How to Enjoy the Hidden Christ in Your Spirit

If you’ve received the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you have the most wonderful Person living inside you! But do you know how to enjoy this hidden Christ dwelling in your spirit?  

Seeing the pattern of God’s Old Testament dwelling place, the tabernacle or temple, can  help you to know how to enjoy this Christ who dwells in you.

The Bible refers to the believers as God’s temple. First Corinthians 6:19a says,

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you…?

The tabernacle or temple was made of three parts—the outer court, holy place and Holy of Holies.  In the same way, we as believers in Christ are “the temple of the Holy Spirit” with three parts—body, soul and spirit.

To meet with God, the priests needed to start in the outer court, pass through holy place, and enter into the Holy of Holies where God’s direct presence was.

Today, we need to spiritually follow the same pathway–from our body, through our soul, to enter into our spirit—the practical Holy of Holies within us. It is here that we can enjoy the hidden Christ dwelling in our spirit.

So in this post we’ll trace our “priestly journey” with a focus on how we can enter the Holy of Holies in our spirit to enjoy the hidden Christ every day.

How do you enjoy the hidden Christ in your spirit?

Start, with the experiences in the outer court

In the outer court there were only two items—the altar and the laver. At the altar,  the priests offered the sacrifices to God for acceptance. Then at the laver they were washed from defilement.

The altar is a type or a picture of the cross of Christ. It was there on the cross that Christ was offered as our sin offering, our Passover lamb. First Corinthians 5:7b says,  

“…for our Passover, Christ also has been sacrificed.”

From the moment you believe  in Christ’s death for your sins you begin to enjoy Christ as your Passover Lamb.

If you haven’t yet done so, take a moment to pray,

Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross to redeem me. I receive you as my Passover Lamb, my sin offering. Take away all my sins and cleanse me with your precious blood.

Second, the laver is a type or picture of the working of the Holy Spirit. After experiencing the altar of the cross, immediately the Holy Spirit begins to work, as signified by the laver.

After you receive Christ as your Passover, the Holy Spirit begins His cleansing work within and without. First Corinthians 6:11 says,

“And these things were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.“

Even now, whenever you call on the name of the Lord Jesus, His washing Spirit will cleanse you.  Every morning, take time at “the altar” and “the laver.”  That is, enjoy Christ as your offerings and get washed in His Spirit. Here are ten short morning prayers to usher you into this experience.

If you have had these experiences, even once, it means that you’ve been saved and are no longer “outside the outer court.”  You’re in the realm of God’s kingdom.  You’re redeemed, forgiven, regenerated,  and now being cleansed by the working of the Holy Spirit.  But this is not the end. There is much more…

Pass through the experiences of the holy place

From the outer court, the place you entered by believing in the Lord, you need to go on to the holy place. That’s where there is the table of the bread of God’s presence, the lampstand, and the incense altar.

 First, come to the “table” to feed on Christ.

The bread is a type of Christ as your heavenly food.  He is your Bread of Life.  John 6:35 says,  

“Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger; and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst.”

Christ is your abundant life supply, your heavenly bread,  like the manna which fell from heaven (Exo. 16). You’ve experienced Him as your Passover and the cleansing work of His Spirit, but have you gone on to experience Him as your daily manna? Every morning, take some time to feed on Christ in God’s Word. Here is a post to help you feed on the Lord in the Word.

Second, go on to the “lampstand” to be enlightened by Christ.

Christ is the light as well as the life.  John 8:12 says,

 “… he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

In our experience, when we feed on the Lord Jesus, we can sense His shining within enlightening us. Go on to pray according to the sense of His life within you.

Third, advance to the “altar of incense” to enjoy Christ as your sweet savor to God.

The experience of the incense altar is when we sense a savor, a sweet smelling odor  of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 it says that Christ…

 “… manifests the savor of the knowledge of Him through us in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God…”

After enjoying Christ as your food and light of life, you’re brought into His resurrection and within you is something sweet, spreading and ascending toward God. But don’t stop there!

Press on to the Ark in the Holy of Holies

We need to press on to enter into the Holiest of all.  The veil, which is the flesh, must be broken before we can enter the Holiest of all. Hebrews 10:19-20 says,  

“Having therefore brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus, which entrance He initiated for us as a new and living way through the veil, that is, His flesh.”

When we get into the Holy of Holies there is only one thing—the Ark—typifying Christ Himself.  In the Holiest, it is no more a matter of enjoying only something of or from Christ, but of enjoying Christ Himself.

What do you find inside the Ark?  

l. The hidden manna—this supply is deeper than the bread of the presence publicly displayed on the table, It is doubly hidden—within the golden pot, which was also hidden within the Ark. So we need to go deeper to enter into the secret place of the Almighty to touch the heavenly Christ Himself.

2. The inner law—It’s a hidden, inner, and deeper light than the open shining of the lampstand in the Holy Place . We need to have Christ as our living law hidden within us, to know Christ inwardly in a deeper way.

3. The budding rod—It’s similar to the savor of the incense which was openly expressed, but being experienced in a hidden deeper way. Both signify the resurrected Christ.

Press Deeper into Christ

Like the Hebrew believers, we must discern our spirit for our soul.  Hebrews 4:12 says,

“For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The lesson for us is simple: we must go on and press on from the outward things— gifts, knowledge, and practices–to Christ Himself who is now dwelling in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22).

If we are not in the spirit, we need to pray so that the cross can deal with our flesh and soul.

We need to press on to enter into our spirit in order to touch Christ Himself and experience the deeper Christ as the hidden manna, the inner law, and the secret budding rod. Hebrews 4:16 says,

 “Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help.”

Now we all have to check where we are.

Are we at the altar or laver? Have we gone on to the table, the light and the sweet savor? Or have we passed through the holy place and entered into the Holy of Holies, to come to the throne of grace,  where we’re now touching and experiencing Christ Himself in the deepest way. May the Lord be merciful to us that we may know where we are and press on to enjoy this hidden Christ in the fullest way.

References and Further Reading:

• This post is based on The Economy of God, Chapter 19, by Witness Lee.
• The graphic is based on the illustration in the same book on page 29. (Copyright:  Living Stream Ministry, 1968)
• You can read The Economy of God online at: ministrybooks.org, download a free PDF, or order a free copy from Bibles for America (in USA).
• Here are a few hymns to strengthen your enjoyment of this post:
  • I come before Thy throne of grace and View Lyrics
  • Come forward to the Holiest