Hence, within this life-giving Spirit, there is God, man, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. He is Jesus, Christ, the Triune God, and the Spirit. This is the One all men need. He is also the One we love to preach about. He is life, and He is also the Savior. He is the true I AM. Whatever we need, He is. He is love, patience, power, authority, and everything we need. His name is Jesus Christ. His person is the Spirit. When we call “O Lord Jesus!’’ what comes to us is the Spirit. The Spirit is the Triune God, the Jehovah of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ of the New Testament. He is the Lord, the life, and the Redeemer. Through calling on His name, we receive the Spirit who, as the Spirit of life that gives life, becomes everything we need.
This is easy to say, but the fact is not that simple. We can illustrate this with electricity. We know that electricity is in the power station, but through the installation of the electric wires, electricity is joined to our house. In the house there are many electrical appliances, such as the electric fan, the air conditioner, the electric lamp, and the sound system. When we need to use these appliances, all we need to do is to turn on the switch, and the electricity will come; the fan will turn, the air conditioner will work, the lamps will light up, and the sound will come. What I am speaking about here is like the all-purpose electricity; there is light, air, and sound. It supplies whatever we need.
In the Chinese characters, the words electricity and Spirit are made of the same root character, which means rain. The two are of the same kind; both come from heaven. The Bible says that the Lord is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). It also says that when the Son of Man comes, He will be like the lightning (Matt. 24:27). Today, we all know that in order to have electricity, we need to turn on the switch. In the same way, in order to apply the all-inclusive Spirit of the Lord, we need to learn to turn on the switch. Today, all the millions of truly regenerated Christians have the heavenly electricity installed into them, but they do not all know where the switch is. They do not even know that there is such a switch. This is the reason, when I came to America twenty-seven years ago, I told people right from the start that the Lord Jesus today is the Spirit. Within us is a spirit, and the Lord as the Spirit desires to enter into our spirit. The spirit within man is made to receive God the Spirit. This is like a radio receiver with a receiving device within it made especially to receive the radio waves in the air. In God’s creation, there is a part in man that is very peculiar, which is his spirit. It is the organ to receive God.
When I first came to America, everywhere I went, I spoke to people about this matter. Many had never heard such words before. They knew of only two kinds of spirits, the Holy Spirit of God and the evil spirit of the devil. They did not know that there is a spirit within man. I often quoted three verses from the Scriptures and read to them. Every one of these three portions speaks of two spirits, the Spirit of God and the human spirit. The first portion is John 3:6, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’’ The second is John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’’ The third portion is Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.’’ When we are saved, our spirit is regenerated, and God’s Spirit enters into our spirit, strengthening our spirit and bringing God’s life into our spirit.
I have preached the gospel to some Chinese Confucianists before. They always think that Christianity is a foreign religion: that the Bible is merely a book translated in very good contemporary literary style; that what it talks about is nothing but “Wo-men, Ne-men, Ta-men, and Amen,’’ that is, “We, you, they, and Amen,’’ and that there is nothing deep or profound about it. When I was young, I was taught briefly under the old Chinese school system, and I learned some classical Chinese works. I knew that the highest teaching of the Confucianists tells men that “the Way of the Great Learning lies in the development of the bright virtue.’’ The development of the bright virtue is equivalent to the function of the conscience expounded by Wang Yang-ming, a Chinese philosopher. It is also the same as the conscience that we speak of. The Way of the Great Learning in Confucianism is the enlightening and development of this bright virtue. The Bible, however, clearly tells us that man is composed of three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body (1 Thes. 5:23). Within the body there is the soul, and within the soul there is the spirit. When we believe in the Lord and call on Him, He as the life-giving Spirit enters into our spirit. The two spirits are added together, joined, and mingled as one spirit. Through this, He brings to us God and the life of God as well, and He enlivens our deadened spirit. Now, within the spirit of the saved believers, there is the Spirit. There is also God and the life of God. This is much greater than the bright virtue. The bright virtue, which is the conscience, is only a part of the spirit. In addition to this part, the spirit also has two other parts: fellowship and intuition.
For my whole life, I have been reading mainly this one book, the Bible. Do not say that this is a foreign religion. Although it did come from the West, it is not a product of the West. Its origin is heaven. It is God in heaven who prompted over forty writers to complete this book within a period of fifteen hundred years. The revelations contained in it are too deep and profound. This revelation is what I am speaking this time, that is, the Triune God becoming the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. This Spirit is simply God Himself entering into us to be our life and all our ways. Do you want to live Christ and serve in coordination? All you need to do is to touch this Spirit and to allow this Spirit to operate within you. The way we touch this Spirit is by turning on the switch, which is to call “O Lord Jesus!’’
The wonder in the kernel of the Bible is that the Triune God as Jehovah has passed through all the processes including death and resurrection to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit of life. This is the One we preach and testify today. This is also the One we believe in, receive, follow, and worship. He is in heaven, and He is also with us and in us. He is our life, to be our way in everything.
(God's Way in Life, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)