The Son Ascended, the Father Exalted Him, and the Spirit of Power was Poured out

Even as the Divine Trinity is the framework of the entire New Testament, so the Divine Trinity is the structure of the book of Acts; in particular today we want to see that God is uniquely One yet three – He is triune, and the Triune God was involved in the Son’s ascension and pouring out of the Spirit. Amen!

This week we come to the last week in our morning revival on the general topic, One Accord and Crucial Aspects of the Book of Acts.

The main topic for this week is, The Divine Trinity and the Kingdom of God. In the book of Acts, we see a group of people who lived one spirit with the Lord and who did everything one with Him for the propagation of the resurrected Christ in His ascension through the Spirit for the bringing in of the kingdom of God expressed in the many local churches.

Two of the main aspects in the book of Acts are the Divine Trinity and the kingdom of God.

We need to realise that the structure of the entire New Testament, even the framework of the entire New Testament, is the Divine Trinity.

If we read the book of Acts through the lens of God’s economy we will realise that, chapter after chapter, the book of Acts unveils the operation of the Divine Trinity for the carrying out of God’s New Testament economy (Acts 1:1-2, 4-5, 8, 11, 21; 2:4, 17- 18, 21-24, 27, 31-33, 36, 38; 13:2, 4, 7, 9-10, 12, 16, 23, 30, 33-39, 49-50, 52; 28:15, 23, 25, 31).

It is not just the disciples who did this or that, went to this place or that place, or performed particular miracles; it was the Divine Trinity who operated in and through the disciples for the carrying out of God’s economy.

Starting from Christ’s ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit, the Divine Trinity has been operating in and through the disciples, carrying out the work of God’s economy on the earth.

In chapter after chapter what we see is the operation of the Divine Trinity for the carrying out of God’s economy; the disciples cooperated with the Lord, and He had a way through them.

We may read the book of Acts and see that God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit are mentioned again and again, and we may wonder if these terms are interchangeable or mean the same thing.

The Bible is economical and precise in mentioning the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the way it does; in the book of Acts in particular we see the Divine Trinity operating in and through man for the carrying out of God’s New Testament economy.

We’re Governed by the Revelation that God is Uniquely One yet Three – Three-One, the Triune God

Throughout the centuries many have tried to understand the Triune God, and many have attempted to explain how God is one yet three.

Some, however, went as far as saying that God is only one and not three, while others went in the direction of saying that God is three, not acknowledging that He is one.

If we read the Bible as a whole, we see the mention of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. In our study of the Bible, we need to be governed by the revelation that God is uniquely one (Psa. 86:10; Isa. 45:5; 1 Cor. 8:4).

Only He is God, and there is no other God beside Him. He is Jehovah, and there’s no one else; besides Him there’s no God. Amen!

Even though people may make idols and worship them, thinking that they are gods, in God’s eyes, there’s no idol – there’s no God but one.

Yes, there are evil spirits, for God’s enemy, Satan, has his kingdom and desires to gain our worship, but there is no God but One.

This is the revelation that needs to govern us. The unique God is triune – three-one; He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

This is clearly stated by the Lord Jesus Himself when He gave us the great commission to go and disciple all the nations, baptising them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).

Yes, God is One, and there’s no other God than Him; at the same time, the unique God is triune – He is a three-one God.

The Lord Jesus when He was on the earth was in constant fellowship with the Father and did everything by the Spirit, and when He commissioned us to continue His work, He told us to baptise people into the Triune God.

The term, triune, is not found in the Bible, but the principle of the Triune God is there.

The Triune God refers mainly to God Himself, to what He is; He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

The term, Divine Trinity, refers mainly to God’s being triune, which is the primary attribute of the Godhead (2 Cor. 13:14; Rev. 1:4-5).

In Himself, God is triune. When He reaches us, He reaches us in His Divine Trinity. We today enjoy the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. For example, at the end of 2 Corinthians Paul said,

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

God is Triune, and He flows Himself out to us, His chosen people, in His Divine Trinity, for our enjoyment and experience.

God the Father as the love is the source, Christ the Son as grace, is the coming out and expression of this love, and God the Spirit as fellowship, is the flowing of God the Father as love and God the Son as the grace.

In a general way, God is dispensing Himself into us; in a particular, actual, and practical way, God is dispensing His Trinity into us.

God doesn’t give us anything outward or apart from Himself; He dispenses Himself into us in His Divine Trinity.

He dispenses His Divine Trinity into us to make us the same as He is. The Divine Trinity refers mainly to God’s being triune, which is the primary attribute of the Godhead.

In a sense, we want to understand this so that we know how to open to Him and receive His divine dispensing.

In another sense, however, we don’t need to fully understand everything about the Triune God and the Divine Trinity; we simply need to exercise our spirit and open to Him to enjoy His divine dispensing today.

Lord Jesus, unveil us to see that God is uniquely one! Hallelujah, there’s no other God but one, for God is one! Amen, Lord, from eternity to eternity, You are God! We believe into You as the unique God, and we consider everything else as nothing compared to You. Praise the Lord, God is One and He is also three – He is a Triune God! Amen, Lord, we open to the divine dispensing of Your Divine Trinity. Dispense Yourself into us today. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all! We simply come to You as we are, we apply the precious blood of Christ, and we open to Your divine dispensing. We open to the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. Keep us open to You today. Saturate us with all that You are and fill us with Yourself. Make us the same as You are by working Yourself into us in Your Divine Trinity day by day! May we come to You in Your word day by day to receive Your divine dispensing!

The Son Ascended, the Father Exalted Him, and the Spirit of Power was Poured out

The book of Acts shows us that the Triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit – was fully involved with the Son’s ascension and the pouring out of the Spirit (Acts 2:32-36). Christ ascended into heaven (Eph. 4:8-9; Heb. 9:24), and He was taken up and exalted by God (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51; Phil. 2:9).

The Son ascended, the Father exalted Him, and the Spirit was poured out (Luke 24:51; Phil. 2:9; Acts 1:9-11; 2:32-36).

The Triune God was involved with Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension and exaltation.

The Father, the Son, and the Spirit were all wrapped up with Christ’s ascension and pouring out of the Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God (v. 33; John 7:37-39; Phil. 1:19).

On the one hand, Christ resurrected from the dead, and many wonderful things happened in His resurrection. On the other hand, forty days after His resurrection, Christ was ascended. God exalted the Son, and in His exaltation, He achieved the highest attainment.

He was not only ascended to the highest, to the third heaven, but even more, in His ascension Christ obtained the kingship (Acts 5:31; Rev. 17:14), the lordship (Acts 2:36), the enthronement (Heb. 12:2), the headship (Eph. 1:22), and the glory and honour (Heb. 2:9).

Praise the Lord, all authority has been given to Christ in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:20-21). Hallelujah!

All these are the things Christ has attained to in His ascension, and we can only praise Him and worship Him for these.

In a sense, all these attainments have nothing to do with us essentially, for they were accomplished by Him and bestowed on Him. In another sense, these accomplishments and attainments have everything to do with us economically.

If Christ didn’t die, resurrect, and ascend to attain all these wonderful things, nothing could be carried out economically!

He succeeded in incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection, yet He still needed to be inaugurated into His heavenly office with all its attainments.

Because Christ was exalted and received the kingship, the lordship, the headship, the enthronement, the glory and honour, and all the authority, He can carry out His economy in us and through us.

Praise the Lord that Christ has been ascended and God has exalted Him!

Christ is now the top One in the whole universe. He is sitting on the unique throne in the universe. He’s the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the Head of all things. He has received all authority, and He has a name above every name. Wow, what a Christ!

Having attained all these and having obtained all these, Christ has poured out the Spirit – He poured out Himself upon the disciples as authority. He didn’t just pour out something upon the disciples to give them some authority over the nations.

Rather, the exalted Christ is the authority in the universe and He has poured Himself out upon the Body of Christ to be our clothing, our uniform.

On the one hand, through regeneration, we have His life inwardly and intrinsically, and we are children of God born of Him with His life.

On the other hand, Christ poured Himself out with all that He is and has attained upon us to equip us and qualify us economically with His authority so that we may carry out God’s economy, His administration.

Today we believers in Christ need to realise that Christ is within us as life for our daily living, and He is also clothing us as our power for our work for the Lord.

The Spirit of life as breath is in us for our life, and we can breathe in the Lord day by day.

The Triune God in His humanity with His human living is in us together with His all-inclusive death, and His excellent resurrection is within us as our life.

Furthermore, He has been poured out upon us as our power, our clothing, to be our authority for our work.

We now have a heavenly uniform, being clothed with power, for us to carry out God’s economy and preach the gospel.

This is not something that others can see today; they can’t see Christ living in us as our life or Christ as our power upon us.

Our friends, colleagues, neighbours, and family members don’t realise we’re wearing Christ, the exalted and enthroned Christ, to be our uniform.

However, the evil spirits and the demons know this, for we are authorised and are part of the ascended Christ as we stand one with Him in the Body in our going out for the gospel. Hallelujah!

Praise the Lord, the Triune God was fully involved with the Son’s ascension and the pouring out of the Spirit! Hallelujah, the Son ascended, the Father exalted Him and the Spirit was poured out! Amen, Lord, thank You for coming into us as the Spirit of life to regenerate us with the life of God. Thank You for pouring Yourself out in Your ascension as the Spirit of power to clothe us with Your authority! Hallelujah, Jesus Christ has ascended and God has exalted Him! Praise the Lord, Jesus Christ is the top One in the whole universe sitting on the throne! Hallelujah, Jesus is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Head of all things! Amen, Lord, You have received all the authority, and You have a name above every name! Praise the Lord! Thank You for pouring Yourself out as authority upon us, the Body of Christ, to be not only our life essentially but also our authority outwardly to carry out Your economy! Praise the Lord!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy,” pp. 192-194, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, One Accord and Crucial Aspects of the Book of Acts (2025 April ITERO), week 8, The Divine Trinity and the Kingdom of God – day 1.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The Spirit of life is within us today, / Who’s likened to water our thirst to allay; / Of Him we may drink and be filled thus with Him, / Until as a river He flows from within. / The Spirit of pow’r comes upon us today, / Who’s likened to clothing ourselves to array; / In Him we are baptized, with Him we are dressed, / For service equipping with power possessed. (Hymns #278 stanzas 1-2)
  – Lord, we come to Thee, and with liberty / Claim we now from Thee pow’r of might; / For Thy kingdom’s sake, may we pow’r partake, / Sitting in the heavenlies to fight. / Power! power! clothe us with Thy power! / With Thy mighty power from on high! / Power! power! clothe us with Thy power! / Boldly, as Thy Body, now we cry! (Hymns #273 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – We are also born of Spirit / On the day when we believe, / And of Him we now are drinking / As we daily Him receive. / Yet we also must be baptized / With the Spirit from on high, / Thus to be equipped for service, / And be clothed with pow’r thereby. (Hymns #272 stanza 4)