death, was buried, resurrected, ascended, descended, and became the life-giving Spirit is the mysterious and marvelous One. He is our Lord, our God, our Redeemer, and our Savior. Moreover, He is the Spirit of life and the Spirit of power. He is the wonderful One.
Today the electrum is in the Spirit, and the Lord is this Spirit. This Spirit passed through the breathing in John 20 and the blowing in Acts 2 to be the complete Spirit with both divinity and humanity. Today you and I are saved; we have received the complete Spirit. There is no need for us to experience the process of the breathing and the blowing. However, the problem lies in that even though we have the Spirit, we may not enjoy or experience Him. Children who are foolish and lazy do not eat good food when it is available and do not put on good shoes when they have them. What we have received today is the all-inclusive Spirit. He has immeasurable riches, so we must enjoy Him.