1. “Out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit” (John 7:38-39).
The Holy Spirit within us is the Spirit of life, and the inward filling of the Holy Spirit produces a maturity in life. Therefore, one of the expressions of the inward filling of the Holy Spirit is a rich overflow of life. The Lord promised that those who believed into Him would overflow with the fullness of life. John then indicated that the Lord’s words referred to the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed into the Lord were about to receive. This shows that those who believe into the Lord can receive the Holy Spirit to such an extent that they richly overflow with the waters of life. An overflowing of the waters of life is an expression of the inward filling of the Holy Spirit.
1. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).
The fruit that the Holy Spirit bears within us is also an expression of being inwardly filled with the Holy Spirit. This is spontaneous. Since the Holy Spirit within us is the Spirit of life, He will bear these nine beautiful fruits of the spiritual life within us if we give Him the opportunity to fill us. These nine fruits can be divided into three groups. Love, joy, and peace are the first group. If we have love, we will have joy. Once we have joy, we are at peace. Long-suffering, kindness, and goodness comprise the second group. Only a long-suffering person can be kind, and only a kind person can be good. Faithfulness, meekness, and self-control are the final group. Initially, it does not seem as if faithfulness and meekness are related, but our practical experience tells us that faithfulness causes us to be meek. If we are not faithful, we can easily be short-tempered. Therefore, true meekness is an issue of faithfulness. Just as meekness comes out of faithfulness, self-control comes out of meekness. Self-control implies the ability to rule ourselves. Only a person who truly is meek can rule himself. The order in which these nine fruits are listed is different from the order of the eight steps in 2 Peter 1:5-7. The order in 2 Peter is according to the steps in the growth in life. The order in Galatians is according to the experience of the fruit of life. These nine fruits of life are all expressions of being filled with the Holy Spirit inwardly in our living.
1. “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh...They who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts” (Gal. 5:17, 24).
The first step toward being filled inwardly with the Holy Spirit is to deal with our flesh by applying our co-death with Christ on the cross. The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. Everything of the flesh, whether good or bad, is contrary to the Holy Spirit. The greatest enemy, the greatest hindrance, and the greatest problem encountered by the Holy Spirit in us is our flesh that lusts against Him. Therefore, if we want the Holy Spirit to rule in us, to have a place in us, and to fill us, our flesh must be dealt with by the cross. We must apply our co-death with the Lord on the cross to our flesh, putting our flesh and all that is of the flesh to death. When we put our flesh and all that is of the flesh in a position of death in Christ’s death on the cross, not allowing the flesh or the things of the flesh to have any ground in us, the Holy Spirit will gain the position in us to completely possess and fill us.
The cross must deal with our flesh and all the things that are of our flesh. It needs to deal with our inward parts until they are empty, enlarging them so that the Holy Spirit can fill us inwardly. The flesh, the world, and sin that fill us must be dealt with by the cross in order to make room for the Holy Spirit. The extent to which we are filled with the Holy Spirit inwardly is the extent to which we have allowed the cross to deal with these things. When our dealing is complete, we will be completely filled with the Holy Spirit. When we are thoroughly cleansed through this dealing, we will be thoroughly filled with the Holy Spirit. When we do not allow our inward parts to be occupied by the flesh, the world, and sin, the Holy Spirit can immediately possess and fill them.
After receiving the dealing of the cross, we must consecrate ourselves to the Lord completely. Receiving the dealing of the cross removes the barriers and the things that occupy us. Consecrating ourselves to the Lord allows Him to come in and possess us. We need to let the cross deal with our flesh, the world, and sin so that we can be holy and spiritual but, even more, so that we can return to the Lord to be used by Him. If we let the cross deal with everything and give ourselves back to the Lord for His use, the Lord will come through the Spirit to possess and fill us. Once the Tent of Meeting was prepared and consecrated to the Lord, the Lord’s glory immediately filled it. Once the temple was built and given to the Lord, the Lord’s glory again came in and immediately filled it. If we truly deal with everything and offer ourselves to the Lord as His dwelling place, the Spirit of the Lord will come and fill us.