This is simply a matter of practice and a matter of faith. We must practice to open ourselves to Him and deal with all our sinfulness. Whatever bothers our conscience, we must confess to Him. It is simply a matter of making a thorough confession. There is no need for us to stay in that kind of condemned situation. We only need to pray, “Lord Jesus, forgive me in this matter. I am wrong and I need the cleansing of Your blood.” Hallelujah for the redeeming and prevailing blood that cleanses us and sets us free! Under the blood there is no condemnation; we are released from all kinds of condemnation. Then we will say, “O Lord Jesus. You are my life, You are my Person. Now I know that I am in You, and You are in me. Hallelujah! I know now that You are abiding within me.” Then we are full of the Holy Spirit.
We should not be so confused, distracted, and complicated. I am afraid that even after reading this, some would still think that to be full of the Holy Spirit is difficult, requiring much fasting and praying. But to be filled with the Holy Spirit is part of the Gospel, and the Gospel is absolutely free. It is not difficult, and we don’t need to do so many things. What we do need to do is to open ourselves to the Lord and confess whatever is condemned in our conscience. Then we apply the cleansing of the precious blood. Our conscience then will be free, and there will be no offense. We will have a conscience void of offense. We will have boldness to call on the Lord and be filled by the Lord. The more we call on Him, the more we will be filled. We will be a person full of the Holy Spirit. At this time it will be so easy to preach the Gospel. We will not speak to others by exercising our mind to think what we must say. We will preach to others by exercising our spirit to flow out the living Christ.
By reading the book of Acts carefully, we see that the early disciples did not have much knowledge or preaching. But they were people full of the Holy Spirit. Day by day, they were filled with the Triune God. When they reached out to others, it was by the outflowing of the indwelling Christ. This is exactly what is mentioned in Matthew and John. In Matthew we are told that the disciples of Jesus are baptized into the Triune God, and John tells us that Jesus will be living within them. Now in Acts we see such a group of people. All the early disciples were those that were put into Christ, and Jesus was living within them. They did not have all the things that people think we need today. When we are reaching others, what we need, strictly speaking, is not power, but the outflowing of the indwelling Christ. The real gospel is the outflow of Jesus from our spirit. It is not a matter of learning much, but of continually being full of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 6:3, 5, we see that the deacons chosen by the Apostles were men full of the Holy Spirit. “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch.”
Then in Acts 7:55, we see that Stephen, while he was being stoned to death, was full of the Holy Spirit. “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.”
In Acts chapter nine, we read that Saul of Tarsus was persecuting the early disciples. Then Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. “And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts. 9:4-5). Saul was surprised when the Lord said that he was persecuting Him. But the Lord made it clear that to persecute the disciples was to persecute Him. While Stephen was being persecuted, he was full of Jesus. All the persecuted disciples were one with Jesus. They had been put into Jesus, and Jesus was living within them. Therefore, when they were persecuted, Jesus was being persecuted. This is why Jesus asked Paul, “Why persecutest thou me?” All the disciples were in Jesus, and Jesus was in them. To persecute them was to persecute Jesus, because whatever they did, it was Jesus doing it in them. When they were persecuted, Jesus considered that He was persecuted. Actually it was not Peter, John or Stephen that was persecuted, but it was Jesus who was indwelling all the disciples.