«　WEEK 2　DAY 6　»

　　John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

　　6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

　　John 3:30 speaks of Christ’s increase. This increase is the multiplication and reproduction of Christ. It is important for us to know that the regenerated part of our being is the reproduction, the multiplication, of Christ. This increase of Christ is His bride.

　　Our natural life and living are not part of the increase of Christ. For example, if you speak in a natural, joking manner, you are not living as part of Christ’s increase. On the contrary, that way of speaking is part of the serpentine being, and the serpentine being cannot be part of Christ’s bride, His increase. Only the regenerated part of our being, our regenerated spirit, is Christ’s increase. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, “The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” p. 150)

　　According to John 3:34, Christ as the One sent by God speaks the words of God. The Greek word translated “words” is rhema, which refers to the instant and present spoken word. It differs from logos, which refers to the constant word, as in John 1:1. In John 6:63…the Greek word rhema is used. The Spirit is living and real but rather mysterious and intangible and difficult for us to comprehend. But the Lord’s words are substantial. First, the Lord indicated that for giving life, He would become the Spirit. Then He said that the words He speaks are spirit and life. This shows that His spoken words are the embodiment of the life-giving Spirit. He is now the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and the Spirit is embodied in His words. When we receive His words by exercising our spirit, we receive the Spirit who is life.

　　In the New Testament God speaks through only one person, and that person is His Son [Heb. 1:1-2a]…. All the New Testament ministers of the Word are part of God’s speaking in the Son. Paul’s speaking in his ministry, for example, was part of this speaking of God in His Son.

　　In our speaking we desire to be one spirit with Christ, the Son of God. Often before I minister the Word, I pray, “Lord, be one spirit with me in my speaking. Lord, I want to practice being one spirit with You in the speaking of Your word.” If I do not have the assurance that I am one spirit with the Lord, I do not have any desire to speak. To be one spirit with the Lord in our speaking of the word means that we are truly in the Son of God. All the genuine speakers of the divine word of the New Testament are part of God’s speaking in the Son. Today God the Father speaks in the Son, and the Son includes all the New Testament ministers of the Word.

　　What are we doing as we carry on the ministry of the Word? We are speaking God into people. We are speaking the divine essence into others. Many of us can testify that as a result of listening to the genuine ministry of the Word, we receive the essence of God….Then after the word has been received by us, it becomes spirit and life in us. The Spirit is actually the essence of God becoming the very life within us.…The word in our ministry must be the very essence of our God.

　　The unique way for us to become the universal increase of the unlimited Christ is to receive the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit. The more we have of the Spirit, the more we will be Christ’s increase. This increase begins with our regeneration, and it consummates with our being filled with the immeasurable Spirit. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, “The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” pp. 156-158, 161)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, “The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” chs. 6-7, 9, 11-13