The Scriptures clearly reveal to us that there are two aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit: the inward aspect for life and the outward aspect for power. The outward is not the aim; the outward is for the inward. The outward aspect is found in the Old Testament, but it is not until the New Testament time, after the resurrection of Christ, that the aim of God’s eternal purpose is accomplished through the inward aspect.
The inward aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit is seen very clearly in the Gospel of John, chapters seven and twenty. In these two chapters, the Holy Spirit is likened to drinking water (7:37-39), and breath (20:22), things which are vital to life. We must drink to live, and even more, we must breathe to live! We may live for three days without drinking, but we cannot live five minutes without breathing! Why is the Holy Spirit likened to drinking water and breath for life in the Gospel of John? Because John’s Gospel is the Gospel of life. It tells how Christ came to be our life (10:10) and our life supply: He came to be the bread of life (6:35, 57) and the water of life (4:14).
There is only one way for the Lord to be our life: that is in the Spirit. If He were not the Spirit and in the Spirit, He could never come into us to be our life and our life supply. This is what the Lord teaches us in John chapters fourteen to seventeen. In these four chapters, the main emphasis is the transition of the Lord from the flesh to the Spirit through death and resurrection. He must change in form from the flesh to the Spirit by being put to death and resurrected. He said in John 6:63, “It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing” (ASV). As long as He is in the flesh and not in the Spirit, He could never come into us to give us life. Through death and resurrection He was transformed from the flesh to the Spirit. So, after His resurrection, He came to His disciples and breathed on them, saying, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). This signifies that He was received into the disciples as the Holy Spirit-the divine breath. It is clear that this is for life.
The outward aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work is seen in the writings of Luke. In Luke 24:49, the disciples were told to tarry in Jerusalem until they were “clothed” with power from on high. The King James Version gives “endued,” but the Greek text means “clothed.” Here the Holy Spirit is likened to clothing, something completely different from drinking. Drinking is for life, but clothing is for authority. Then in Acts 2:2, the Holy Spirit is likened to “a mighty wind.” The mighty wind is for power. It does have something to do with the breath, for it is the wind that brings the fresh air to breathe. But the main significance of the wind is power. The breath is for life, and the wind is for power.
John, in his Gospel, used drinking water and breath as two symbols of the Holy Spirit. That is the inward aspect for life, for John’s Gospel is mainly concerned with life. However, Luke used two other symbols: clothing and the mighty wind. The writings of Luke (his Gospel and Acts) do not emphasize the matter of life, but the preaching of the gospel (Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8). In preaching the gospel, authority and power are needed. So clothing represents authority, and the mighty wind the power. If a policeman attempts to exercise his authority without wearing the proper uniform, no one will respect his authority; but when wearing the proper uniform, everyone honors his authority to act in the capacity of a law-enforcer. Even so, we must be clothed with the Holy Spirit that we may have divine authority and power for God’s work.
Both aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit are necessary to us. Inwardly we need to drink of the Holy Spirit for life, and outwardly we need to be clothed with the Holy Spirit for authority. Inwardly we need the breath of the Holy Spirit breathed into us for life, and outwardly we need the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing upon us for power. The inward aspect is the Holy Spirit as life within us. The outward aspect is the Holy Spirit as power upon us. The inward aspect of life is for our inward experience, and the outward aspect of power is for our outward experience. The inward aspect is “in” us (John 14:17; 4:14; 7:38), while the outward aspect is “upon” or “on” us (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 2:3; 8:16; 10:44; 19:6).
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