We have already seen that resurrection is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit bears resurrection, resurrection is in the Holy Spirit, and ascension is also in the Holy Spirit. After we are saved, we may read the Bible and various spiritual publications. As a result, we may see that we have been resurrected together with Christ and are ascended together with Christ. However, for many years after our salvation, we may live merely in this empty doctrine because we may only believe and say what the Bible says. We may say, “Amen, that is right. We have been resurrected together with Christ and are ascended together with Christ.” But as far as our experience is concerned, we have not been resurrected or ascended. One day, however, the Lord will show us that resurrection and ascension are in the Holy Spirit. Where the Holy Spirit is, there is resurrection and ascension. When the Holy Spirit comes into us, resurrection and ascension also come into us.
Today the question is not whether we have ascended to the heavens but whether the Holy Spirit has entered into us. Today it is not a matter of us having to die, to be resurrected, and to ascend to the heavens. Rather, it is a matter of death, resurrection, and ascension already being in the Holy Spirit. Everything that God has, has passed through, and has attained are all in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is so rich.
Do we realize this? Do we believe this? We may have been Christians for many years but may still think that the cross is merely the cross, the Holy Spirit is merely the Holy Spirit, and the two are not related. One day, however, God will open our eyes to show us that the Holy Spirit is very rich. All the riches of God are in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who dwells in us today is so rich. Not only is all that God has in the Holy Spirit, but all that God has passed through and attained are also in the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Holy Spirit there is no cross, no resurrection, and no ascension in our experience. Death, resurrection, and ascension are all in the Holy Spirit. Only by knowing the Holy Spirit in such a way are we able to experience His riches.
Where is God? Where is God’s power? Where is God’s character? Where is all that God has done? Where is incarnation? Where is Christ? Where is the death of the cross? Where is resurrection? Where is ascension? Where is holiness? Where is the revelation of God? Where is the enlightenment of God? Where is the anointing of God? Where is the Word of God? Where is the vision of God? There is only one answer—in the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to find something that God has, is, has passed through, has accomplished, or has attained that is not in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is so great and so rich!
When I was young, I knew that God was triune, but my concept was that the Father was the highest, the Son was lower, and the Spirit was the lowest. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are equal, but in our understanding we usually arrange them in order of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, thinking that the Son is lower than the Father and that the Spirit is lower than the Son. Many people think that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are like stairs. The Father is the first step, the Son is the second, and the Spirit is the third. We must see that the Father is in the Spirit and that the Son is also in the Spirit. Thus, when we touch the Spirit, we touch the Father, and when we touch the Spirit, we touch Christ the Son. If we are not experiencing the death of the cross, we are not living in the Spirit, because the death of the cross is in the Spirit. Where there is the reality of the Spirit, there is the death of the cross. Today if we do not have the reality of resurrection in us, this indicates that we are not in the Spirit and that we have lost the fellowship of the Spirit, because the element of resurrection is in the Spirit. When we touch the Spirit, we touch resurrection.
We are those who live on the earth, but whenever we live in our spirit, we sense that we are in the third heavens, living a heavenly life on the earth. However, whenever we live in the flesh and in ourselves, we immediately feel that we are crawling on the earth and that we are earthy, full of earthly feelings. Once we are filled with the Holy Spirit and live in the Holy Spirit, we will sense that we are living in the heavens. We will sense that we have ascended to the third heavens and that we are heavenly. Although we are still living on the earth, inwardly speaking, we may already be in the heavens. It is not we who have ascended to the heavens, but it is the heavens that have come into us, because the heavens are in the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes, He comes with God, incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension. All of these items have entered into us in the Holy Spirit.
Now we are clear as to what the Holy Spirit is, what the content of the Holy Spirit is, and what the Holy Spirit brings to us when He comes into us. Today God is realized as the Holy Spirit, Christ has become the Holy Spirit, incarnation is in the Holy Spirit, the death of the cross is in the Holy Spirit, resurrection and ascension are in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is in us. In other words, in the Holy Spirit are God, man, death, resurrection, and ascension, and because this Holy Spirit is in us, these five things are in us. Every time we live in the Spirit, we live in resurrection. Only when we are in resurrection, in our spirit, can we touch God. The Bible says that God is not the God of the dead but of the living (Matt. 22:32). If we are not in resurrection, we will never be able to touch God. For us to be in resurrection, however, we must be in the Spirit. The Spirit comprises God, man, death, resurrection, and ascension. All these spiritual matters are in the Spirit. In order to touch these spiritual matters, we must touch the Spirit.
In the past we thought that the matter of resurrection was objective and vague and that there was no way for us to touch or comprehend it. But now through the accurate revelation that the Lord has given to His church, we see that resurrection is in the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit is in us. He is not merely objective but very subjective. In fact, He is right inside of us. When we live in resurrection, we live in the Holy Spirit. In our experience we will feel that resurrection is not something vague but something real and practical.