Being filled with the Holy Spirit is a great topic in the Bible, and it has been the subject of much debate throughout the past centuries. Thus, it requires careful explanation. We look to the Lord for His special grace to bring us into the truth concerning this matter through the Spirit of reality who indwells us. We need to pray for this, and we need to prepare our spirit and our mind. If we desire to understand and receive the truth, we need an open spirit and a clear mind. We must use our spirit to receive the truth because truth is received in our spirit, but truth must first pass through the understanding of our mind. If truth does not pass through the understanding of our mind, it will not be possible to receive it in our spirit. Thus, we need a clear and adequate train of thought. However, it is not enough to simply use our mind to understand God’s truth. We must also use our spirit to contact the truth to touch spiritual reality. In addition to understanding truth with our mind, we must also receive the reality of God’s truth with an open spirit in order to gain the life supply.
There is also a distinction between objective knowledge and subjective experience in regard to every truth. The significance of this distinction is great, particularly as it relates to the matter of being filled with the Holy Spirit. In the past and even now, some emphasize objective knowledge of this matter whereas others emphasize subjective experience. Those who emphasize the objective aspect place too much emphasis on the doctrine of being filled with the Holy Spirit. They use their mind to study the filling of the Holy Spirit, but they do not pursue the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit in their spirit. Conversely, those who emphasize the subjective aspect pay too much attention to the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit, but they completely neglect the doctrine concerning the filling of the Holy Spirit. They seem to use only their spirit, not their mind. Those who emphasize the objective side are rich in Bible knowledge but lacking in spiritual experience; consequently, they fall into emptiness and death. Those who emphasize the subjective side have an abundance of spiritual experience but lack Bible knowledge; consequently, they fall into instability and error. Therefore, we beg the Lord to have mercy on us so that we would place equal emphasis on both knowledge and experience to avoid the emptiness and death that come from being too objective and the instability and error that come from being too subjective. For this, we must exercise not only our mind to understand the doctrine and truth concerning the filling of the Holy Spirit but also our spirit to pursue the experience and gain the reality of being filled by the Holy Spirit.
The Bible clearly shows that there are two aspects of the Holy Spirit in relation to us. People who have been greatly used by the Lord, such as Andrew Murray, C. H. Mackintosh (the author of Notes on the Pentateuch), and others, acknowledge this matter. If we want to accurately understand the filling of the Holy Spirit, we must understand what the Bible says about these two aspects.
1. “The Spirit of reality...shall be in you” (John 14:17).
In this verse the Lord clearly said that when the Holy Spirit came, He would be in us.
1. “The Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8; see also Luke 24:49).
On the one hand, the Lord said that the Holy Spirit would be in us, and on the other hand, He said that the Spirit would be upon us. Being upon is outward, and it is absolutely different from being in. Therefore, the Lord’s expressions show that there are two distinct aspects of the Holy Spirit in relation to us: an inward aspect and an outward aspect.
1. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter...even the Spirit of reality...and shall be in you”; “But if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 14:16-17; 16:7; see also 14:26; 15:26).
The Lord spoke these words to His disciples before His death. Before He left, He promised that He would send the Holy Spirit as the Comforter.