We have seen something of the indwelling Christ in the four Gospels. Now we must come to the book of Acts. We may think that this is a book of the preaching of the early Apostles. However, it is just a record showing us how the early disciples were those who were baptized into the Triune God, and within whom the Triune God was living. In the Gospel of Matthew we are told that all the disciples are to be baptized into the Triune God. Then the Gospel of John tells us that this Triune God is today the life-giving Spirit to dwell within us. We are abiding in Him, and He is abiding in us.
Now in the book of Acts we see that all the early disciples were those who were put into the Triune God. At the beginning of Acts, they were all baptized in the Holy Spirit. They were put into the Triune God. Following this, we see that the Triune God was living within them. Many times in the book of Acts we read that they were full of the Holy Spirit. This simply means that these disciples were people within whom the Triune God was living. The Triune God was filling them and living within them. By this we clearly see that in the book of Acts the early disciples were baptized into the Triune God, and on the other hand the Triune God as the life-giving Spirit was living within them.
It was by this that they became a certain kind of people. They were people who had God Himself mingling with them. We know that we need to preach the Gospel and reach the unbelievers. Yet we should not do this in ourselves. We must be a kind of people who are put into the Triune God and who are filled with the Triune God. On one hand, we must be in the Triune God, and on the other hand, we need to have the life-giving Spirit living within us. This is the kind of people the early disciples were.
To be full of the Holy Spirit means to be in the condition of being continually filled with the Triune God. This was the daily situation, the daily walk, and the daily condition of the early disciples. At this time, the Holy Spirit is the full realization of the Triune God, the real embodiment of the Triune God. When we are full of the Holy Spirit, it means that we are filled with the Triune God. This is why the Lord Jesus did not tell them that they were to be preachers, but witnesses. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). They were not preachers, but witnesses, because they were in the Triune God, and the Triune God was in them. They and the Triune God were one. In other words, the indwelling of Jesus was their daily living; so in such a condition they were full of the Holy Spirit.
Many Christians today have been confused and complicated concerning the filling of the Holy Spirit. To be full of the Holy Spirit, they feel, is rather difficult. But it isn’t that hard. It is as simple as breathing. I was once asked, “How can we abide in Christ, and Christ abide in us?” I answered by using the air as an illustration. All the time we are in the air, and the air is in us. And today the Lord Jesus as the life-giving Spirit is just like the heavenly air. We are in Him and He is in us.
First Corinthians 1:30 tells us clearly that God has put us in Christ. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” To be in Christ is something of God. God has put us into Christ, and God also has made Christ the life-giving Spirit. To be full of the Spirit is not such a difficult thing. As long as we open ourselves and confess all our sins so that there is no offense in our conscience, we can be full of the Spirit. If we confess and apply the blood to all our sinfulness, we are in Christ and Christ is in us. We should not be complicated by so many kinds of teachings about the so-called baptism of the Holy Spirit. According to the record of the Bible, to be filled with the Spirit is really as simple as breathing. Jesus is not far from us. Rather, He is very nigh unto us. We know that He is indwelling our spirit. He is waiting within us that we may open up to Him and give Him the ground. As much ground as we will give to Him, He will fill. We only need to open ourselves to Him and make a thorough confession of anything that is sinful or condemned in His eyes. Then we must apply His redeeming and cleansing blood. If we do this, and keep calling on His name, we are spontaneously in Him, and He will spontaneously fill us. Then we will be in the situation that is described by the book of Acts as being full of the Holy Spirit.
Suppose you are a Christian who loves the Lord, yet you would not be dealt with by Him. You have some sinful things in your life, yet you would not confess unto Him and apply His precious blood to cleanse you. If so, you are just insulated from Him. Electricity is a good illustration of this matter. We apply the electrical power by engaging the right switch. But if the electrical wire is insulated at the point of contact, there is no way to receive the electrical power. It is the same with the Lord. Just a little insulation will keep us from the heavenly power. If we would deal with all the insulation, we would get into the flow of the power.