To see the intensified Spirit we need to spend a little time to look into the whole New Testament. The first chapter of the New Testament tells us how Christ was God incarnated to be a man, and this wonderful man is called Emmanuel, “God with us” (v. 23). God was incarnated to be a man so that He could be with us. Then, at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, we are told to go and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (28:19).
These are the two ends of the Gospel of Matthew. The beginning tells us that God was incarnated as a man to be with us, and the end says that we must be baptized into the Triune God—into the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. This is the first book of the New Testament.
Then when we come through the New Testament to the last book of Revelation, it is so interesting to notice that the Spirit of God is put into the second place of the Godhead. In Revelation 1:4-5 the seven Spirits of God are put before Jesus Christ in the order of the Godhead. This is because, as I have pointed out already (see The Stream, Feb. and May 1969), the age has been changed. Today is not the age of the Son but the age of the Spirit.
Let us read these verses: “John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is coming, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.”
In Matthew there is first the Father, second the Son, and third the Spirit. It is so clear that it is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. But in Revelation it is the Father, the Spirit, and then the Son. Have you seen this change? In Matthew the Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, but in Revelation the third person becomes the second. There is a definite change. This is why we say that the age is changed. It is no longer the age of the Son but the age of the Spirit. In the Gospels the Son was second, but now in the book of Revelation the Spirit becomes the second. I must say again that the age has been changed! It has been changed to the Spirit.
In these days I have been so burdened to tell the children of God that the age has been changed. Some may not agree with this. They may say, “How can you say this? What proof do you have to say that the age has been changed?” The proof is here in Revelation 1:4-5, in the change in the order of the Godhead. Are we living in the days of Matthew, or are we in the days of Revelation? There is no doubt that we are in the days of Revelation, and even at the end of the days of Revelation.
O brothers and sisters, the age has been changed! The age has been changed! Today is not the age of Matthew but the age of Revelation, and we must realize that now we are not at the beginning of the age of Revelation but at the end. The age has been changed to the Spirit.
Do you think that this is only my opinion? Read your Bible again. Matthew tells us that God was incarnated so that we might be baptized into the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. But in Revelation something has been changed. The Spirit becomes the second person of the Godhead.
Furthermore, the Spirit in Revelation is the sevenfold Spirit. The one Spirit becomes seven because it is now the age of the intensified Spirit. We need the sevenfold Spirit. This is not seven Spirits but the sevenfold Spirit, the intensified Spirit. How much we need the Spirit today! We need the Spirit seven times. Seven is the number of completion. We need the complete Spirit, the sevenfold Spirit.
Peter, John, and Matthew only needed the onefold Spirit, but today we need the sevenfold Spirit because we are so dead. Peter was not as dead as we are, so Peter only needed the onefold Spirit. But we are too dead. We need the Spirit to be intensified. We have dead teachings, we have dead doctrines, and we even make the Bible dead. We have so many dead churches, dead Christians, and dead books. Therefore, today we need the sevenfold Spirit. Are we in a living situation or a dead one? I believe we all would agree that we are in a dead situation. We have the Bible, but we need the intensified Spirit to enliven us and make us living.
The Lord Jesus came at a time when all the Jewish people had the Old Testament. The religious leaders of the Jewish people had the Scripture, but they had the Scripture in dead letters. The Lord came to those who had the Scripture in a dead way; He came to those who had the doctrines and the dead knowledge of God; He came to those who had the dead written code. They were supposed to be so religious and so much for God. They spoke to people continually regarding the things of God. But what was their situation? They were dead! They were dead religious people. They were dead people with a Bible in dead letters and with the dead knowledge of God. Were they Gentiles? Were they pagans? No, they were the chosen people of God. But when God was incarnated as a man to be with us, who opposed Him? Who opposed the Lord Jesus? It was those who had the Bible in their hands, those who had the dead knowledge of God in their minds. They were supposed to be so much for God, but eventually, they put the incarnated God, the Lord Jesus, to death.
It is the same with today’s situation in Christianity. What about your church? Is it dead or living? O brothers and sisters, the Lord be merciful to us that we do not remain the same as the Jews when Christ came. I am so burdened for the present situation of the Lord’s people because of today’s deadness: the dead teachings, the dead meetings, the dead “churches,” the dead knowledge, the dead messages, the dead books, and even the dead “Bible.”
Oh, the Lord be merciful to us. We are just dead! We have enough knowledge. We know everything. But the Bible in our hand is so dead. All the knowledge in our mind is so dead. What do we need? Do we need better expositions, better teachings, better doctrines, more books? No, we need the sevenfold intensified Spirit. It is not the knowledge but the sevenfold Spirit.
Read Revelation again. The age has been changed. Even the order of the Godhead has been changed, because of the deadness. Christianity today is dead. It is a dead religion. We need the book of Revelation. We need a change and a turn. Even in this book John the apostle was turned: “I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands” (1:12).
We all need a turn, and we all need to be turned. We need to be isolated from today’s Christianity. At that time John was isolated on an island. Then he heard a voice, and when he turned, he saw seven golden lampstands. Let me ask you, “Have you seen?” I do not ask, “Do you know?” I ask, “Have you seen?”
We all need a turn from the dead doctrines to the sevenfold Spirit. We need a turn from the dead teachings to the sevenfold Spirit. We need a turn from the dead knowledge to the sevenfold Spirit. We even need a turn from our Bible of dead letters to the sevenfold Spirit.
It is not just my opinion that the age has been changed. From now on, the Lord will never honor the dead teachings. The dead teaching ministry is over. Today is the age of the sevenfold intensified Spirit.
Today the Spirit of God is the sevenfold Spirit, and this title of the Spirit is used four times in the book of Revelation (1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6). The Lord Jesus is the Holder of this intensified Spirit. “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars” (3:1). The Lord is the Holder of the sevenfold Spirit, and He is also the Holder of the seven stars. He holds the sevenfold Spirit, and He holds us. So the sevenfold Spirit is just for us.