As long as a child has the life of his father, he is his father’s son. No matter how weak the child is, he is his father’s son. On the other hand, if a child does not have the life of a certain man, he cannot be that man’s genuine son, regardless of how strong he is. Being a son is not a matter of power; being a son is a matter of life. A baby may be only one and a half feet long and weigh only six pounds, yet that baby is still his father’s son because he has his father’s life. That baby may be childish and powerless, and he may not have any gifts or even be able to see, speak, walk, or eat properly. Nevertheless, he is the son of his father because he has his father’s life.
This point is illustrated in Romans 8:26, which says, “Moreover, in like manner the Spirit also joins in to help us in our weakness, for we do not know for what we should pray as is fitting, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” This verse reveals how weak we are at times. Sometimes we are so weak that we do not even know how to pray. We are like babies. Babies do not know how to ask for anything and are very weak. Thus, their mothers must know what they need and intercede for them. The Spirit is like a mother within us, interceding for us all the time with groanings which cannot be uttered. Because of our childishness, we are unable to utter what we need. A baby cannot utter what he needs, but his mother, who is outside of him, can utter what she feels her baby needs. This is similar to our situation, but in our situation our “mother,” the Spirit, is inside of us. The Spirit within us utters for us what we need. Often we have a burden to pray, but we do not know how to utter our burden. Therefore, we can only groan. Although we may not be able to give utterance to our burden, we should be assured that whenever we have the burden to groan from the deepest part of our being, the Spirit is working within us. Often we face situations in which we do not know what to do or how to pray, but we have the burden to go to the Father, to go to the Lord, and to groan. When we have this kind of experience, the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of the Son, the Spirit of life, is working within us. Although we may be weak, we can be assured that we have the Spirit of life within us. As long as we have the Spirit of life, the life of God, within us, we are sons of God no matter how weak we may be. Thus, it is wrong to say that one who does not have power is not a son of God. Being a son of God is a matter of life, that is, of the Spirit of life.
Now that we have seen that being a son of God is a matter of life, we must also see that in order to carry out the Lord’s work, we need power. In Luke 24:46-48 the Lord said to the disciples, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise up from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” In these verses the Lord referred to the disciples as witnesses. When the Lord spoke these words to the disciples, they had undoubtedly already received the Spirit of life (John 20:22). As a result, they were clearly children of God. The Lord’s words in Luke 24:46-48 reveal that they were also witnesses of the risen Lord. Receiving the Spirit of life had made them both children of God and witnesses. Nevertheless, in verse 49 the Lord said, “Behold, I send forth the promise of My Father upon you; but as for you, stay in the city until you put on power from on high.” The phrase the promise of My Father in this verse refers to the Spirit of power (Joel 2:28-29), and the phrase put on power from on high can also be translated “be clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49, ASV). Although the disciples had received the Spirit of life to become sons of God and witnesses of the risen Lord, they needed something more; they needed to be clothed, covered, and equipped with the Spirit of power. Even a little baby needs to be clothed. If you leave your baby at home, he may not need to be clothed, but it would be a shame to bring your baby into a public place naked. Even though that baby has your life, he also needs to be clothed. In like manner, although we have received the life of God and have the Spirit of life within us, making us sons of God, we also need to be clothed with the Spirit of power from on high. Clearly, Peter, John, and James had received the Spirit of life prior to the day of Pentecost (John 20:22). However, although they had received the Spirit of life, they needed something more; they needed to be clothed and equipped with the Spirit of power so that they could stand up to serve the Lord and preach the gospel. They needed the Spirit of power from on high as their equipment. This is why the Lord told them to stay in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high.
Acts 1:5 says, “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” The baptism in the Holy Spirit was accomplished on the day of Pentecost. Verse 8 begins with, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” This verse does not say, “You shall receive life when the Holy Spirit comes into you.” Rather, it indicates that the Holy Spirit would come upon the disciples and that they would receive power. The verse continues, saying, “You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” All of this happened on the day of Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost the disciples received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and this baptism was not a matter of life but of power. When we initially accept the Lord Jesus as our personal Savior, we receive the Spirit into us as the Spirit of life. However, in addition to receiving the Spirit of life into us, we also need the Spirit as the Spirit of power to come upon us to equip us and clothe us. Only then will we be equipped to minister and to serve the Lord.