THE PROPHESYING SPIRIT
I fell before his feet to worship him. And he said to me, Do not do this. I am your fellow slave and a fellow slave of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of the prophecy. (19:10)
The administrating Spirit is mainly for prophesying, so the administrating Spirit is also the prophesying Spirit, who is for the testimony of Jesus. You should never think that administration and judgment are only for administration and judgment. No! All of God’s administration and judgment are for the testimony of the Lord Jesus. When you receive the enlightenment from the throne, are searched inwardly, and are judged, that is the time the prophesying Spirit testifies for the Lord Jesus. Thus, the administrating Spirit is the prophesying Spirit for the testimony of Christ.
THE GOD OF THE SPIRITS OF THE PROPHETS
He [the angel] said to me, These words are faithful and true; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show to His slaves the things which must quickly take place. (22:6)
This tells us that God as our God is in our spirit. He is our God not in our soul but in our spirit. God is Spirit, and as such He is the God in our spirit. He is the God of the spirits of the prophets. If we want to understand the things of God as the prophets do, then we must be in spirit. If we are not in spirit, we cannot have God as our God, nor can we understand the things of God.
THE SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH BEING ONE
The Spirit and the bride say, Come! (v. 17)
At the end of Revelation, the Spirit and the church have become one, and they are speaking together. The word spoken by the bride, the church, is the word spoken by the Spirit, and the Spirit speaks through the bride, the church. The Spirit speaks together with the bride.
In summary, the Spirit in Revelation is in six aspects. First, “I was in spirit” (1:10). Second, the Lord’s speaking is the Spirit’s speaking, and the Lord’s speaking must be repeated by the Spirit. Third, the Spirit of the Lord today is the seven Spirits as the expression of the Lord Himself to enlighten us, search us, judge us, and burn us. Fourth, the Lord as the Spirit is the prophesying Spirit for the testimony of the Lord Jesus. Fifth, God can only be our God in this Spirit, so He is the God of our spirits, the God of the spirits of the prophets. Sixth, the Spirit speaks through the church; the church and the Spirit become one to speak for God. If you put these six aspects together, you can see that today everything hinges on this Spirit. It is by this Spirit that you can see the visions and understand the mysterious things of God. It is by this Spirit that you can hear the words which were already spoken by the Lord. Furthermore, if you are a saved person, then you are certainly one who has first been judged. The seven Spirits of God first come to judge you. The seven Spirits of God are among the seven golden lampstands first judging His church, His household. If we fall behind in being judged, then it proves that we have been disapproved. If we are judged last, we are the disapproved ones; if we are judged first, we are the saved ones. In this way, we have the prophesying Spirit and can testify for the Lord in this Spirit. Then we can touch God as the Spirit in our spirit. God is the God of our spirit. Eventually, the Spirit and we become one. The Spirit speaks out from within us, and our speaking is by this Spirit.
Therefore, brothers, I feel deeply and believe truly that nothing in the New Testament is more important than the Spirit. However, from times past to the present time, this Spirit has been mostly neglected. Today most people pay attention to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Some pay a small amount of attention to the indwelling Spirit, but no one has developed the matter of the indwelling Spirit as much, as richly, or as broadly as we have today. In these past few days what we have studied is just an outline. Following this, you still have to spend time to study the details carefully and pray over them in spirit.
The Lord Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life;...the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). The words spoken by the Lord to you must be spirit before they can be life. How can the words spoken to you by the Lord become spirit to you? You must turn them into prayer. You take the word that you have read and understood and turn it into spirit, and it is in spirit that you will see the visions. This is the Spirit’s speaking to you. The Lord has already spoken the things in the Bible, but now in the Spirit He will speak them to you. This is when your inward being will truly seem to have seven lamps of fire burning and shining in it. Having been enlightened and searched within, you will see many things that need to be judged. When you are judged in this way, the Spirit in you will become the testifying Spirit, the prophesying Spirit, who is for the testimony of the Lord Jesus. You will also touch the presence of God. At this time the Spirit and you will become one. I hope that you will truly have the practice, exercise, and experience of these matters.
(The Spirit in the Epistles, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee)
