Item number three says that as far as God’s essence is concerned, He was still with the disciples by being in them. Hence, they were able to withstand the threat of the Jews and remain in Jerusalem to wait for the promised Spirit of power from God, and the one hundred and twenty people were able to pray in one accord for ten days, cooperating with God’s administration in heaven to bring in the great act of God at Pentecost. Here were one hundred and twenty Galileans who were not afraid of the threat of the Jews in Jerusalem and were gathered together to persevere in prayer with one accord. Formerly they could not comprehend the Lord’s word concerning His death and were arguing among themselves as to who were the greatest ones among them and who was to sit at His left and at His right. But now they were sober. They were no longer arguing. All one hundred and twenty of them were in one accord, praying earnestly for ten days. This is not a small thing. It would be hard enough for twelve persons to pray together, much less one hundred and twenty. And they were praying for ten days! This was not all. Peter stood up to expound the Bible and did it accurately. This proves that he had the Holy Spirit as his essence within. The ten days of prayer brought in a great act of God at Pentecost. This was a great move in God’s economy. It was something God desired to execute in heaven, but it needed man’s prayer on earth. By the Holy Spirit in them essentially, one hundred and twenty people were able to pray earnestly in one accord for ten days. This brought in the great move of God in His economy.
Item number four says that at Pentecost, this exalted God-man, who has ascended to the throne to be made Lord and Christ and Head of all things, poured Himself out as the Spirit of power. On the day of Pentecost, it was not a breathing, but an outpouring. These disciples had already received the Spirit of life, but they were still waiting for the Spirit of power. The Spirit of life is for existence; it is essential. The Spirit of power is for work; it is economical.
Following this, item number four continues by saying that the Spirit of power was poured out on those disciples who had already received Him as the Spirit of life and who were waiting for the Spirit of power. In this way the ascended Head baptized His Body into Himself as the all-inclusive Spirit. First, at Pentecost the Jewish part of the believers was baptized into the Spirit. Then at the house of Cornelius, the Gentile part of the believers was also baptized into the Spirit. In this way, the whole Body of Christ was baptized into this all-inclusive Spirit.
Item number five says that from now on, those who believe in Him are filled outwardly with His Spirit of power. In Acts when it talks about the filling of the Spirit, it mainly uses two Greek verbs. One is pletho, which means an outward filling. The other is pleroo, which means an inward filling. We can use the baptistry as an illustration. On the one hand, the water fills the pool inwardly. On the other hand, when you are immersed in the pool, the water does not fill you inwardly, but you are filled by the water outwardly. Both words are used in Acts 2:1-4. Verse 2 says, “Like a rushing violent wind, and it filled [pleroo] the whole house where they were sitting.” Then verse 4 says, “And they were all filled [pletho] with the Holy Spirit.” Concerning the house, the wind filled the house inwardly. But concerning the people in the house, the Holy Spirit filled them outwardly. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus are filled outwardly by His Spirit of power and are filled inwardly by His Spirit of life as described in Acts 13:52 where the disciples were said to be filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. Eventually, they were made full of His Spirit. The word “full of” is a third Greek word pleres. This is not a verb but an adjective. Examples of usage of this word appear in Acts 6:3, “full of the Spirit and of wisdom,” in verse 5, “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit,” in 7:55, “full of the Holy Spirit,” and in 11:24, “full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” To be “full of” the Spirit is a condition of the believers after having been filled inwardly by the Holy Spirit. Both being “filled” inwardly and “full of” are for life and are essential, while being “filled” outwardly is for work and is economical.
The Lord Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit’s conception, having the Holy Spirit as His essence for His existence. At the age of thirty, the Holy Spirit fell upon Him to be His Spirit of power for work. In the same principle, with the disciples on the evening of resurrection, the Lord came to breathe into them for them to receive the Spirit as their life within; this is essential and is for existence. After fifty days, at Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them to be the Spirit of power; this is economical and is for work. The Lord Jesus Himself had this twofold experience; the disciples also had this twofold experience; we the believers also have this twofold experience. For a new believer, as soon as he says, “Lord Jesus, I receive You as my Savior,” he has the essential Spirit in him as life. By this he can live a spiritual life. At the same time, he can receive the economical Spirit as his outward power to equip him for the Lord’s work and testimony.
First Corinthians 12:13 says, “For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free”; this is economical. “And were all given to drink one Spirit”; this drinking is essential and is for our living. The outward baptism of the Spirit is economical and is for work; the drinking in of the Spirit is essential and is for living.
Many times we have this twofold experience. For example, in my daily life, I may be full of meekness, full of the Holy Spirit, full of joy, life, and wisdom. All these came about by the essential Spirit. But now when I have to speak for the Lord, I have to pray, “Lord, I need two aspects. I need the essential Spirit to fill me and to saturate me within, and I need the economical Spirit to fill me without and to clothe me with the heavenly power.” By then, I not only have the Spirit of life within; I also have the Spirit of power without. The outward clothing of power is the Spirit of power. It is like the uniform of the policeman, which gives him the authority to carry out his duty.
He who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. To believe in the heart and to confess with the mouth by calling is the way to be saved. To be saved does not mean merely to be forgiven of sins; nor does it mean merely to be delivered from perdition. The most important part of salvation is to receive the living Lord, to receive Him as the essential Spirit within as the life for our living and to receive Him as the economical Spirit without as the power for working and fighting for His kingdom. The Spirit of the Lord is like the air. How available and bountiful He is! We can never exhaust His supply. All we need to do is open our mouth to call on His name. This is just like breathing. The Spirit of the Lord will then fill us within. The more we open our mouth to call on the Lord’s name, the more we breathe. The more we breathe in this deep way, the more we will be filled inwardly by the Spirit of the Lord. The more we call on the name of the Lord, the more strength we will have. The more we call on His name, the richer will be our life within and the stronger will be our power without. Through calling on the name of the Lord, we will receive the essential and the economical Spirit and will receive it even more abundantly.
The last part of item number five says that when the believers are filled inwardly with the Spirit of life and are filled outwardly with the Spirit of power, they become a group of people mingled as one with this all-inclusive Spirit. He is in them as the Spirit of life to be lived out of them to express Himself. He is also outside of them as the Spirit of power to be preached and propagated by them as His continuation and spread on the earth.
Item number six says that those who are filled and saturated with His all-inclusive Spirit within and who are filled and equipped without are led by Him to spread His kingdom on earth that His church may be established. This is indeed glorious! Now at this point, in the Acts we have the church as well as the kingdom. This is the Christ revealed in the book of Acts.
On the one hand, the Lord Jesus acts as Lord and Christ in heaven. On the other hand, He is in us as life and upon us as power that we may live Him. In this way we become His continuation and spread and are made His Body to spread His kingdom and to build up His church.