In this chapter we will see the most practical factor vital to the recovery of the church life. This is the factor of the operation of the all-inclusive Spirit through the cross in the church life. This is not a doctrinal factor, but a practical one. This factor is mainly composed of two elements: the Spirit and the cross. It is the Spirit who operates, and it is the cross that puts to death. The Spirit is the operating element, and the cross is the killing element.
This factor is vital to the recovery of the church life because, although we have been regenerated, we still live in the old man. Moreover, there are many negative things associated with the old man, and all these must be killed. In fact, the Lord Jesus has already crucified all these negative things on the cross. But this is only the objective side. This objective crucifixion must now be applied subjectively to us. This subjective application of the cross of Christ is carried out by the operating Spirit.
In the preceding chapters we have seen that the Bible first unveils four main items: God, Christ, the Spirit, and the divine life. From these four items the believers are produced, and the believers are built together to be the church. Therefore, God, Christ, the Spirit, the divine life, the believers, and the church are the crucial matters revealed in the Bible.
The Bible reveals that God is embodied in Christ. God and Christ are one, and Christ is God Himself embodied. Furthermore, this Christ who is the embodiment of God is realized as the Spirit. We should not consider that Christ is One who is separate from God, or that the Spirit is a third One who is separate from Christ. This concept is according to human thought, not according to the Bible. The Bible states clearly that God and Christ are one (John 10:30; 17:22), and that Christ and the Spirit are also one (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). God is embodied in Christ, and Christ is realized as the Spirit. When God moves, comes to us, and reaches us, He is the Spirit. This Spirit regenerates us, making us the believers, the sons of God, and the members of Christ. By this we see that God, Christ, and the Spirit are now one with the believers. We have God within us (Eph. 4:6), we have Christ within us (2 Cor. 13:5), and we have the Spirit within us (Rom. 8:9). The Triune God is now living in our spirit. As the One living in our spirit, He is our life, not our natural life, but the divine life added into our being.
We all need to realize that, as believers in Christ, we are wonderful persons. Each of us is wonderful because we have God in us, we have Christ in us, and we have the Spirit in us. The Triune God today is living in us as our life. Therefore, we are God-men, human beings who have the Triune God in us. This very God who is in us today is Christ, this Christ in us is the Spirit, and this Spirit in us is the divine life. We are human beings, yet we have the divine life in us. This is wonderful, marvelous, and excellent. When we as people who possess the divine life come together, we are the church. In this sense, the church is wonderful. The church is a wonderful people who possess God, Christ, the Spirit, and the divine life.
On the other hand, in the church life the situation may not always be so wonderful. For example, in the meetings we may sing “Hallelujah, hallelujah,” but at other times we may not be happy with one another, although we are all brothers and sisters in the church. You may even dislike a particular brother so much that when you meet him outside the meeting hall, you turn your face away to avoid looking at him. A sister may not feel happy about her mother-in-law or her sister-in-law. However, all three are sisters in the church. Although they all like to attend the meetings of the church, the sister does not like to see her mother-in-law or her sister-in-law, and she selects a particular seat so that they cannot sit next to her.
This kind of behavior is not at all wonderful; rather, it is very low. In Matthew 10:29-31 the Lord likened the believers to sparrows. Sparrows are small, yet they can fly. But sometimes Christians behave in a way which is more like a turtle creeping than a sparrow flying. Perhaps a sister loves her husband, but feels that her mother-in-law is intolerable. Furthermore, she cannot bear her husband’s younger sister. The sister, her husband, her mother-in-law, and her sister-in-law are all in the church, but they cannot love one another. This may be the situation with some of the families in the church life.
We may have a similar problem with our feelings about the church itself. Perhaps when you came to the church ten years ago, it seemed to you that the church was wonderful. That time was your church life “honeymoon.” You felt that the elders, the sisters, the brothers, the old ones, and the young ones were all wonderful. Everything in the church life was wonderful. However, after some time things began to look not so wonderful. Some of the elders were very peculiar, very strong in their opinions. You could not bear this. Then you began to realize that the older sisters in the church talked too much and criticized others, and that the older brothers were not knowledgeable in spiritual things. The young sisters were a little better, but the young brothers were intolerable. Thus, you began to have mixed feelings about the church. In a sense you liked it, because its practices were according to the truths of the Bible. Because the church was so scriptural, so much according to the Bible, you felt that you must come to the church meetings. Although the church sometimes seemed to be very good, at other times it seemed to be not so good. The brothers and sisters in the church where you were seemed to behave more like turtles creeping than birds flying. When a problem arose, instead of flying away, they argued and criticized one another. I am familiar with all these things because I have been in the church life for more than fifty-two years. I have passed through many experiences in the church life in many different localities.
All these situations point out why we need another factor, the factor of the operation of the Spirit. In one sense we all are wonderful people because we have the divine life, but in another sense we still live in our old man. We need to realize that none of us is completely holy, because we are still in the old man. We still have our old nature, our bad temper, our likes and dislikes, our emotions, our intentions, our choices, and our peculiarities. Because we still have so many negative elements in us, we are not holy. At most, we are partially holy. This is shown by the fact that a sister who sings and praises the Lord in the meeting may be offended by her husband a short time later and speak to him sharply. Although in the meeting she was singing “Hallelujah,” in this situation she is unable to say “Hallelujah.” This shows that we are not holy. Yes, we are wonderful because we have the divine life, but we also still possess our fallen natural life.
This is why we need to take Christ as our sin offering and our trespass offering every time we come to contact God (Heb. 10:19-22). We must confess that we are still sinful, that we are still not pure, and that we need the Lord’s precious blood to cleanse us all the time. Without taking the Lord Jesus as our sin offering and trespass offering, we simply have no way to contact God. This is why 1 John 1:3-7 tells us that in order to remain in the divine fellowship of the divine life, we need the continuous cleansing of the Lord’s blood. Our fellowship with God is often broken by our natural life. Therefore, we need the cleansing blood to restore us to the fellowship of the divine life.
Today in the church life there is the need of much operation by the Spirit. Today the Spirit is continually operating in you, in me, and in all the brothers and sisters. But although we may know this, we often do not care for the Spirit’s operation. For example, perhaps you do not like a particular brother in the church. But the operating Spirit in you tells you that you must love him because he is your brother. Sometimes you may even argue with the operating Spirit, saying that although that brother is indeed a believer, you do not like him because his behavior does not suit you. Nevertheless, the operating Spirit tells you again and again that you must love that brother. Surely you have had experiences like this in which you talked to the operating Spirit within you.
Many sisters have problems getting along with their mothers-in-law. Some sisters have even told me that they argued with the Spirit within them about this matter. I told them that the Lord in His sovereignty gave them such a mother-in-law in order for them to learn some lessons. Although the sisters realized this, they said that they still could not bear their mothers-in-law, and they admitted that they argued with the Holy Spirit about it. This proves that we all have the operating Spirit within us. However, we need the Lord’s mercy and grace to obey this operating Spirit. This Spirit is the realization of Christ, who is the embodiment of God. This Spirit is just God as the divine life living in you. Your destiny as a Christian is to listen to this Spirit. The Triune God is now within you as the all-inclusive Spirit with the bountiful supply. If you would cooperate with Him and listen to Him, He would supply you with His bountiful supply. Nothing is difficult for Him. For you your mother-in-law may be a problem, but by the Spirit your mother-in-law will become a blessing. You cannot bear her, but the Spirit can. Simply commit yourself to the Spirit. Cast yourself upon the Spirit and tell Him, “I want to obey You, I want to trust in You, and I want to be one with You.” Immediately you will enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.