When the believers were baptized in the Spirit economically, the Spirit was poured out on them (Acts 2:18, 33b; 10:45). The same Spirit who was breathed into the believers essentially as life in Christ’s resurrection was poured out upon them economically by Christ in His ascension. In and after His ascension Christ received the all-inclusive Spirit from the Father economically and poured Him out upon the disciples for their ministry and work.
In John 20:22 the Spirit was breathed into the believers essentially to be their spiritual life and being. Now the Spirit Himself is the divine life within us. On the day of Pentecost, the same Spirit, in the aspect of God’s economy, was poured out upon the believers not as life essentially but as power economically. God has an economy, an administration, an arrangement, that needs to be carried out. For the carrying out of His eternal economy, He poured the Spirit out upon the believers economically.
When the Spirit was poured out upon the believers, He fell upon them. In Acts 1:8a the Lord Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would come upon us. In Acts 8:16 we see that, although the new believers in Samaria had received the Holy Spirit within them essentially when they believed in the Lord, “He had not yet fallen upon any of them” outwardly and economically. Furthermore, Acts 19:6 tells us that when Paul laid his hands on certain believers in Ephesus, “the Holy Spirit came upon them.” Concerning the breathing of the Spirit for life essentially, the Spirit enters into the believers. But concerning the outpouring of the Spirit as power economically, the Spirit falls upon the believers.
Finally, the Spirit in whom we have been baptized economically clothes us. In Luke 24:49 the Lord Jesus said, “Behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you, stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” This indicates that in addition to receiving the Spirit of life essentially, the believers still need to be clothed with power from on high, that is, to be empowered by the Spirit economically. As for the Spirit of life, we need to breathe Him in as the breath (John 20:22). As for the Spirit of power, we need to put Him on as the uniform, typified by the mantle of Elijah (2 Kings 2:9, 13-15). For this reason, some Bible teachers have called the Spirit of power the “mantle Spirit,” the Spirit as an outer coat. In Luke 24:49, as in 2 Kings 2, we have the thought of the mantle Spirit.
The Spirit of life and the Spirit of power, the mantle Spirit, are two aspects of the one Spirit for our experience. We see both aspects in 1 Corinthians 12:13. On the one hand, we have all been baptized in one Spirit; on the other hand, we have all been given to drink of the one Spirit. Drinking the Spirit inwardly is essential, and being baptized in the Spirit outwardly is economical. The inward aspect of the Spirit is for life essentially, and the outward aspect of the Spirit is for ministry and work economically. Through these two aspects of the one Spirit the believers have been joined to God the Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God.
In this message and in the one previous, we have seen that the believers in Christ have been joined to the processed Triune God. Now we are one with the Triune God. We are one with the Father as the source, with the Son as the embodiment, and with the Spirit as the consummation. May we all see the marvelous fact that we have been joined to the processed Triune God and now are one with Him.