We need to spend time reading and pray-reading all the verses related to the way the Apostle Paul served God in his spirit. Paul had been a person zealous in serving the God of his forefathers, but he was zealous in his natural emotion. Now he is no longer zealous in his natural emotion, but he is burning in his regenerated spirit and burdened in his spirit.
Acts 19:21 tells us that “Paul purposed in the spirit...to go to Jerusalem,” and Acts 20:22 says that he was going to Jerusalem “bound in the spirit.” Some versions capitalize the word spirit in these two verses, because in Greek there is the definite article—the Spirit. It is rather hard for anyone to say whether the spirit mentioned in Acts 19:21 and 20:22 is the Holy Spirit or Paul’s human spirit, because by that time the Holy Spirit was one with Paul’s spirit. Paul the apostle was a person with a mingled spirit. According to 1 Corinthians 6:17, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” Who can say whether this one spirit is human or divine?
We need to see that all that the Father is, is now in the Son, and all that the Son has obtained, attained, and accomplished, with all that the Father is, is now in the Holy Spirit (John 16:14-15). And the Holy Spirit as the heavenly electricity has been installed into our spirit. This is too wonderful, too marvelous! We are joined to the Lord as the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, we are one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). Whenever we exercise our spirit even a little bit, the all-inclusive divine Spirit with all the fullness, the riches, of the Trinity of the Godhead, moves right away within our spirit. All that is in this heavenly electricity moves and works in us. It is not a small matter to switch on. When you switch on, you get every element of the electricity. If you exercise your spirit, all the riches, all the fullness, of the Trinity of the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—are available to you.
We have seen clearly that the Body of Christ is absolutely in the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit is absolutely in our spirit. Therefore, the Body of Christ is altogether a matter in our spirit. The book of Ephesians confirms this. Ephesians 1 tells us that we can see the church only in our spirit (vv. 17-23). Ephesians 2 tells us that the building of the church, the Body, both universally and locally, is in our spirit (vv. 20-22). Then chapter three tells us that we need to be strengthened into our inner man, the regenerated human spirit (v. 16). Chapter four tells us that we are being renewed in the spirit of our mind (v. 23), and chapter five tells us that we need to be filled in our human spirit unto all the fullness of God (v. 18, with 3:19). Finally, chapter six tells us that we need to pray as the church, as the Body, in the spirit (v. 18). From all these verses we can see that the Body is altogether a matter in our spirit.
Whenever we turn to our spirit and exercise our spirit, we touch the Body, because the Body is in our spirit. When we exercise our spirit and touch the Body, not only do we have power, but we have the authority, because the Body is identified with the enthroned Head, with the lordship, with the headship, and with the kingship. The authority of the Head is with the Body. When you exercise your spirit, you touch the Body, and when you touch the Body, you are in the authority of the Head. In doing any business, there is the need of capital to work with. We may say that the authority of the Head is the capital for our service. The capital that we need for service is the authority of the Head, and the way for us to touch this authority is by exercising our spirit. We touch the power in electricity by switching on. In a similar way, we touch the authority of the Head when we exercise our spirit. This is not a small thing.
Many dear saints are weak because they damage their spirit. Then, speaking in a practical way, they are out of the reality of the Body. When you are out of the reality of the Body, you are powerless. You have no power because you lose the practical connection with the Body. Your spirit can be damaged by only a little bit of gossiping, a little bit of murmuring, or a little bit of dissatisfaction. Even a very thin piece of paper that gets into a switch can cut off the flow of electricity. When this happens, the power is lost. A little bit of murmuring, a little bit of gossiping, or a little bit of dissatisfaction with certain brothers is enough to cut you off from the flow of the divine electricity.
You may think that a little gossip or a little criticism of others is not very important. But just as a piece of very thin paper can cut off the flow of electricity, only a little gossip or criticism is sufficient to cause you to be out of the spirit and, therefore, out of the reality of the Body. From experience I know too well that a very small thing in my spirit disconnects me from the flow of the heavenly electricity. Then I am through, I am finished, as far as the power and authority are concerned. There is no power and no authority, because the power and the authority of the Head are in the Body, not in me individually, and the Body is absolutely a matter in the spirit. Therefore, all the time we need to keep ourselves in our spirit connected to the Holy Spirit. Then we will have not only the power but also the authority of the Head. When we turn to the spirit, we get into the reality of the Body, and in the Body we are empowered and authorized by the Head.