According to Ephesians 2:22, the habitation of God is our human spirit. Remember that what is found in the Old Testament is a type and that what is found in the New Testament is the reality. The reality of the name is the Spirit, and the reality of the habitation is our human spirit. This is proved by the Lord’s word to the Samaritan woman in John 4. When she asked Him about the worship of God, saying, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men must worship” (John 4:20), He said, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall you worship the Father...But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and reality” (John 4:21, 23). Today’s Jerusalem is our spirit. The Father is seeking those who will worship Him in their human spirit.
Much has been said about unity. True unity is the oneness in the two spirits, the Holy Spirit, who is the person of the divine name, and our spirit, which is the habitation of God. In order for believers to be one, they must be in these two spirits. The real unity of the believers in the Body is this mingled spirit. This is today’s Jerusalem, the place God has chosen. It is possible to be on the local ground and yet not be truly one. We are on the local ground, in the local churches, not in the denominations and free groups. But if we are not in the mingled spirit, we are still lacking genuine unity. To repeat, real unity is in the mingling of the Holy Spirit with our human spirit. Because the Holy Spirit indwells our human spirit, these two spirits have been mingled together as one spirit. “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). This one spirit is today’s unique place chosen by God.
I have passed through many forms of Christianity. I was born into formal, organized Christianity; later I was saved and brought into fundamental Christianity. Then I was with the Brethren assembly and, after that, in the Pentecostal movement. I also was involved with the matter of the inner life. Praise the Lord that eventually I came to the church. When those in fundamental Christianity come together, they come together with forms, rituals, doctrines, and many other things. During the years I was in fundamental Christianity, I never realized that I needed to come together with others in the spirit. Many of you spent years in Christianity. Did you ever realize that you had to be in your human spirit? Your pastor was in his doctrine, others were in their ritual, and you, with your two critical, observing eyes, were in your mind. In situation after situation some were unhappy with their pastor and tried to oust him. But the pastor played politics like an able politician and was able to retain his position. Since those who wanted to depose him were unsuccessful, they were forced to leave that congregation. This all is a sharp contrast to genuine unity.
True unity is not in a practice, a doctrine, a ritual, or a form. True unity is in our spirit which is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who is the person of the divine name. Only in this place can we have the proper church life. The church has been divided because so many Christians have not been in the spirit. If in the church life we are not able by His mercy and grace to be kept in our spirit, we shall be divisive. Anyone who is not in the spirit will eventually be a dividing factor. During the past fourteen years in the United States, there have been few of these divisive ones among us. But I must admit that there has been a small number who refused to turn to the spirit. We knew them well, and we knew their way of living. It is a fact that they would never turn to the spirit, but always remained in the mind. Even in prayer they continued to exercise their mind, not their spirit. It was almost as if they did not have a spirit but had only an analytical mind. Hence, I became clear that sooner or later these brothers would be divisive. Eventually, the situation turned out to be just like this. Although we tried our best to avoid it, this was the eventual result because they never turned to the spirit. Today’s Christianity has been divided because of one thing—people are not in the spirit.
The human spirit today is Jerusalem, God’s chosen place. The material Jerusalem in the Old Testament was a type of our human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit and mingled with the Holy Spirit. This is the place where God puts His name and where His being dwells. It is also the place where He builds His habitation.