The measurements of the four spices also have their significance. The first, myrrh, and the last, cassia, both weigh five hundred shekels. Five hundred, composed of one hundred times five, signifies a hundredfold responsibility. However, the two in the middle, cinnamon and calamus, measure two hundred and fifty shekels each, and together they form one unit. There are three units of five hundred; the first and last units are not split, but the middle unit is divided in half. Here you can see that not only “one” and “four” are here, but “three” is also here. This three is the Triune God, and the middle One of the Triune God was indeed split. He was divided and split on the cross.
This is so wonderful! Here we have the unique God, the “three” of the Trinity, and the “four” of the created man all compounded together to become the holy anointing ointment. In this ointment there are God, man, the Lord’s death, the effectiveness of His death, the Lord’s resurrection, the power of His resurrection, the sweetness of death, and the fragrance of resurrection. This is the Spirit today. This Spirit is the Spirit of reality in John 14. Also in John 20 this is the Spirit the disciples received when the Lord breathed into them. This Spirit is the all-inclusive Spirit. Hallelujah! Today in the universe this Spirit has been consummated.
For an analogy, I will call this Spirit the all-effective ointment that can cure all diseases. Not only does this Spirit kill the germs, but He also supplies life. I am not joking; I speak this out of my own experience. In 1954, in Hong Kong, I released messages saying that the Lord’s death is in the Holy Spirit. With good intention a brother advised me to change the expression the Lord’s death is in the Holy Spirit to the effectiveness of the Lord’s death is in the Holy Spirit. But this is actually so; the Lord’s death is in the Holy Spirit. Not all deaths are the same. The death of Adam is different from the death of Christ. When Adam died, we were finished; when Christ died, we were all made alive. In the Holy Spirit there is not the death of Adam but the death of Christ. Adam’s death is detestable, but Christ’s death is so sweet. If He did not die, how could we live? Today the death of Christ on the cross has been included in the Spirit. We know this from the two types of death. First, myrrh signifies death. Second, the numbers in the type of the ointment signify death. Of the three units, the middle unit of five hundred shekels was split into two halves, each half being of two hundred and fifty shekels.
Oh, the Spirit today is too mysterious, too abstract, and too difficult to express in words! However, in His wisdom God has shown us a picture in the Old Testament-the holy anointing ointment. At one time olive oil was used to anoint kings for God. However, in the tabernacle, which signifies the church, the oil alone is not enough; it must be compounded with four kinds of spices, which typify the Lord’s person, His death, the effectiveness of His death, His resurrection, and the power of His resurrection. All that He had experienced was compounded with the olive oil. In this way the olive oil became an ointment.
The apostle John did not say, “The oil which you have received from Him.” Instead he said, “The anointing which you have received from Him.” I hope that you, the young people, will realize that today the Spirit that is in you is the ointment, not just the oil. These four spices-the Lord’s death, the effectiveness of His death, His resurrection, and the power of His resurrection-are compounded in the Holy Spirit. Your experience can testify that you do not have to exert any effort to reckon yourself dead. You just need to call on the Lord more often. When you call from deep within, “O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!”, your flesh is put to death. This is our experience.
When we apply the Spirit as the holy anointing ointment into us, this ointment, as an all-effective ointment, can kill all kinds of germs and supply us with all the nutrients. Hallelujah! This is the Spirit, and today this Spirit is with us.
This is the Gospel of John. It starts with the God who was in the beginning, and at the end it is the Spirit who has entered into us to be our breath, our living water, our spiritual food, our life, and our life supply. We can eat Him, drink Him, and live by Him.
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