At the beginning of our salvation we have the regenerating Spirit and God’s life and nature in us, but we do not have the infilling of the Spirit in us. We have oil in our lamps, but we do not have oil prepared in our vessels. We are shining, but the light in us may be going out. We are not mature in life.
What is the way to mature in life? The way to mature in life is to prepare oil in our vessels, that is, to pursue the infilling of the Spirit. How do we pursue the filling of the Spirit? First, we must realize that the Spirit is the realization of Christ and that Christ is the embodiment of God (2 Cor. 3:17; Col. 2:9). The Spirit in us is actually Christ in us and God in us. Therefore, the maturity in life is the growth of Christ in us, that is, our being occupied by Christ and filled with God. Hence, to be filled with the Spirit means that our entire being is occupied by Christ and filled with God. Our thoughts, preferences, views, insight, inclinations, choices, and everything are occupied by Christ and filled with God.
Before we are completely filled, our views are our own views, our thoughts are our own thoughts, our preferences are our own preferences, and our choices are our own choices. In other words, everything comes out of us. Christ does not have any ground in us. We love whatever we like, and we reject whatever we do not like. There is nothing of Christ’s element in us, nor is there any ground for the Spirit. Our person remains intact. Although the Spirit is in us, He may be suffering and may not have any ground in us. Can we grow in this way? Can we mature, be made ready, and see the Lord? No, we cannot mature unless we are willing to pursue the infilling of the Spirit, allowing Christ to occupy every part of us and allowing God to fill our entire being. If we do so, then our whole being will be filled with Christ, and we will be mature and full-grown in life. We will be the same as Christ and will have His glorious image. Then we can meet the Lord.
How can we experience the infilling of the Spirit? In the parable of the ten virgins the Lord Jesus used a very good word—buy (Matt. 25:9). In order to have oil in our vessels we must buy, and to prepare oil in our vessels we must buy. This means that we have to buy in order to have the infilling Spirit. We all understand that to buy something means to pay a price. No matter what we buy, we must spend money, that is, pay a price. To buy clothes, food, groceries, or anything else, we have to pay a price. Moreover, how much we pay determines what kinds of things we can buy. Ten dollars can buy you something valued at ten dollars, whereas ten thousand dollars can buy you something valued at ten thousand dollars. Likewise, we can never gain the infilling of the Spirit without a cost. The infilling of the Spirit requires the paying of a price.
We often see saints praying in pursuit of the infilling of the Spirit. This is right. We need to ask the Lord for this. However, please remember that we not only need to ask but also to buy. It is useless to merely ask for the infilling of the Spirit before God and not buy. We definitely need to pay a price. What is the price? Paul says in Philippians 3, “But what things were gains to me, these I have counted as loss on account of Christ. But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ....Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal” (vv. 7-8, 13-14). Essentially, what Paul was saying was, “I, Paul, am saved, and I am old now. Furthermore, I am imprisoned in Rome. I have followed the Lord for many decades, yet I am still forgetting the things that are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before. I am counting all things as refuse that I may gain Christ.” The price that Paul paid was the price of all things. In return, what Paul received was Christ.