1)Being baptized in the Holy Spirit upon believing-“For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks” (1 Cor. 12:13). Since Christ baptized all the believers throughout the ages in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius, He has already accomplished the baptism of the church in the Spirit through these two instances. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a fact already accomplished upon the church. Today, when a Jew or a Gentile believes in the Lord, he participates in the church and hence participates in this accomplished fact upon the church. We who have believed into the Lord and belong to the church are not baptized one by one and time after time in the Holy Spirit; rather, we have received the entire baptism in the Spirit, which includes all the believers and is once for all.
1)To be filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit is to experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit-“But you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5); “And when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled...they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-4); “The Holy Spirit fell on them...And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said... you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit” (Acts 11:15-16). These verses show us that both on the day of Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius, to be baptized in the Spirit was to experience the outward filling of the Holy Spirit. Thus, when we are filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit, with the Holy Spirit of power coming upon us, we experience the baptism in the Spirit.
2)The fact of the baptism in the Holy Spirit was accomplished once and for all upon the church on the day of Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius; however, the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is instant and numerous upon the believers-The fact of the baptism in the Spirit has been accomplished once for all upon the church. The experience of the baptism in the Spirit takes place on the individual believers and is instant and numerous. A believer can receive the fact of the baptism in the Spirit only once, but he may experience the baptism in the Spirit many times.
1)“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses...unto the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8); “And when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled... they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-4).
The inward filling of the Holy Spirit is for spiritual living that the spiritual life may mature, whereas the outward filling with the Holy Spirit is for spiritual work that the spiritual work may be powerful. To be merely filled inwardly with the Holy Spirit is adequate for life, but not for work. Before Pentecost, although Peter and the early apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit inwardly, they were not able to work for the Lord because they had not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit outwardly in order to receive power to work for the Lord. It was when they were filled with the Holy Spirit outwardly at Pentecost and received the Holy Spirit coming upon them as the Spirit of power that they were empowered to do an exceedingly effective work for the Lord.
1)“Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received...the Holy Spirit from the Father, He poured out this which you both see and hear...Therefore...know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:33-36).
The outward filling of the Holy Spirit also confirms to us the Lord’s ascension and exaltation and His being appointed both Lord and Christ. The outward filling of the Holy Spirit is able to empower us because it brings the heavenly scene to us. The Holy Spirit, who fills us outwardly, is poured down by the ascended Lord and therefore brings us the heavens and the scene of the Lord in the heavens, giving us the sense that the heavens are very near and that the heavenly scene has fallen right before us. Since the scene of the Lord Jesus’ being exalted and glorified on the heavenly throne seems to appear before us, we are able to witness for the Lord in the heavens by the heavenly power, not caring for the earthly situation and difficulties.
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