One day a wonderful person named Jesus Christ appeared on earth. He was a mystery to everyone, not only to those who were close to Him at that time but to all of human society for the nearly two thousand years since. Presently some Jewish scholars are studying the case of Jesus, and some Jewish lawyers are considering whether or not Jesus was fairly tried and sentenced. Jesus Christ is a wonderful person. Throughout the centuries, there have been many emperors, caesars, and czars, but today the entire world uses Christ’s calendar, not the calendar of Alexander the Great, Hitler, or any other world leader. Who is this Jesus of Nazareth? Why did He come to live on earth? This is all a mystery.
Is Christ still a mystery to you? For those who use their minds to understand the Lord Jesus, He remains a mystery. The Bible says that Christ is the mystery of God (Col. 2:2). If you know Christ, you know God, but if you do not know Christ, you do not have the key to understand God. Furthermore, if you do not know Christ, you do not know yourself, for Christ is the key both to you and to the universe. Without Christ, you do not have the way to “get inside” yourself. The unbelievers and sinners are all “outside” of themselves. But when we received Christ, we received the key that opens ourselves up. Now we have a way to enter into ourselves. Also, by receiving Christ we have found the key to understand the universe. I do not care how vast the universe is; I have the key to the universe, and I can communicate directly with the One who dwells in the center of the galaxies. I can make a “long distance call” from my home to that unique center, no matter how far away it is. When I speak, the One who dwells in the center of the galaxies directs me. Many times as I am ministering, I hear Him tell me to stop and not to touch a certain matter. I receive instructions from Him directly from the unique center of the universe.
As we have seen, Christ is the key to get into God. When you have Christ, God is open to you. Christ is the mystery of God. He is the explanation, interpretation, and definition of God. If you know Him, you know God. If you are in Him, you are in God. How wonderful!
Another mystery is the mystery of the Spirit. Who can say what the Spirit is and who the Spirit is? No one can see the Spirit or touch the Spirit, yet this mysterious Spirit is with us. The Spirit is the reality of Christ.
As Christians, we have wonderful times of either weeping or laughing. Sometimes it seems that you weep or laugh without understanding the reason for it. Every real Christian should have times when he is beside himself with joy in the Lord. If you have not had such experiences, it is an indication that you have not prayed sufficiently. When you pray sufficiently, you will be like a bouncing ball. You will be excited and filled with joy because you will be filled with the Spirit. In order to be filled with the Spirit, there is no need to speak in tongues. I have experienced the filling of the Spirit many times without speaking in tongues.
To be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with the pneuma, the air. Sometimes we are so full of the heavenly air that we cannot contain it. When we are in this condition, we are afraid of being seen by others, afraid that they will not understand what is happening to us. When we are filled with the Spirit, we may spontaneously repent for condemning others and ask the Lord to forgive us. By being filled with the air, we have holiness and victory over sin. Because of the filling of the Spirit, we are beside ourselves in the Lord. This is mysterious. I have been experiencing this mystery for years. I cannot teach it to you or explain it to you. You must breathe in the air yourself.
This mystery of the Spirit can change people’s lives in a moment. One minute a person may be a thief; the next minute he may be a saint. However, when he is no longer filled with the Spirit, he may be just as bad as he was before. When we are deflated, we are the worst ones, even as bad as Satan, but when we are filled with the Spirit, we are truly saints. Sometimes when Satan sees that we are full of the heavenly air, he deflates us. When this happens, the most holy saint becomes like Satan. The pneuma, the holiness, and the life all disappear. This is the experience of the mystery of the Spirit. No one can define this mystery. The real biography of the saints is the record of this mysterious Spirit.
(Basic Training, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)