What is covered in the expressions of the Spirit? Sometimes God works in humanity, and sometimes in divinity—but overall, in both cases the Spirit is in command. Whatever the spirit within people, thus is their external expression. The Spirit works normally, but there are two parts to His direction by the Spirit: One part is His work in humanity, and the other is His work through divinity. You should know this clearly. The Spirit’s work varies according to the circumstances: When His human work is required, the Spirit directs this human work, and when His divine work is required, the divinity appears directly to carry it out. Because God works in the flesh and appears in the flesh, He both works in humanity and in divinity. His work in humanity is directed by the Spirit, and in order to satisfy people’s fleshly needs, to facilitate their engagement with Him, to allow them to behold the reality and normality of God, and to allow them to see that the Spirit of God has come in the flesh, and is among man, lives together with man, and engages with man. His work in divinity is in order to provide the life of people, and guide people in everything from the positive side, changing people’s dispositions and allowing them to truly behold the Spirit’s appearance in the flesh. In the main, the growth in man’s life is directly achieved through God’s work and words in divinity. Only if people accept God’s work in divinity can they achieve changes in their disposition, only then can they be sated in their spirit; only if there is added to this the work in humanity—God’s shepherding, support, and provision in humanity—can people satisfy
God’s will. If they are to abide by the commandments, at the very least people should know the practical God who appears in the flesh, without confusion. In other words, people should grasp the principles of abiding by the commandments. Abiding by the commandments does not mean following them haphazardly or arbitrarily, but abiding by them with a basis, with an objective, and with principles. The first thing to be achieved is for your visions to be clear. The practical God Himself that is spoken of today works both in humanity and in divinity. Through the appearance of the practical God, His normal human work and life and His completely divine work are achieved. His humanity and divinity are combined in one, and the work of both is[a]accomplished through words; whether in humanity or divinity, He utters words. When God works in humanity, He speaks the language of humanity, so that people may engage and understand. His words are spoken plainly, and are easy to understand, such that they can be provided to all people; regardless of whether these people are possessed of knowledge, or poorly educated, they can all receive
God’s words. God’s work in divinity is also carried out through words, but it is full of provision, it is full of life, it is untainted by human ideas, it does not involve human preferences, and it is without human limits, it is outside the bounds of any normal humanity; it, too, is carried out in the flesh, but it is the direct expression of the Spirit. If people only accept God’s work in humanity, then they will confine themselves to a certain scope, and so will require perennial dealing, pruning, and discipline in order for there to be a slight change in them. Without the work or presence of the Holy Spirit, though, they will always resort to their old ways; it is only through the work of divinity that these maladies and deficiencies can be rectified, only then can people be made complete. Instead of sustained dealing and pruning, what is required is positive provision, using words to make up for all shortcomings, using words to reveal people’s every state, using words to direct their lives, their every utterance, their every action, to lay bare their intentions and motivations; this is the real work of the practical God. And thus, in your attitude to the practical God you should both submit before His humanity, recognizing and acknowledging Him, and, furthermore, you should also accept and obey the divine work and words. God’s appearance in the flesh means that all of the work and words of the Spirit of God are done through His normal humanity, and through His incarnate flesh. In other words, God’s Spirit both directs His human work and carries out the work of divinity in the flesh, and in God incarnate you can see both God’s work in humanity and completely divine work; this is the even more practical significance of God’s appearance in the flesh. If you can see this clearly, you will be able to connect all of the different parts of God, and will cease to place too much of a premium on His work in divinity, and to be too dismissive of His work in humanity, and you will not go to extremes, nor take any detours. Overall, the meaning of the practical God is that the work of His humanity and of His divinity, as directed by the Spirit, is expressed through His flesh, so that people can see that He is vivid and lifelike, and real and actual.