It is easy to realize how the Holy Spirit is life to us in our spirit, but it is more complicated to realize how the Spirit is upon us as power. Therefore, we must speak in more detail concerning this matter.
One reason we must spend so much time to deal with this matter is that we need to see where speaking in tongues stands. Many people are careless in studying and understanding the Word simply because they are careless in their character. They are careless in all things, and when they come to the Word to study and understand it, they are still careless, even to the utmost degree. We must learn the lesson not to be careless. In order to be careful, we must build up our character. Then when we come to study the Word, we will understand it carefully.
The tongues movement began in the previous century in England, and it came to Los Angeles in 1906, two years after the Welsh revival, which was under the leadership of Evan Roberts. This revival influenced some people on the West Coast of the United States. At the start of this movement on the West Coast, they did not have speaking in tongues, but later tongues were brought in. There was also a movement with speaking in tongues on the East Coast. From that time on, speaking in tongues has been a big problem among the Lord’s children in this country, which has not yet been settled. This matter disturbs the Lord’s children very much, and to some extent, it frightens them away from seeking the real experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
At first I had no thought to deal with this matter, but after I stayed in this country for a period of time, I found out that it is a real problem. Today many people pay much attention to speaking in tongues. Many insist on saying that speaking in tongues is the initial and necessary evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Since I came to this country, I have traveled much, and wherever I go people often ask me, “What about speaking in tongues? Do you speak in tongues?” I have been very surprised to hear this so much.
Now we must study the Word in a very careful way. Two particular chapters in the Scriptures speak of the Spirit. Galatians 5 deals with the Spirit as life within us, while 1 Corinthians 12 deals with the Spirit as power upon us.
Galatians 5:22-25 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. But they who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Verse 22 speaks not of the fruits of the Spirit but of the fruit, singular in number and with the singular verb is. The nine items mentioned in verses 22-23 are not nine fruits but nine aspects of the one fruit of the Spirit. These nine aspects start with love, end with self-control, and have joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and meekness in between.
These nine aspects are the fruit of the Spirit as life within us; they are not aspects of the Spirit as power upon us. We must note, however, that these nine aspects are not all the aspects of the fruit of the Spirit as some teach today in Christianity. We can prove that there are other aspects not mentioned here.
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