As we saw in the previous chapter, the work of the Holy Spirit is of two aspects: the inward aspect and the outward aspect. The Holy Spirit comes into us and comes upon us. The Holy Spirit in us is for life and as life, and the Holy Spirit upon us is for power and as power. As proper, normal Christians, we need life and power. Life is for the Christian walk and living, and power is for the Christian work and service. For our daily walk and living as the Lord’s children we need the inner life. For the work, the gospel preaching, the winning of souls, the service, and the ministry we need power. Therefore, throughout the entire Scriptures the Holy Spirit is revealed to us in these two aspects. One aspect is that the Holy Spirit comes into us and dwells in us to be life to us, the flow of life, the life supply, and all matters related to life. The other aspect is that the Holy Spirit comes upon us as power to empower us, to endow us with power, that we may be powerful and prevailing in the Lord’s service.
In the previous message we saw several items of the Holy Spirit within us. He is the Spirit of life, the Spirit of reality, the seal, the pledge, the anointing, and the Comforter. After the Lord died, He came back to the disciples on the day of His resurrection. When He came back to the disciples, He brought the Spirit of life to them. He breathed into them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). The Spirit was breath breathed by the Lord. We all know that breath is not for power; breath is for life.
After His ascension, however, on the day of Pentecost, the Lord poured down the Holy Spirit from heaven upon the disciples as power. This pouring down was like a heavy rain. In this way all the disciples were empowered. Before the day of Pentecost, the disciples were together for ten days. Those were not days of power but days of life. For the one hundred twenty to be in one accord and pray was a matter of life, not of power. But on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came down upon them, they stood up to speak to the people, and three thousand people were brought under conviction. This was a matter of power; the disciples had power in their preaching. Therefore, to have the Spirit of life within us is one thing, while to have the Spirit of power without is another.
As we have seen, the Gospel of John deals with the matters of life. In this Gospel the Spirit of life is likened to living water for us to drink. According to the Gospel of Luke, however, the Spirit of power is likened to clothing that we put on, because this Gospel deals with the gospel of forgiveness, which requires power for preaching to bring people under conviction. To drink water is one thing, while to put on an item of clothing is another thing. We cannot say that these two are the same. In my own room I can drink water without proper clothing, but when I come out to minister, I must put on proper clothes. If I do not have proper clothing covering me, I am not qualified or equipped to come out to minister. On the other hand I may be dressed very well, but I may still be thirsty because I have not drunk anything. This illustrates the two aspects of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of life within us is to refresh us, satisfy us, and quench our thirst. This is one aspect. But to have the Holy Spirit as power to equip us, to empower us, is another aspect. We should not consider these two aspects as one. Many think that the work of the Holy Spirit has only one aspect. This is a problem among the Lord’s children today.
Concerning the Holy Spirit within us, there are several steps. The first step is that the Spirit comes into us to regenerate us. From that time on, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; this is the second step. Then, as He dwells within us, He is expecting to fill us. We are regenerated, and we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but we need the infilling as something further. Regeneration, indwelling, and infilling are the inward aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit. We should discern the inner aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit from the outward aspect. We should never confuse them; to confuse them is terrible.
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