Drink the Spirit both Now and New Jerusalem
First Corinthians 12:13 tells us “in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body.” Ephesians 4:3 exhorts us concerning “the oneness of the Spirit” which is the oneness of the Body of Christ; 4:4 continues, “one Body and one Spirit.” These verses present the Spirit as the essence of the Body.
[Ephesians 4:4] indicates that the very Spirit is the essence and the substance of the Body, the church. The church today must be substantially and essentially the Spirit Himself. If there is no Spirit, there is no Body, no church. Without the Spirit all we have is a kind of human congregation. The church must be substantially and essentially the Spirit. When we sing a hymn, we sing it with the Spirit. When we speak, we speak with the Spirit. When we serve, we serve with the Spirit….The church must be one Body with the Spirit as its substance.*
God and the Lamb are on the throne of New Jerusalem. Both today and in New Jerusalem the Spirit flows to us from the throne as the river of water of life because we “were all given to drink one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). By our drinking the Spirit we are constituted with Him.
Isaiah tells us “you will draw water with rejoicing from the springs of salvation” (12:2b-3). In verses 4 to 6 he gives us many ways to drink the Spirit, all of which will probably still be true in New Jerusalem—give thanks, call upon His name (Rom. 10:12-13), make His deeds known, sing psalms, cry out and shout (in praise).
* From chapter 41, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986
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Posted by Don on September 20, 2023
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