First John 4:6 says that the Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Truth means reality. The Spirit of truth is also mentioned in John 14:17; 15:26; and 16:13. The Spirit of truth is a particular divine title used by John. Neither Paul nor Peter used this title. Such a title means that the very Spirit is the reality of the doctrines concerning the Trinity. This is one of His functions. He makes all the teachings concerning Christ, concerning God, and concerning the divine Trinity real.
The Spirit is the reality, testifying the things concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God (1 John 5:6-9). Christ is a mystery. The Son of God is altogether hidden from the world. The worldly people without the Spirit cannot understand the things concerning Him. But we have the Spirit within us, and the indwelling Spirit makes everything taught concerning Christ in the New Testament so real to us.
The Spirit is also for the believers’ prayer (Jude 20). The Spirit functions for us to pray. We pray in the Holy Spirit. The entire blessed Trinity is employed and enjoyed by us believers in our praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves in the love of God, and awaiting the mercy of our Lord unto eternal life.
In the book of Revelation, the Spirit functions as the seven Spirits, the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God, meeting the need of the seven churches, which signify all the churches in the seven stages through the centuries in degradation (Rev. 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6). How could the one Spirit be seven Spirits? In typology, there is the one lampstand with seven lamps. In existence it is one lampstand, but in function it is seven lamps. The stand is one, but the lamps are seven. This signifies that the one Spirit of God has a sevenfold intensified function.
Because there are seven churches, the Spirit of God has to be sevenfold. This means He is adequate and He is altogether sufficient to meet the need of all the churches. Sevenfold means all-inclusive. The seven churches signify all the churches in the seven stages through the centuries in degradation. The sevenfold intensified Spirit of God meets the need of the degraded churches. The seven Spirits are before the throne of God for God’s administration, especially in the local churches (Rev. 1:4). The throne is for government.
The seven Spirits are the means for Christ, in taking care of the local churches as the High Priest trimming the seven lamps in the Holy Place, to speak to the church in Sardis, a dying church. Revelation 3:1 speaks of “He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.” This is Christ as the One who takes care of the church. He spoke to the church in Sardis, a dying church. Such a dying church needed such a Christ to make it living through the seven Spirits. This verse also implies that the seven Spirits are for the seven stars. The seven stars are the leading ones. To be a star taking the lead in the church, you need the sevenfold Spirit.
The seven Spirits function as the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of God, executing God’s administration by enlightening and burning for judging and stirring up (Rev. 4:5; Zech. 4:2, 6). Because we may be in darkness, we need the enlightening. In darkness, we are also dead, so we need the judgment to burn away all the dross. Meanwhile, we need to be motivated, stirred up. In the degraded churches, such enlightening and judging are surely needed.
The seven Spirits also function as the seven eyes of the Lamb (of Jehovah—Zech. 4:10) being sent forth into all the earth for watching over, observing, and searching all the churches with the power of Christ—the seven horns of the Lamb (Rev. 5:6). Revelation refers to the seven eyes of the Lamb, but Zechariah 4 speaks of the seven eyes of Jehovah. The seven Spirits are the seven eyes of the Lamb, of Jehovah, sent forth into all the earth. These eyes are for watching, for observing. Today we have seven eyes watching over us. We may not have this kind of realization. Instead we may be loose and light. But we have to realize that Christ is watching over us with seven eyes. He is observing us. The seven Spirits as the seven eyes of the Lamb are for observing and searching the churches with the power of Christ. The seven eyes go along with the seven horns of the Lamb. Christ’s watching eyes are observing and searching with His power.