THE INITIAL EXPERIENCE
OF THE TRIUNE GOD
In order to have this all-inclusive life-giving Spirit and to experience the Spirit, we must first be reborn or regenerated by Him. Regeneration is the initial experience of our Triune God.
THE SON INSEPARABLE FROM THE FATHER
Do not try to separate the Father from the Son, or the Son from the Father. The New Testament reveals that while the Son is here, the Father is with Him. Furthermore, the coming of the Spirit is also the coming of the Son, and the Son always comes with the Father. John 6:46 says, "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except Him Who is from God, He has seen the Father." The Greek preposition translated "from" is para. Here the sense of this preposition is "from with." The Lord is not only from God, but also with God. While He is from God, He is still with God (John 8:16, 29; 16:32). In these verses the Lord seemed to be saying, "I come from with My Father. When I come from My Father, I come with Him." This means that when the Son comes, the Father is with Him. When the Son was sent by the Father, the Son was sent not only by the Father, but also with the Father. When the Father sent the Son, the Father came with the Son. Therefore, when we receive the Son, we receive the Father.
This may offend our religious mentality. The religious mind always tries to figure this out. But the more it tries, the more difficulty it has, because the Father is with the Son, and the Son is now the life-giving Spirit. First Corinthians 15:45 says, "The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." If you argue that the Spirit here is not the Holy Spirit, then I would say that you believe that there are two Spirits that give life. Christ today is the life-giving Spirit. If this life-giving Spirit is not the Holy Spirit, then you believe in two life-giving Spirits. Do you believe that in the universe there are two life-giving Spirits? Certainly it is heresy to teach this. Our God is triune. As the Triune God, He has passed through the complete process and today is the all-inclusive Spirit. I do not care for the explanation of this—I care only for the fact. The Bible reveals that Christ today is the life-giving Spirit. If we would experience Him, we must be born of Him. As soon as a sinner confesses his sin to God and believes in the Son of God, he is born again of the Triune God. However, everyone who has been born again needs to experience this Spirit more and more.
EXPERIENCING THE SPIRIT IN TWO ASPECTS
We need to experience the Spirit in two main aspects. In the first aspect we experience the Spirit from within, as the One within us. In the second aspect we experience the Spirit from without, as the One upon us. We need to experience Him from within and from without. This is pictured for us in the meal offering. The meal offering is made of fine flour mingled with oil (Lev. 2:5-6). When the fine flour is mingled with the oil, the oil must get into the flour. This is the oil within the fine flour. Leviticus 2:6 then says, "Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereupon." This is the oil upon the flour. First the oil is mingled with the fine flour to form a lump, and then the oil is poured upon the lump. Thus, the oil is both within the meal offering and upon it. The meal offering is permeated, saturated, and soaked with oil. This is a picture of what we should be. We all should be mingled with the Spirit, saturated with the Spirit, permeated with the Spirit, soaked with the Spirit, and also covered with the Spirit. Both within and without we should have the Spirit. Inside and outside we should be full of the Spirit. Thus, we are permeated, saturated, and soaked with the Spirit. This is the proper Christian life.
(The Spirit and the Body, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee)
