Once we receive the dealing of the cross and consecrate ourselves, we must believe. Our believing is related to two points.
First, we should believe that the Holy Spirit will fill us. The Holy Spirit is within us and desires to fill us; He is only waiting for us to give Him more ground in our being. After receiving the dealing of the cross and offering all of our inner being to Him, the Spirit will certainly fill us even more.
Second, we should believe that the Holy Spirit has already filled us. Since the Holy Spirit is desiring and waiting to fill us, we should believe that He not only will fill us but that He has already filled us after we empty our inward parts and consecrate to Him. When we empty ourselves and offer ourselves to Him, the Spirit immediately fills us. This is like air filling a cup that is emptied of water. Being filled does not depend on our feelings. It does not matter whether we have some specific feelings. Genuine Christian experience is based on faith, not feelings, and even if there are some feelings, faith takes precedence. Once we empty ourselves and consecrate ourselves to Him, we should believe that the Holy Spirit has already filled us inwardly.
1. “Do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4-5).
After dealing with our flesh, consecrating, and believing, we must mind the Holy Spirit. Since we consecrate ourselves to be filled by Him and believe He has already filled us, we should simply mind Him. Indeed, we must mind Him and His things and not mind the flesh or its things. The more we mind the Spirit, the more He gains the ground in us to possess and fill us.
2. “Walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16, 25).
If we truly follow the Spirit, we must walk by the Spirit. When we do not follow the lusts of the flesh or rely on the power of the flesh, we will be constantly full of the Spirit, not just momentarily filled by the Spirit.
When speaking of the outward filling of the Holy Spirit, the Bible uses the Greek word pletho. The record in Acts 2:1-4 concerning how the early disciples were filled by the Holy Spirit illustrates the biblical meaning of the word pletho as it relates to the outward filling of the Holy Spirit. Verses 2 and 4 speak of “a rushing violent wind” that “filled [pleroo] the whole house where they were sitting...and they were all filled [pletho] with the Holy Spirit.” In this short record, two different words, pleroo and pletho, are used to describe two different kinds of filling. Pleroo is used in the depiction of the Holy Spirit as a rushing violent wind that filled the house where the disciples were. Pletho is used in reference to the Holy Spirit filling the disciples who were in the house. The rushing violent wind that filled the whole house where the disciples were sitting was the Holy Spirit, or the power of the Holy Spirit. The house was filled (pleroo) with the Holy Spirit, or the power of the Holy Spirit. This filling refers to an inward filling because the inside of the house was filled. When the room that the disciples were sitting in was filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit inwardly filled (pleroo) the room but outwardly filled (pletho) the disciples. With respect to the room, there was an inward filling of the Holy Spirit, but with respect to the disciples, there was an outward filling of the Holy Spirit. This outward filling is what we call the outward filling of the Holy Spirit. When the Bible uses the word pletho to speak of the filling of the Holy Spirit, it is referring to the outward filling of the Holy Spirit upon us.
The meaning of the word pletho can be illustrated with baptism. When we are baptized, water fills (pleroo) the baptismal pool inwardly, but it fills (pletho) the person being baptized outwardly. Thus, with respect to the baptismal pool, there is an inward filling, but with respect to the person being baptized, there is an outward filling.
The Bible clearly associates the outward filling of the Holy Spirit with being baptized in the Holy Spirit. God wants us to pay attention to this great and important matter in the New Testament, so we should not only study it well but also pursue it deeply.
Many believers, even very spiritual ones, are not one hundred percent according to the light in the Bible in their view of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This causes difficulties among the children of God regarding this matter. It has even caused error and confusion. Thus, we must put aside our views and prejudices and those of others and return to the Word of God carefully and earnestly, seeking God’s light of truth in this matter. For this reason, we want to look at this matter carefully.