I. GOD BEING SPIRIT
In this message we want to see fifteen crucial aspects concerning the all-inclusive Spirit. The first point concerning the Spirit is mentioned in John 4:24, which says that God is Spirit. The source of the all-inclusive Spirit is God, who is Spirit. The word Spirit in John 4:24 does not refer to God’s person but to God’s nature. This is like saying that a person’s ring is gold. This means that gold is the nature of the ring. John 4:24 says, "God is Spirit." There is no article used in the Greek text in this verse. This is similar to saying, "Your ring is gold." No article, such as the or a, is needed before the word gold because it speaks about the nature. This is why John 4:24 simply says that God is Spirit. This means that God’s divine substance is Spirit.
II. THE THIRD OF THE DIVINE TRINITY
BEING THE HOLY SPIRIT
The three in the Divine Trinity are the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Third of the Divine Trinity is the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:20b; 28:19). I would like us to consider the importance of the Holy Spirit among the three in the Godhead. The sixty-six books of the Bible contain many important items. Is the most important item in Genesis or in Revelation? Genesis 2 speaks of a garden with a wonderful tree, the tree of life, and man was put in this garden. But at the end of the Bible, there is a wonderful city. Which is more important—the garden or the city? Surely the city is more important because the New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the divine revelation in the holy Scriptures. Thus, according to the basic principle, the last is the most important. Among the three of the Trinity, the Spirit is the most important in the sense of His being the realization, application, and reaching of the Triune God to us.
We saw in the previous message that the Son is the center of the Divine Trinity, expressing the Father and being realized as the Spirit. This shows us that the Son is the axis. The Son is the link. Without the Son, we cannot see the Father; and without the Son, we cannot get the Spirit. If we have the Son, we have both the Father and the Spirit. This is the very important thought in John 14.
The Lord told His disciples that in His Father’s house, there were many abodes and that He was going to prepare a place for them (v. 2). Then Thomas said, "Lord, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?" (v. 5). Then the Lord answered, "I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me" (v. 6). The way to the Father is the Lord Jesus. Later, Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us" (v. 8). Then the Lord said, "Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (v. 9). This means that the Lord is the Father. The Son and the Father are one person. The Lord also said, "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me" (v. 11). Who can be in another person and the other person be in him? For someone to say that he is with another one and the other one is with him is easy to understand. John 1:1 says that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God. But then it goes on to say that the Word was God. First, the Word was "with" God; then eventually the Word "was" God. How can this be? This is the mystery in the book of John.
(The Christian Life, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)
